The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
Come sit around the campfire and join in on the fun!
The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 134 - Fall Beers, Found Flavor
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The fall beer slump finally met its match. After weeks of thin American Oktoberfests, we lined up a smarter tasting: Sam Adams’ Fall Legends variety pack, a side-by-side of 3 Sheeps’ classic vs. bourbon barrel-aged Oktoberfest, and two high-ABV curveballs from Spearfish Brewing in South Dakota. The result? Real flavor, clean contrasts, and two undeniable winners.
We kick off with Sam Adams Jack-O—a pumpkin beer with cinnamon and nutmeg that lands crisp instead of cloying—then measure their Oktoberfest against the field. The Munich dunkel (Flannel Fest) brings richer malt and roasted notes, while the new Harvest Helles keeps things bright with biscuit and floral hop aroma. From there, we hit the moment we’ve been waiting for: 3 Sheeps Roll Out the Barrel, a 12.5% barrel-aged Märzen that adds vanilla, oak, and caramel without losing balance. Smooth, layered, and shockingly drinkable, it’s proof that barrel-aging can turn a decent fall lager into a standout seasonal.
We round things out with Spearfish Brewing’s Adventure Pants double IPA (10.2% with tropical aromatics and a surprisingly gentle finish) and Big Bird Bones, a 16.5% imperial stout aged in malted whiskey barrels. That stout is all depth and restraint—roasty, bold, minimal carbonation, and no sugary burn—tailor-made for fans of serious barrel-aged beers.
If you’ve been disappointed by this year’s Oktoberfests, this tasting maps a better route through fall: pumpkin done right, dunkels with backbone, lagers that stay crisp, and barrel-aged beers that actually elevate the style. Give it a listen, grab the standouts, and tell us what you want us to open next. Subscribe, share with a beer-loving friend, and drop a review so we can keep the good stuff flowing.
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.
If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.
Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beard Guy, and once again I am joined by Jim. How are you doing, buddy? Doing alright, man. How about yourself? I'm still trying to get over that last episode. It's just like got right my craw. Yeah. How's your head doing, by the way? Uh I'm still waiting for my head massage from my beautiful bride. Well, there you go. I'm guessing you're gonna be waiting for a while. Oh, you're that's I'm just guessing. Are you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, we uh we've been striking out on American Oktoberfest, dude. It's just kind of been bad. Disappointing, yeah to say the least. So this episode we're changing up a little bit. All right. Yep. We do have what did we count? Four? Do we have four Oktoberfests? Four-ish. These are more kind of fall. Yes. Because we do have kind of a mixture of these. And then uh you said you have a couple of surprises. Right. My neighbor was way out west in South Dakota. Okay, and he brought back a couple beers that he tried something similar and he said they were good. Okay. But I think they have a shelf life because they're in a crawler, so oh, sure. They may not tie in with this, but I think it'll be a good because I think this might be a springboard for us into future episodes. Well, I guess. I think maybe we can finish some of the Octoberfests. Yeah, I think this, unless we come across a crazy number of Oktoberfests, this is probably gonna be the finale of the Oktoberfests. Yes. Which this year I hate to say it, but thank goodness. Yes. We haven't we I mean, I'd actually, I guess in my opinion, the pumpkin beers actually were done better than the October Fest. If you 100%, I think we had way better pumpkin beers this year. Uh in the past, I think we had better Oktoberfests. Yep, but this year I think the pumpkin beers were were kind of king a little bit. So awesome. Well, hey, we might as well uh we'll break into the first one here. All right, and now you said you had found a fall variety pack, fall legends variety pack. Yes, and this was from Sam Adams. Yes, so there were four in there, yeah. Four beers, so they're all like fall themed. So this is gonna be interesting. So the first one that we and again we are going by ABV on these, and I think what we'll do, we're gonna do is we're going to rate the fall beers against each other, then we'll they'll