Old Nation Oktoberfest

A Brief Aside on Old Nation Oktoberfest

In Beer Reviews by Karl

Old Nation Oktoberfest can and glass in a backyard.

One thing that’s pretty great about the modern craft beer landscape: So many more breweries are willing to take a swing at making a lager. Even better? The ratio of hits to misses has gotten *so* much better in the past few years.

Take, for example, this Old Nation Oktoberfest. It’s a solid marzen! Bordering on pretty good, even. Pleasant color, lightly sweet with your expected caramel-toffee nutty-toastiness, all well and good. Pretty straighforward, and that’s not a bad thing when it comes to these extremely-well-established styles.

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But prior to a few years ago, would you expect even a passable dark lager from a brewery mostly known for leading the way on hazy IPAs across Michigan? I might be grading on a curve because I really was pleasantly surprised by this beer after being bummed out by their West Coast IPA (not nearly bitter enough for me; but hey, my palate might still be blown out by that Devil Dancer Triple IPA I had like 8 years ago).

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But this Old Nation Oktoberfest really serves to remind me – you just can’t discount lagers from mostly-ale-producing breweries any more. That’s a pretty great thing. We’d love to see more of them, too – and especially let us know when you start spotting locally produced schwarzbiers whenever you see them.

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About the Author

Karl

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Karl has written about food, travel and beer for Chicago Magazine, Thrillist, Time Out Chicago, AskMen and more. His book, Beer Lovers Chicago, is now available via Amazon and other booksellers. If you're buying, he's likely having a porter or a pale ale.

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