Two Brothers Atom Smasher [REDUX]

Brewed By: Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 (2014 vintage)

Style/ABV: American-Style Oktoberfest, 7.7%
Reported IBUs: 22.6

Holy shit. I can't believe my review of this beer from 2011. That's right...back in 2011, back when I thought I was hot shit, I reviewed the Atom Smasher. And at that time, I thought this beer was pretty solid. Since then, I have been seeking this beer out every year. I figured it was time to give my updated thoughts on it. About Two Brothers:

Two Brothers are based out of Warrenville, Illinois, a town not far from Chicago. Two brothers was founded in 1996 by brother Jason and Jim Ebel. Their brewery and Tap House Restaurant are both located in Warrenville. Their distribution and production seems to be increasing with each year, and along with their beer you can buy home brewing equipment and supplies at the Tap House Restaurant. If you get the chance, swing by and check out their Roundhouse. It's an awesome joint, and needs all the love it can get. For more information, check out their about page/website.

The Atom Smasher is part of the Two Brothers' "J Series" of beers. This Oktoberfest-style beer has a unique twist: it is aged in Oak Foudres. 

You're probably wondering why I'm doing a redux review of this beer, or why I even care enough to review it twice. After all, the Oktoberfest style is one of the most boring styles of beer. Well, I'm here to tell you...this is probably the best Oktoberfest available in the Midwest. Or at least in Chicago and the state of Illinois.

Two Brothers Atom Smasher [REDUX]

I mean, just look at that dark orange/copper body. Look at that caramel head. This beer is several shades darker than most Oktoberfests, and deposits brilliant alcohol legs which hint at the 7.7% lurking beneath. 

The aroma here is equally intriguing. The oak foudres contribute very subtle notes on the nose with gentle vanilla, oak, and wood coming through in the aroma. You also get huge caramel sugars, toast, and big nuttiness. This beer is exceptionally nutty, and it does veer into weird pork/sausage aromas. The whole aroma is backed by dried berries and suggestive fruity notes. It's a complex aroma, it's sweet, it's nutty, it's fruity, it's oaky...it smells fucking amazing. And it's just an Oktoberfest!

This also tastes incredibly complex...and not just for the style. As a beer, in general, this is very complex. There are molasses, dark sugar, oak, vanilla, caramel, berries, nuts, and dried berries at work in this beer. The beer lingers for a while, driven by some bitter hops and toasted notes, and then lingers with sweet sugars and lingering barrel. The main characters here are -- of course -- sweet and malty. And there's plenty of that; big caramel, oak, vanilla, and malty sugars. There are also nice bready notes in here. But this is really a big, flavorful beer. And it better be at 7.7%.

I'd call this beer medium-full bodied. It's not quite Stout, but it is thick and it is sweet. You might not guess this is 7.7%, and you might not guess this is barrel-aged. But in terms of the style, this is "off." The barrel-aging compromises the Oktoberfest character just slightly, and for the better. The barrel adds complexity, and this beer is definitely complex. It also has great palate depth. Up front are sugar, caramel, oak, vanilla, and barrel; the mids roll into dried berries, hops, dark fruits, toast, nuttiness; the back end trails with nuttiness, lingering oak/vanilla, and sugary sweetness. If all Oktoberfest beers were this good, the style would be more popular. This is my desert island Oktoberfest.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is probably the best Oktoberfest I have had. It is certainly the best Oktoberfest in the Midwest, or at least in Illinois. Maybe you are thinking to yourself: "But wait! This beer is aged in oak foudres! That is cheating." Well, you know what? Fuck you. Seriously. If the Germans want to start aging their Oktoberfest in oak barrels, I support that decision. This is a style that bores me to tears, and here we find Two Brothers injecting some new life into it. This is a blissful, fantastic beer. I literally buy a 6-pack of this every Fall. This beer pairs well with cooler weather, football, and any German meal you can throw at it. I'm talking about sausage, bratwurst, sauerkraut, pretzel bun sandwiches...anything. It's also cheap at around $10 a 6-pack. So good. 

Random Thought: Dear Two Brothers, please continue to make this beer forever. It is one of your best beers, by a long shot. Regards. 

Goose Island Oktoberfest

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 30JUL14 aka 7/30/14)

Style/ABV: Oktoberfest, 6.4% 

Reported IBUs: 17

I can't believe they brewed this one back in July. About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2013, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

The Goose Island Oktoberfest is a seasonal release made available between August and September. This one is brewed with Hallertau hops, and Carapils, Munich 10, 2-Row, C-20, C-40, and C-120 malts. 

Goose Island Oktoberfest

This pours into a pretty gorgeous reddish/orange/caramel body. I swear this beer is slightly hazy, but I could be wrong. This also yields two fingers of caramel-tinted head, and there is good retention and lacing. 

The aroma here goes for those sweet malt notes...typical of the style. This isn't the most intriguing Oktoberfest in existence (I think I need to re-review Two Brother's Atom Smasher), but there is pretty ample amounts of caramel, some nuttiness, dried fruits, raisin/apple sweetness, and bready aromatics. There is a faint toastiness in here as well.