break into the two special ones that you break. Awesome. Because they're there, that's not gonna be a fair comparison, right? And and then we can make a clean cut for the Oktoberfest one. There you go. There you go. And hopefully we find one that tastes good. We're hoping. So the first one that we have from Sam Adams is their Jack O. And it's a pumpkin beer, so like Jack O'Lantern. Oh. 4.4% ABV and eight. Eight IBUs. That's now that's almost like what's the difference between zero and eight? Well, eight. Nothing in IBUs world, right? Probably. We've learned that sometimes if it said 88, there's nothing. And we've had ones that said 18, and you're like, whoa, that is hoppy. So I'm not expecting this to be being a pumpkin beer. All right. So the description on this one is the Jack O cinnamon and nutmeg aromas recall memories of freshly baked pumpkin pie. It has the ideal balances of seasonal spices with a crisp, refreshing finish. Put on your Halloween costume, crack one open, and treat yourself before the trick-or-treaters arrive. All right. Well, because we have had some pumpkin beer, so we might, I think we can maybe have a good comparison to what we had to how Sam Adams does it. I think you're right. So hopefully, knock on wood, this continues that really good pumpkin flavor that we've noticed on a bunch of the other ones that we've had. And let's hope they have some flavor. Yeah, let's not follow the Oktoberfest that we've had. The American Oktoberfest ones. I you can smell spice for sure, like a pumpkin spice. Oh, yeah. See again. The Oktoberfest have had no aroma. The pumpkin beers have all had pretty good aroma. This is got you can tell right away that there's it looks that kind of that pumpkin y kind of a color. Right. It's diff different color than the marzans. Oh, yeah, yeah. All right. Wow. That's good. Wow. That's really good. That's really good. That wow. That has a really it's not like spot on pumpkin pie flavor, but it's real close. Yeah, I mean, very good balance of cinnamon and nutmeg.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that is really Sam Adams. You did a good one on here. Again, this is this is good. This is really good. Boy, I tell you what, Oktoberfest, you gotta step here, step up your game. Yeah, this you're gonna be losing something in these pumpkin beers. I mean, Sam Adams has really got it locked in here. Yeah, this is this is good. I like that. I mean, Chris refreshing. This is what you this is what I'm looking for in a fall beer. Yeah, and like I said, you know, it it it's not like exact pumpkin spice, right? But it's it's close. And I think if you've never had it, you should try it. Yeah, and I mean it I think it's got a good balance. Yep. Oh, I agree. Of all the the different flavors, all really mixed good together, the finish is smooth, and then four point four point four. You could drink a number of them, right? And I don't think I'd get tired of that flavor, honestly. I could have a couple of me, you know, maybe after right. You drink so many, you might get tired of it, but that's good. So, what are you thinking? You why don't you go first? I'm gonna go a 3.0. Whoa, yeah, it's been a while since I've ever been there. I've visited that realm. You haven't seen that number in a while. I think that's good. I really like it. I I think their flavor, it's not way too overpowering of a pumpkin pie flavor, and it's not like drowned out. So I I really I enjoy it, I think it's really good. And and then to echo right in everything you said, I think it falls right in with those pumpkin beers that we've rated a couple times. It's really good. It's in that it would be in the same category. Oh, yeah. I think this would have fit in really well with that with that category. So yeah, I'm gonna job that that was the same score. I was I was gonna say 3.0, and it it fit right in, or it's not we yeah, we've had some really good. I was gonna say, you look back on that episode a couple weeks ago, and it's just like, man, those are good. You know, again, the the pumpkin veneration, we we did nominate that for a beer of the year class, but uh, even the ones that weren't barely, they've been really good this year. Yes, I give them credit. That's really good. Yeah, well, now we're gonna see now the Sam Adams doing Oktoberfest. Yes, and this one is also orange, uh, just a little darker colored orange than the pumpkin. Oh, yep. That one's almost like uh like an orange itself, like a pumpkin, or