20120913

Samuel Adams Octoberfest

A spur of the moment decision, on a spur of the moment day. I guess there is no time better to get into the Octoberfest season than Septemeber 11th... Why? I have no clue, but I guess I can finally get over the whole it's too early for pumpkin beers thing too. Kind of odd that yesterday the humidity in this town went form 367% down to feeling like I am back home in Tacoma, WA right now. It is chilly to what I am used to but nice all in the same time. I love it.

Twitter taught me something new today. It actually made my dinner plans. While looking through my feed I found this article... and you know what? I decided I should do it. Now I'm not really a fan of Beer Cocktails or anything to that extent, but I just figured I would order everything off of the menu insert that they had. Too easy, right?



Well, clearly the first thing I did was order this beer. Samuel Adams Octoberfest. I have heard pretty much only good things about this one and I was skeptical going into it because there has not been many beers from this company that I would ever revisit. Though, I will continue to try anything they release for many reasons. I am sure you understand.

This beer was actually a lot better than I expected. It had a nice caramelly bready nose, and the taste to follow and dry on top of that. It had a smooth, all over bitterness. I thought it was pretty nice and tasty. I am still making my mind on if I will come back to this one or not but it is probably the best beer I had from the company. A bit later I got to get my hands on the Octoberfest Shake... Now that was interested.



The next thing to come out were my pretzel bites. They were pretty thick and doughy. No skimping in this area. Very nice with a light touch of pretzel salt and a beer cheese dipping sauce and a honey mustard I believe. The mustard seemed more like a glaze. It was pretty thin and very sweet. The beer cheese was like that stuff you get at amusement parks on your nachos. Never bad, but who knows where they could have taken it. I am not sure what beer they used in the cheese and the mustard but it was still good.

Now, I have been to Red Robin a few times in my day, but never did I expect what I did when I ordered my burger... The appetizers had just got to the table, I haven't gotten very far into my beer yet and then about 2 minutes later my food shows up... surprised me to all hell. I really just did not know how to take it.



I have had a few burgers in my time but I do not think I ever had one to the likes of this... There was a whole lot going on in this one. The Oktoberfest burger was brought out to me with a toasted pretzel bun, covered in beer mustard, topped with Swiss cheese, lettuce and sauteed onions. I haven't had ham on many hamburgers but this one had it. I just did not know where or how to start. Not sure if I should cut this one in half or just go for it. I guess I did not have to deal with the egg situation like last time I couldn't make the decision, but oh well. I decided to just pick it up... as soon as I did though, this showed up...



I have only once considered doing a beer float and that was with some Old Rasputin. That beer seems like it would be the perfect balance of kick ass with the vanilla. I thought this one was a weird combination of the caramel and vanilla, which doesn't make sense to me... then again, it could have been the fact that it was a beer float. It was not horrible, but for sure not my thing. Again, I drink my beers straight. I have problems ordering Black and Tans but I will if they look as beautiful as this. I kind of wish I could have got a to go cup, but I guess in this city that is a no go. It was a shake after all, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal.

All in All, this was an interesting buy. I guess it was my first step into the season so that is pretty awesome, but I am hoping that I am able to find a pumpkin next weekend. Sure, it may be too early but I want to get started on brewing my Pumpkin Ale. I guess I can wait if not though. I have a few other things ready to come down the pipeline. I would definitely check it out being it is new, or back and all. I kind of wish I would have tried the Ghost Chili burger though...

Prost!

2 comments:

  1. Interesting. Don't think I've ever been aware of beer-floats in this type of chain restaurant. I've made beer-floats out of my own home-brew, but always a stout, an imperial stout, or a chocolate stout. Don't think I ever considered making one with an Oktoberfest. Maybe I should give it a try with the Oktoberfest I will be kegging soon.

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  2. I will leave that decision to you. It was definitely interesting but stout is probably the only way to go. Then again, what do I know? This was my first.

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