If you like sweet beer, the Oktoberfest style, or bready notes...you are in the right place. This is malty with bright and fruity caramel, raisins, dried berries, and huge bread notes. I'm talking about whole grain bread...the stuff you make sandwiches with. Only sweeter. This veers into some honey notes, with slight nuttiness, and finishes with a touch of grassy hops. It's aggressive and big.

Considering the InBev acquisition, you'd be concerned that something as simple as an Oktoberfest would be dialed down and neutered. But that's not the case here. This beer extends beyond its 6.4% in terms of body, delivering a full-bodied mouthfeel that is dense and malty. This is incredibly sweet. I mean you could probably recommend this to your non-drinking friends. The hops do make a late appearance, with caramel, dried berries, and bread up front; more bread and honey in the mids, with some hints of toast; and clean grassy hops on the back. This isn't very complex but it has good depth and duration. It's actually a fairly good take on the style.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. Fuck yeah, American Oktoberfest! This might be the second best readily available American Oktoberfest in the Chicagoland area...after Two Brother's Atom Smasher. This is fantastically constructed, with bold caramel malts and lots of interesting fruitiness that elevates this otherwise "meh" style. This is great as far as Autumn beers go...I'd pair this with football, hot soup, a stew, chili, or some traditional German food. I'm talking about wieners. 

Random Thought: Seriously...this style of beer doesn't warrant no crazy review.

Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest

Brewed By: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, Illinois; 2014 (Bottled on 07/07/2014)

Style/ABV: Oktoberfest/Märzen, 5.0% 

Reported IBUs: 24

I'm pretty sure that tonight's beer is not actually brewed in oak, despite its name. I'm assuming the name is a reference to Firestone's reputation for oak-aging beer, and is a coincidental and confusing pun. About Firestone: 

Tonight I'm looking at a beer from the folks at Firestone Walker Brewing. The brewery was founded by brothers-in-law Adam Firestone (son of Brooks Firestone) and David Walker (husband of Adam's sister). The brothers brewed their first beer in 1996, in a small facility rented from the Firestone Vineyard estate in Santa Barbara County. In 2001, the brothers-in-law purchased SLO Brewing Company in Paso Robles, CA, and set up camp. Despite being relatively new to craft beer, the brewery has a ton of accolades, and is known for their Reserve line and their oak barrel brewing system. You can learn more about the history of the brewery here and here. 

The Oaktoberfest is an Oktoberfest/Marzen style beer. Per Brewbound: "The name Oaktoberfest is a nod to the brewery’s hometown of Paso Robles—Spanish for “Pass of The Oaks”—as well as the longtime presence of oak barrels as a central part of the Firestone Walker brewing operation. The checkered blue and white pattern on the label echoes the Bavarian flag and pays homage to the style." This one is fermented in stainless steel, and brewed using Weyermann Pilsner, Weyermann & Vienna, Munich, Cara-Hell, and Cara-Red malts; and German Hallertau hops. Punching in at 5.0% and 24 IBUs, this one is available as a seasonal release.

This one pours into a dark golden-amber body, kicking up a finger of gold-tinged head. The head retains nicely for a Lager, and there is good carbonation. The carbonation is also persistent and lasts long for a Lager. There is some nice lacing, and a centimeter of head is hanging around for what looks to be the long haul.

On the aroma, I'm getting lots of gentle malts. There's some honey, toast, biscuit, biscuit-grain, light grassy hops, and lots of bread. It's a gentle, malt-forward nose.

This is straightforward and drinkable...this has big grainy bread, biscuit, toasted malts, some nice honey notes, and grassy hops that show up to clean things up towards the back. There's a Pilsner-like biscuit note on the back end, and this has a nicely attenuated and dry finish. If you take big mouthfulls, the malts really dominate with bread and toasted notes. It's clean, drinkable, and really very nice.

This is medium to light-bodied. It's clean and refreshing, with good palate depth and complexity for the style. At 5.0% you can drink lots of this. I think that's the point. Up front: sweet toasted malts, bready malts, biscuit; the mids roll into honey, toast, some grassy hops; the back end goes full biscuit, with a clean, dry, and attenuated finish. This is reminiscent of a Vienna, Pilsner, and Marzen...kinda rolled up into a nice and refined package.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is super clean and super drinkable...I'd pick this up again to pair with some football and Fall weather. It's probably not as good as Two Brothers' Atom Smasher, or Ayinger's Oktoberfest, but it should compliment your one liter glass and your sausage and pretzel dish. 

Random Thought: I bet this tastes fantastic when racked on oak. I'm still looking for that world-class Oktoberfest...

New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest Beer

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013

Style/ABV: Oktoberfest/Märzen, 6.25% 

Reported IBUs: ?

And for part two of our twofer, we jump into our time machine for this Autumn seasonal. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Staghorn Octoberfest is brewed with Midwest grains, "expensive hops," fresh yeast from Germany, and Wisconsin water. 