yeah, that's more of an actual fruit orange color. The jack-o'-lantern was. This one's a little bit darker. Uh, this is their Oktoberfest Mars on 5.3% ABV and 16 IBUs. Nice. All right. So they doubled the IBUs on this bad boy. We're way up there. Way up there. Let's see what it says in 1810. I bet you can't guess where we're going. Uh-oh. Wasn't there a special isn't there a specification there? Something going on, some little party or something. All right. Uh, 1810, Munich threw a party so great that Oktoberfest became an annual 16-day autumn celebration of beer. This hearty and smooth Marzon is a prost to fall. Its deep amber color make mild, pleasant sweetness, and light hop character is a hearty but not too heavy signal to make the most of the crisper days ahead. Like fall, it's here for a limited time. Drink it in. Oh, and while you're opening that up, I didn't know if you oh man. You know, last week was so nice. I didn't have those questions. And did you see I I brought some questions for you? I thought that was just your list of the descriptions and stuff. Oh well, it is. It doubles, but I had I had to make sure I brought some stuff. Oh, because I you let me off too easy. Yes, because you were you actually touched on a couple of these questions. Wow. So I want to make sure I let the listeners know what we got going on. Well, this one is more of that color of an Amar that we're used to. This is darker colored, and the the head has got a little bit of that tannish, a little bit of a you know, off-white. A little bit, still not a lot of aroma. No, hmm. Not bad, not bad, but it's a little got a little bit of a what is that? Catches you off guard a little bit. It's in a good way, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. It's almost got a remember last week when I said something about tartness, it's almost got a tartness to it. To me, anyway. It's almost kind of like unless my taste buds are so shot from the other ones that I mean when you say tart, you're just where you're kind of like it's so because there is more flavor. I like the flavors for sure. Is it right where the German styles are? No, but this may be one of the better ones for the American Marzans that we've had, maybe. Yeah, I don't know. I could be styled in there. I had another drink, and it's yeah, I think you're right. It's definitely better. I think it's one of the better ones that we've had from the American uh brewers for an Oktoberfest so far. Yes, that wasn't, you know, right up there, but yeah, it's it's not bad. Yeah, and I think just to dovetail right in, I kind of remember my scores of the past couple of episodes for the American ones. This is I'm gonna say a 2.5, and I know that the score says by scoring is the middle of the road, but caveat, comma, for American Oktoberfest, this is at closer to the top of the heap. I was gonna say that makes sense. I hope that makes sense. 2.5 is probably one of the higher scores you've given a Oktoberfest so far, which is crazy. Um what are you thinking? Yeah, I'm gonna do the same thing, it's just it has flavor, you know, is and like you said, I mean, you perfectly summed it up. Is it reminiscent of the German? No, right, you know, it's still missing stuff, and it's you know, but it's at least got flavor, yes, you know. So yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, it's and I mean I think for the listeners have not had a pumpkin or an Oktoberfest beer, I'd recommend either one of these two. Sam Adams is doing a really good job with that. If you can find this fall variety pack, I'd get it. And I mean it, I was not able to find it locally. We had to go to the next town over to find it, and I bought two 12 packs of it. Well, there you go. Because I mean it wasn't like it was I don't know why it's not distributed as much. I don't I don't know what the rationale is there, but same. I knew Sam Adams usually does a pretty good job with their beers, so I was taking a leap of faith trying to get two 12 packs. Sure, yeah. No, I can understand that. So all right. So are you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. So you you kind of alluded to 1810, wedding, 16 days. Any of those answers close. Oh, okay, good. So um, we're kind of going back to old Oktoberfest. Okay, and did you know that there is another Oktoberfest celebration that goes on at the exact same time as the big Oktoberfest one? Beer Fest. What is the name of it? Well, according to the movie, it's