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WORCESTER INCORPORATED ZYMURGISTS ADVANCING REAL DRAUGHTS |
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Octoberfest was the theme of our October club meeting again this year. But this year's event could be called anything but typical. Between the homebrews and commercial beers, we had fifteen different Ofests to sample and rate.
Three flights were created from the entries and doled out to three different teams. The teams ranked the brews on a scale of 1-5 and the top two beers from each flight were submitted to a Best of Show round. With the entire club judging, Sam Adams Octoberfest was proclaimed the best of the best.
As a sad footnote, this is the first time in club history that a commercial beer has won the annual Octoberfest challenge over one of the club's homebrews. Hopefully this will not become a trend.
Complete results and tasting notes are shown in the table below.
| Entry | Flight/Place | Brewer | Tasting Notes |
| A1 | BOS/1st Place | Sam Adams | Heavy hop bitterness for Ofest; not much malt in aroma; hops dominate over malt |
| A1 | Flight 1/2nd Place | Sam Adams | Copper color; nice head; sweet malt and fruity; hops low; roasted malt flavor with slight bitterness on tongue; slightly harsh |
| B2 | BOS/2nd Place | Thomas Hooker | Malt over hop aroma; malt in nose; clean; good hop/malt balance; Munich malt character and sweetness |
| B2 | Flight 2/2nd Place | Thomas Hooker | Slight malty aroma; lingering bitterness; malty palate; touch of harshness; bitterness over malt |
| B3 | BOS/3rd Place (tie) | Harpoon | Good malt nose; little bitterness at the end; thin; bit too bitter for an Ofest |
| B3 | Flight 2/1st Place | Harpoon | Nice malt aroma; no hop in nose; nice malt/aroma balance |
| C4 | BOS/3rd Place (tie) | Spaten | Munich nose but could use more malt; good hop/malt balance; medium body |
| C4 | Flight 3/2nd Place | Spaten | Tight head retention; good clarity; good beer; solid base malts; sweetness is right; good nose |
| A3 | BOS/5th Place | Otter Creek | Good head; malty nose; Munich malt sweetness in taste |
| A3 | Flight 1/1st Place | Otter Creek | Copper color; clear; nice head; malty aroma; body low; malty with a slight nutty finish |
| C3 | BOS/6th Place | Brooklyn | Hop and malt aroma; caramel; very thin; metallic finish |
| C3 | Flight 3/1st Place | Brooklyn | Mild on malt; good clarity; no at robust; clean finish; good session beer |
| A2 | Flight 1 | Saranac | Copper color; ok head; malty nose; slight tang; vegetal flavor but not bad beer |
| A4 | Flight 1 | Hacker Pschorr | Copper color; clear; ok head; sour flavor |
| A5 | Flight 1 | Dave's Ofest | Dark Copper color; nice clarity; good head retention; oxidized; malty flavor; heavy handed on spice |
| B1 | Flight 2 | Berkshire | Butter aroma; diacetyl covers light maltiness |
| B4 | Flight 2 | Wurzburger Hofbrau | Golden in color - light for an Ofest; thin - very light in malt; not an OFest |
| B5 | Flight 2 | Deja Brew | Little light in color; Light but dominating hop aroma; more hop than malt in taste; too thin |
| C1 | Flight 3 | Paper City | Sweet for an Ofest; too many chocolate malts; good balance - Chuck liked it; good clarity; nice head |
| C2 | Flight 3 | Wachusett | Cloudy; bitter finish; not enough Munich character; n9ice head; lingering aftertaste |
| C5 | Flight 3 | Jeremy's Ofest | Slight chill haze; nice head; too much chocolate malt - cloying sweetness; too dark |
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