New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest Beer

This one also gushed on me...but I did drop the bottle. The beer pours into a clear/filtered amber body, with some brown/gold tones. A finger of off-white, amber-tinted head forms, but quickly fades leaving some lacing and a nice cauldron effect. In bright light the beer is a dark gold/bronze color, and there is lots of carbonation rising upwards.

The aroma is light, clean, and malty. I'm getting lots of sweet malt, toast, and toffee on the aroma. There's also some grain, caramel, a hint of cocoa or molasses, and maybe a little brown sugar spice? I'm also getting some mild hop character, probably Noble hops.

The taste is clean with great malt complexity. After the wash of clean, slightly spicy lager yeast/water, you get big caramel/toffee, nuttiness, hints of cocoa/molasses, and a sweet and sharp spice note that is reminiscent of brown sugar. The Noble hops cut through the whole beer. 

This works as an Autumn beer and Oktoberfest, with good palate depth and complexity. I think this could be a bit sweeter and more rustic, but I'm not complaining. This is drinkable, but boozy enough to get you drunk. Maybe stop after you have a liter or two. The mouthfeel is medium to medium-full bodied, with good carbonation. Up front is spicy lager yeast and burgeoning malts; that rolls into tons of malt complexity, with caramel/toffee, nuttiness, hints of cocoa, more spice; the back end finishes clean thanks to the hops that cut through the beer. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I'm drinking this a bit late, so I wonder what this tastes like fresh. I would pair this beer with any German or Swedish dishes. It's an Oktoberfest, brah. Pretzels and football would also work. Again, you can't beat the price on this, so I wouldn't hesitate to pick up this American-made Oktoberfest. 

Random Thought: I'm too sleepy for random thoughts. Stay tuned for much more New Glarus. 

Revolution Oktoberfest Revolution

Brewed By: Revolution Brewing Company (Revolution Beer LLC) in Chicago, IL

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Oktoberfest/Märzen, 5.7%

Reported IBUs: 25

What, it's not pumpkin season, brodette. It's Oktoberfest/Märzen season. Which is perfect, because football just started, and nothing says football like a nice, malty-sweet Lager. About Revolution:

Revolution Brewing is a brewery and brewpub based in Chicago. Revolution's roots are tied to founder Josh Deth, a homebrewer who began working at Golden Prairie Brewing. A few years later, while working at Goose Island, Josh dreamt up the idea for Revolution Brewing. In 2003, Josh and his wife opened Handlebar, while Josh worked as an Executive Director of Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. While working for the Chamber of Commerce, Josh found an old building on Milwaukee Avenue, and the wheels began to spin to open up a brewery. After three years of raising funds, Revolution Brewing opened its doors on February 2010. In July of 2011, Revolution added a 2nd floor Brewers' Lounge. And in 2012, the company opened a new production brewery and tap room. The brewpub is located in Logan Squre on 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave; the brewery is located on Kedzie Avenue at 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. For more information on Revolution, check out their history page here! 

The Revolution Oktoberfest is an American-style German Oktoberfest. Brewed with Hallertauer Hersbrucker hops, this beer is crisp, with balanced bitterness, spicy/earthy aromas, and some toasty malt sweetness. Punching in at a 5.7% ABV and 25 IBUs...this beer happily comes in 6-pack cans for maximum awesomeness.

Revolution Oktoberfest Revolution

As you'd expect, the beer pours a clear, clean, transparent, copper/amber color, and kicks up three to four fingers of soapy, off-white head. In bright light, the head picks up some light tan/copper, and the boddy is a nice copper/brown/gold color. There's some carbonation in the mix, and some lacing.

The aroma on this beer is very nice, with some malty sweetness, a bit of toasted malt, toast/bread, that classic clean Lager finish, and some yeasty/hop spice with hints of cinnamon, allspice, and floral/earthy bitterness.

You get a nice follow through of the aroma in the taste, with tons of malty sweetness veering in the direction of sweet raisins and apples. There's some nice toast in the taste, and some floral bitterness and earthy hops. The beer is clean and refreshing, and pretty easy-going.

There's really not much to see here...this is a good, if not above-average Oktoberfest. The biggest consideration for me is the fact that this is locally brewed, and locally available. If you live in or around Chicago, this beer should be pretty easy to find. The mouthfeel is clean, crispy, carbonated, and light-bodied to medium-light-bodied. Palate depth is good for the style, and complexity is okay. It's a lot of malt sweetness up front, with some toasty malts in the middle, and a toasty, floral, lightly hoppy finish. Very Autumn, very drinkable, great football beer.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. There's not much else to say. It's an Oktoberfest...it's a great style of beer, and one of my favorites come September and October, but it's pretty straightforward. I love to pair these beers with pretzels, football, and burgers, but this is also an awesome beer to rock out on your deck or porch all through September. This beer also goes great with the those late Summer/early Autumn baseball games. 

Random Thought: Oktoberfest is all about the party anyway, right?