Beerfest. I'm guessing that's not correct. Um so it goes takes place in Germany as well? Yep or wow. Uh I see I you never hear about it. No, because you see, you saw it in the movie, you thought that was all fake. Yeah, and it's actually reality. Is it yeah? That's that is it's an underground thing, too. No, it's oh no, I no, I not like the movie, no. Okay, wow. I be airfest. All right, I don't know. Odenweisen really old Oktoberfest. Really? A separate festival that runs at the same time, placing more emphasis on the traditional character of the Oktoberfest with brass music, historical attractions. So 2025 marks the 11th year. Oh, so it's fairly new, right? So And is that in Munich as well? It did not say um okay, but it did say in 2023 there was 480,000 people attending, which is huge, right? That's a pretty good size, not six million people or whatever that was, or seven million, whatever it was. It must be the lower key one, right? So because you brought the beer fest, so I was like, how did you like you tied right into that very first? So I'll just give you a minus thousand for that. That's all right. I don't mind. Um, but you were you were thinking, so it's probably more of like a family-friendly one, so they only have like five beer tents. Oh, there you go. Instead of like the 30 or 40, instead of whatever they are at that. I still can't believe that one tent has 11,000 people. Yeah, that's crazy. And it it took two weeks to put that tent up. Yeah, that is just unbelievable. I still say that's one of those that's one of my bucket list things. Yes, we need to do this before we before we can't kick a bucket, or before we kick a bucket, I should say. Before we get too old, yeah. All right, so what do we got now? So this one uh we're gonna go and visit three sheeps, which is is in another Sheboygan, right? They're another brewery that has the uh Urban Barrel Age-stuff dial dialed right in, yeah. And this is their Oktoberfest Marzon, okay, 5.5% ABB. All right, and again, this is not barrel-aged, this is their traditional Oktoberfest, and they say that we have a deep appreciation for the traditional German beers that laid the groundwork for what we brew and drink today. Our Oktoberfest is an ode to that tradition. It's a light-bodied and easy-drinking lager with pleasant caramel notes or caramel, depending on where you're at. Yep, making it the perfect beer to ring in the changing of the season. Nice. All right, well, that's good. It's got a good write-up. Yeah, and they're the the white and gold, or white and gold. I'm sorry, the blue and white diamonds. Yep. No, if they sent the music playing out of it, it'd be perfect. See, and it's the I think it's the durndal, whatever the dress is called. And she's got a beer pouring into the mug and all that. So it's I give them credit. They uh of all these beer cans, none of them have that kind of no, that's kind of crazy. That gets a tenth of a point in my book. Yeah, but we're gonna follow what Brian always said, give it an extra nod for the for artistry. Yeah, right. Because at least this one they're they're trying to try on. Yep. Well, there's that's gold. That is that's what I would imagine. That looks more like the Marzon from Germany than yes, that is what we've been waiting to see. You can't I can't see my fingers through the oh that's there's a little bit it's not it's got more aroma, I think, than a lot of them. It's a malty aroma. Yep. All right. Oh bad. Well, here goes nothing. Is that malty at the beginning? It looks malty, but it fades right away. Yeah, let's see. It said that it was light-bodied check, yep, easy drinking, check, pleasant caramel notes. Yeah, I'd say check. This one, I think, when it's the changing of the season, I think if it was a little cooler out, which it started to cool down a little bit, right? You know, it's not as hot as it was a week or so ago, but uh yeah, I can see sitting out outside, you know, having one of these if it's cold. Am I stepping out on a limb by saying I think we had one, was it the previous week that it was a little bit bitter? This one to me has a it's not bitter, but like a little on that, it's on that trail of bitterness. I don't know what would be it's almost like the malt is a little bit too overdone, maybe I hate to say it, but it's almost got slightly metallic taste to it. So I was hoping this one was gonna be a good one. I know, I know. Darn it. And you get to be first. Oh I'm glad you were you know, and