Oktoberfest Beer Champ: Ayinger

Corona and Guinness are almost parodies of themselves at this point. They're brands and beacons for bastardized beer-swilling holidays, which makes sense if you're trying to impress investors. Come springtime, every collar-popped frat boy will be helpless to resist those snazzy beer displays depicting bikini-clad leprechauns and sombrero chicks con cerveza, brah.

Oktoberfest is another foreign holiday ripe for co-opting. But since Munich breweries roll out the good stuff in the Fall, there's obviously more to this than getting product placement in bars. There's a a bunch of recognizable, smaller breweries doing what the mecha-breweries can't imitate (well). Sam Adams has been pushing theirs pretty hard, but lederhosen and lager in a British colony still doesn't compute. I decided to conduct my own 'scientific' study, with four beers chosen by myself and a couple of beer stewards: two from Germany (Ayinger and Paulaner) and two domestics (Heater Allen and Bayern). Sorry moneybags, due to budgetary constraints, the sample size isn't larger. But the result?

First Place: Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen (Aying, Germany) 8.5/10

This was the last beer tasted, but immediately I knew this is what the others were striving for. Though imported, it didn't taste like it had been sitting on a shelf for months. The malty notes had a complexity and freshness that you get only when you have a beer in Bavaria. And a perfect example of how to hop a German beer.

Second Place: Heater Allen Bob-toberfest (McMinnville, Oregon) 8/10

I've been impressed by every beer from Rick Allen's one-man, lager-only operation. This one was exceptional, and surprising in how dead-on it was to the German style. I was convinced this was the winner of my brief experiment until I tried Ayinger. Very similar, but it was lacking some its dimension. Still...

Third Place: Paulaner Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen (Munich, Germany) 7/10

Slightly less malty and complex than the previous two. It had that green-glass whiff of Becks, which is selling it short. It's still a good example of the style, and the closest thing to the holiday's patron saint.

Fourth Place: Bayern Oktoberfest (Missoula, Montana) 5/10

Loved for being one of the few domestic breweries to focus on German Lagers, Bayern came highly recommended. But the moment I poured it into a glass, I couldn't understand what the hell they were thinking. It was almost as dark as a Black Butte, which is at least 3 times darker than Oktoberfest should be. After tasting it, you're not sure what style it's more suited to be. A weak dunkel? Or a wasted opportunity?

I realize there are other great examples out there. Suggestions?

Beer You Should Try Right Now - local summer lager

At this point, we're on the backside of summer and it's getting away fast. I'm starting to feel a little tenseness in people, probably because we get pissy in August at the prospect of not getting through half our summer to-do list. Maybe this is an Oregon phenomena, born out of our climate and all the seasonal disorders that come with it.

Hopefully you had the sense to at least drink some of the great beers produced for the heat of summer. If no, it's not too late! Sometimes it's easy to overlook those lighter old-world beers when you live in the land of high gravity, but trust me, you'll miss the opportunity to cleanse your bitter palate.

When Portland was melting and dripping through a two-week "Xtreme Heatwave 2009!" last month, not one person was craving a double IPA. No, not even those d-bags who declare "I'm a hop head" to barely-interested women. I love my hops as much as the next douchebag, but it was not the time to feel remorseful about a beer decision. It was, however, the perfect time to actually try those dusty lagers we've all wondered about. So exotic!

The catch is, Spaten, Urquell, Paulaner and Einbecker taste alive in the homeland and shitty here in the states. Meanwhile, decent domestic lagers are limited on the hop n' ale-obsessed West Coast. But it seems like token lagers are showing up more frequently at the bigger microbreweries, so there's hope. Full Sail deserves credit for knocking LTD, Session and Session Black out of the park.

Since I'm partial to local beers, it seemed logical for me to finally try the Pils and IsarWeizen from Heater Allen Brewing, out of McMinnville. Don't-call-it-"Heather" Allen is actually Rick Allen, a one-man, lager-only operation using only German 2-row malt... I knew there was a niche for this, but had no idea this many people would flip for an unpopular style in the NW. I was getting tired of every beer steward and beer fetishist asking what I thought of them. Or begging me to try.

And now I'm not sure why the hell I waited until a heatwave. Both beers (from the bottle) were the closest things to true bohemian beer I've had since Munich and Vienna. The pils had a light balance of biscuit-y yeast and pale malt tones, never would it cling to your mouth on a sweltering day. It wasn't complicated, it was just everything you wanted from a fresh, handmade pilsner. Then again, maybe my taste has been blunted by too many uber-hopped IPAs and stouts. I dunno.

The IsarWeizen was stunningly good on the hottest day. Apparently based on a Munich wheat beer, it tastes like a hefe and a wit/weiss made hay. As much as I'm over wheat beer and dislike white, this was amazing. It was fresh and quenching, yet the golden, unfiltered body had presence. It's like a bucket of cold water on your ale-drinking ways. I'm buying a few more 22's before Allen moves on to a fall seasonal. If you grab some, drink what you can now... they're not meant to be saved and aged.

There are darker and heavier options from Allen, and hoppier ales from any number of brewers, but really, what's the point of avoiding local, seasonal beers at the time they should be enjoyed? You wouldn't turn down a chef who's excited about his haul of fresh food harvested that day, would you?