Tasting Session: Beer!

Granted, Oktoberfest celebrations are probably done but that didn't stop us from having a beer tasting! I've always been eager to learn more about beer and hosting a beer tasting so tonight was a great night to have friends over. Sadly I wasn't feeling well so I couldn't actively participate in the tasting but it was fun nonetheless hearing the thoughts of everyone as they tasted each one.

Before we hit the bottles, I served up some fall fare so we wouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach. I served up the following dishes and my friends Megan & Matt were so kind to drop off some Michigan goodies including fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts!

Beer Braised Bratwursts
with garlic mustard & yellow mustard
along with stuffed olives & dill pickle spears

Caramelized Onions

German Potato Salad

Apple Cider Donuts
Hot Fresh Apple Cider

Cherry Linzer Cheesecake

After we enjoyed a light dinner, we got to drinking! Here's what everyone brought and our overall thoughts. We did a very loose rating with 1 being awful and 5 being awesome...

shared by Linda

This is a fruit beer made with raspberries. Up front, you get the sweet and fruit aroma of raspberries but it quickly dissapates and the lingering finish is of a strong wheat flavor. Overall group rating = 3.5/5

shared by Erin

We all agree the packaging is definitely eye catching and colorful. It's hard to determine from the packaging what flavors to really expect but friends pointed out that there were definitely fruit aromas with some blueberry flavors. Overall group rating = 3.5/5

shared by Eric

Eric brought this wine after being first introduced to this while overseas. Apparently in London, this wine is pretty common, whereas it's not always available or offered at local wine/beer shops here in Chicago. This is a French beer (who knew the French made beer?!) and it got a lot of rave reviews from everyone! Kronenbourg was clearly one of the favorites of the night with it's clean and not too strong flavor. Overall rating = 4.5/5

shared by Eric

This Stiegl is an Austrian beer that was also well liked by others. With a bit of wheat aromas and some nuttiness, it went down smooth and not too dry. Overall rating = 4/5

shared by Shawna

This was a very light beer with quite a bit of effervescence many didn't quite expect. One even said it reminded her of Champagne. This beer involved a combination of wheat, oat and barley, which contributed to it's light flavor. Overall rating = 4/5

shared by Sandy

What's a beer tasting in October without an Leinie Oktoberfest?! This seemed pretty run of the mill compared to the others. It's a nice beer that captures the best things about fall in a glass. From the auburn color, rich aroma of wheat, nuts, spice, to the smooth flavor, it was good but nothing that made it stand apart from the others. Despite it being a good bear, overall rating considering the other beers in the tasting = 3.5/5

shared by Todd

We saved the richest and darkest beer for last. This Omegang has such a beautifully rich dark chocolate color we all expected it to be strong and flavor forward. Much to everyone's surprise it was a lot lighter in flavor. Hints of caramel and molasses were detected and got an overall rating = 4/5


I hope to learn more about beer and possibly participate next year! Do you have a favorite beer? If you do, share and we just might include it in our next beer tasting!