that's the sad part because we're part of the barrel society, and I can't wait until we uh make a trip, get into those and uh do like a half a year worth of we're gonna have to figure out how we break some of that stuff up. We might have to take somebody with us to make that trip. We're gonna have to get like a U-Haul trailer or one of those big motorhomes, yeah. Motor coach or something. Yeah, you know, um this one, it's not bad. I mean, you can drink it, but it it's I think it's a step down. Just I'm gonna go 2.4. Okay. So one step below the Sam Adams. And like I said, like you had brought up, and and I do think it has almost a little bit of a tinny or a metallic taste to it, a little bit. It's not like we've had some that were bad, right? But like with that, you could drink it, you know. I don't know. I it's just it falls in line with some of the other ones. So yeah, it's not, I guess it would have been kind of spoiled that Sam Adams really were good. Oh, yeah. I mean, the flavors are good. This one was a just a little bit off, so I I definitely have to. I'm falling right with you said the 2.4. It's good, it's not it's not bad, and my 2.4 score kind of reflects that it is in the better of the American Marzons that we've had, right? Yep. It's just still not not quite there, though. It's not I I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, unfortunately, so it's like I said, it just 2025. I hope 2026 that some of these guys maybe switch back to what they were doing before, yeah. Because it's I don't know, it just seems like I don't know, it's something's something's off, yes, you know, and uh well speaking of off, all right. I do have another question for you. All right, yeah, my answer will be off for sure. So, did you know that a very prominent celebrity has been banned from the German Oktoberfest? Really? Okay, who is it? Well, since we haven't been there, I know it's not us. Yeah, it's not almost as almost as famous as us. A prominent celebrity has been banned. I'm hoping it said why. Yes, it is, and I hope it's an interesting thing, and it's not this. Um can I is is it a celebrity from the United States? Yes, it is. Yep. Who would have got banned from Oktoberfest? I I I would rather not throw out a name and all of a sudden have his legal his or her legal counsel uh reach out to me because I thought maybe they were the one. So I'm just gonna let you give me minus a thousand and and you gotta tell me the story. Oh, do I get I gotta tell you too, even though you did yeah, all right. So I knew you were thinking of this person, Paris Hilton. Nope, I sure wasn't. That wasn't who you had. She got banned from Oktoberfest, permanently banned since 2006. What did she 2006? Woo, what'd she do? She was promoting a canned wine brand at Oktoberfest while wearing a particularly non-traditional drendle, so I'm guessing revealing. So then the locals were so offended by this disrespect of their cultural dress that they called for her to be banned from the festival and they succeeded. So it was more to do with the dress, I'm guessing, than for probably some cleavage, right? I was gonna say probably very low cut. Why would you you're at Oktoberfest, which everybody knows is for beer, and you're promoting a canned wine. She could have been kicked out just for that, but but it's a good thing if we do go, we'll have to see her then. Yeah, exactly. See, so we're we're good. Yeah, that's the worst thing. It all works. We waited in time for that to happen. It all works out. I had no idea. That is crazy. That is crazy. Paris Hilton got banned from Oktoberfest. Oh, there you go. Gives us something to shoot for, I guess. There you go. All right, what do we got next? All right. Hey, the next beer we have is back to the Sam Adams fall variety pack. Okay, and this is their flannel fest. Flannel. And it's a Munich style dunkel. Okay. So it's gonna be a little different. Dunkle. Yeah, a dunkel, you know, so it's gonna be a little darker, I would think. No, I mean, as far as compared to a lot of the Oktoberfests, it's gonna be a little it hopefully knock on wood should be a little more flavorful, but you never know. Okay. Uh, this is 5.8% and 20 IBUs. And it says, as cozy as the fabric that inspired it, this Munich Dunkel lager delivers rich multi-flavors with hints of caramel and roasted nuts. So crack a few while you rock that autumn chick. Chic. No, chick. Oh, chick. We're saying chick. Okay. No, it's chic. I thought uh you'd let me slide with that. Well, I was like, a chick. And the can is very it's looks like a flannel flannel. Flannel shirt in the uh well, it's like the red and blue, so it's kind of like that buffalo plaid, but it's usually red and black, but right. So yeah, let's check this out. So this is I'm trying to remember if when we had the German ones, if we had a dunkel or not, I don't think so. I don't think we have. Well, that's it's so color-wise. I mean, it's it's not like a stout color, but it's a it's a darker Oktoberfest color. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like some of the ones that yeah, I'd say it's a little bit darker than what we normally consider to be the Oktoberfest. Right. Little more just a touch, a little more aroma, you know, not a lot. Definitely get like that maltiness. That that's the aroma. That's got more, definitely more flavor. Right. I like that. That is a darker malt. Right. So then did you say you considered this a an Oktoberfest beer? Well, they said flannelfest. I would say or is it really because it's not a Marzon, right? No, it's not a Marzon, it's not a Fest beer. It's and and Dunkels. I usually find I usually think of like Dunkel, Dunkelweisen, Schwarzbeer. You know, those are all kind of in that realm. Family beers. Yeah, it's definitely a German style, but I don't think that it's so wonder why they wrapped it in with their fall variety pack. I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know, but this I like it. It's not bad. No, I I think it's got a good flavor, it's a good variation, and it's these all these three are definitely different flavors, they're not they're not the same flavor. Oh, 100%. And like I said, this one definitely has that stronger, it's not like a a roast, yeah. Again, that burnt malt flavor. It's not that, but this is very reminiscent of other dunkels that we've had. I think it's good. Yeah, Sam Man's did a good job. Yeah, they're they're doing well. Score-wise on the dunkel. I'm I'm actually gonna go I'm gonna say a 2.9 just because I think that that pumpkin still outranks it for me because of that the pumpkin pie kind of reminiscent. But this for a dunkel, if you haven't had a dunkel, this is a very good representation of a dunkel. Yeah, I was I like it. I don't know if I was gonna go that. I was I was gonna say actually a 2.8. So it's the same, kind of the same bulb, right? But yeah, right in there. Yeah, that's good. Almost right in there with your answers to the questions. Nice, Paris Hilton. Yeah, oh, that's your answer. Yeah, all right. So, did you know or could you tell me? So, you know when uh the October Fest started, right? What year was that? 1810. 1810. And I did not know this, but at the beginning, there was not glass mugs to make steins. Okay, I did not know that. What year did the glass mugs start? I was gonna say they were made out of wood, but that's not your question. Uh, what year did the glass stein start? Yeah, see, I didn't even know that was a question. I'm trying to rethink about movies where you know when they started on. So I'll even give you a hint. Okay, it starts with a one. So traditionally they were made of stone. Oh, wow, okay. Then they were created with metal, and then it transitioned to glass. Okay, so when it's made out of stone, that probably brought a whole new level to that. That's why those guys where they hold the steins out in front of them. That's why those guys are always so strong. Yeah, apparently, that's why the ladies are too carrying stone. Like, you know, 12 of them. Right. So what year did it be glass? And the other hint is it starts with a one. Starts with a one. I figured that. Are you gonna give me some leeway? Yeah, I'll give you like one year, or are you gonna give me like I'll even give you 10 years? Okay, or in 50. 50 years, or maybe even 100, because I don't think you're gonna get it. Probably not. Now, this is at Oktoberfest, you guys. Okay, horrible guess. I'm gonna say 1920. Oh man, you were so close. 1892. Hey, I was within 50 and 100, right? So I'll give you minus 500. All right, well, hey, that's better than what's that's a win. So, night what year did you say? 1892. 1892 they transitioned from metal to glass. I it's kind of funny because I've watched videos on Oktoberfest, and I know that they're like kind of sticklers on if people try and steal the stuff that comes up. I know that there's sticklers on it. No, I don't I we won't go into oh, wait till the question, but uh it's kind of interesting because you know it's always funny. Actually, it's not a question, but I do remember from last year there was like 3,600 people got caught trying to walk out with and he honestly, you think about it, which okay. We're gonna stick again, right? Right. You just can't be drunk and walk out with it. I brought this with me, yeah. Right. You know, because that's I mean, that's the quintessential souvenir for an Oktoberfest. But just think, so that remember that year, you know, they got six, seven million people there. How are you gonna have six or seven million right steins, you know? So yes, interesting, yeah, that's crazy. All right. Well, hey, let's. All right, so what do you got next? Let's jump in over. So this is the last of the Sam Adams. All right, the last one. The last one, and this is their Harvest Hellas, and it's a Hellas Lager, 5.9% ABV and 15 IBUs. So is and this isn't a yellow, a yellow can. So is that Oktoberfest or is it fall? Or it's fall. Fall, okay. Yeah, it's not an Oktoberfest, but it's fall. Okay, it's a Hellas Lager. Uh, well, I was gonna say Linies has uh, everybody has one. And when you taste it, you'll re you'll recognize it. But but it's Sam is the only one that's wrapping it in with their fall. Yeah, but they're wrapping it in with the fall. And again, you know, it's the harvest, the harvest Hellas, you know, and the artwork on here is it's all right. Okay. Uh, let's see. It says a crisp, dry hopped Munich Hellas with notes of biscuit and honey malt, balanced by these spicy floral aromas of German Tetnang and spay spate hops. I hope I'm saying those right. Wow. You sure you can say those? It says new. New. Did the other one say new? I don't think they did. So this is new. Is it new to us or new to everybody? It must be new to everybody. All right. Well, so I'm wondering if this falls in line with some of the like the uh uh which one did we you had bought like a another variety pack member, and the last one was a new one, and you could only get it in that member. It wasn't uh we just had it. Was it Liney's or uh no? But you may you remember yes, I do. So I'm and one of them was the blueberry one. Yes, that's the one, but I I can't remember who did it. I know that's one of the bad parts of the joys of old age. The the bad part of our job here is we forget some of these. That's a white hair very yeah, in lighter color, very light, very light. Oh, you can see that's got aroma. That's got hops, that's got aroma, it's got hops in it, even though it was what did it say? 15 IBUs. It smells more than that. It definitely doesn't have a hop flavor to it. Yeah, the aroma's hop, but there's no this that doesn't have a hop flavor to it, right? Or bad this would be one you could drink it for sure, I think. After a couple cans, for sure. I might start to get a little bit tired of the flavor, you know, but it's it's good. I don't mind it. It's it's not bad, it's definitely different than what we've had so far. Vastly different than what we've had, especially it probably gets penalized because it came after the flannel one, yes, you know, because that really had that dark flavor to it. And wow, this is gonna be a challenging score because I know we've had Hellas Lagers before, right? And it's not bad, it's definitely drinkable. I I don't uh I'm gonna go a 2.7. Wow, you do really like it. Yeah, I don't I don't mind it. I could drink uh probably a couple cans of it, maybe okay, one for sure, you know. So I guess for me, to me, my taste buds has the it leads me like it's an IPA, even though it's not an IPA, that hop aroma is there. There is some hoppiness in the flavor, not a lot. So I'm struggling because it's it's not it does not taste bad and it does not taste like an IPA, but my brain is telling me that it tastes like an IPA. That's where I'm kind of struggling. Man, I thought after all those IPA ones we did, and you started liking them, I thought maybe your brain switched a little bit. It must have been that knock on the head. There you go. That puts you back where you know also I'm gonna actually say a 2.6. Okay, it's not bad. Um, it is new. Could I drink it? I think I could, I think I could drink it can. Could I drink two? I don't know if I could do two. Okay, but I know I could drink one. Sure. Yeah, and like I said, it's typically the other Hellas lagers that we've had, I don't think they waited till fall to come out with. You know what I mean? I think that's why I didn't know if that was if the Hellas Lager, is that traditionally always come out in the fall? Or is that see that I don't know. I'd have to do some research on that because I always think like the Hellas Lager, Heffel Wisons, you know, they seem I always thought they kind of came out a little earlier. Okay, but maybe I'm wrong, but but maybe this is how they just wanted to introduce this new one to throw it in with this four pack okay or 12-pack, I'm sorry, the four different beers, and uh and introduce it that way. That could be I don't know, it's decent, though. Yeah, it's decent. So it is by far the brightest colored can. Yes, so there's no doubt, yeah. So back to our good questions. Okay, did you know when the very first Oktoberfest in what year? 1810, there wasn't a parade because it was a wedding, wedding, right? Yep. So when was the first parade at Oktoberfest? Again. Um and I'll even give you a hint. It starts with a one. No, oh hands Niverer was the festival host. Oh, hands, yes. Well, now that makes it way easier. Uh who was who was he? He was the festival host, hands, and there was a brass band and a cart of beer included too. Now, what year was that? 1885. Wait, wait, you can say you can change your answer. 1886. You can change your answer. I don't know. 1887. Was it? Oh, I was gonna say 187 again. Wow, that was just a guess because well, when you said brass band and and that, I thought, okay, maybe it's gotta be way back. Right. Actually, I'm actually gonna give you a plus one for that. Oh, nice. That was that was much. I was within two on the first guess, and that was totally. Totally a gas. Was it? Oh, yeah. Oh, you didn't know that you actually. I knew. I just didn't want you to feel like it was too easy. Yeah. Yeah, that was it. That was it. Well, speaking of toying with us, I think I've toyed with you long enough. Okay. I think I'm gonna actually have to roll out the barrel. Oh boy. How was that a lead-in? I know what that means. What does that mean? Oh, there it is. Oh, oh, there it is. So we are going to go to another three sheep's beer. Now, technically, you could compare these side by side, I guess, but we probably don't need to. Right. But this is their 2025 roll out the barrel bourbon barrel aged Oktoberfest. Nice. Whoa. Calm down. Because, like we've said in the past, more breweries should try this. Try it. Now, this should be interesting because we did have this last year. Yes. And it was good. Very good, yes. Now it did lose out to another. And we but I haven't been able to see it anywhere. That founders. The Founders Ultimate Oktoberfest that we have not found it. I don't know if they're still making it or not, which is a bummer, but if we find it, we may just have to buy it. Yes. And uh give her a whirl again. But this one is going to be slightly higher ABV. Slightly? Yeah. What do you think it is? Uh 12.5%. Wow. And 31 IBUs. So that's even a little bit higher. Right. 12.5. Most of ours have been in that four or five up to a 661 for the most part. So we're doubling. So we're doubling what we've been double down. Yes. All right. All right. So here's what they say about this one. We took the rich toasty malt backbone of a traditional Oktoberfest and let it rest in bourbon barrels long enough to pick up deep notes of vanilla, oak, and warm caramel. Oak caramel, whichever way you'd like to say it. Nice. The result is a smooth drinking lager that bridges summer's end and fall's arrival in bold, boozy fashion. Boozy. This beer is a celebration of craftsmanship, tradition, and a little extra indulgence. Alright, well, we've been waiting all season for this one, haven't we? We have been waiting for an Oktoberfest that has flavor, and I'll guarantee this one's gonna have more flavor. Now it's just is it good flavor or what? So let's hope. Let's hope. I mean they did very good on veneration. Yes. They did more, they did better than very good. They did really good. Yes, so three sheets has always been very good for their barrel aging process. Yep. So my fingers are crossed that this is uh mine are too. Like I said, 12 12 and a half percent. That's up there. Not not even smelling it yet or anything. 12.5%. It may not be one I would recommend to a newbie. Okay, to begin with. Right. Not your first beer. Probably not, but you never know. Definitely dark. I mean, as far as it's still like an Oktoberfest color, but it's definitely darker. It's dark. You know what I mean? It's really dark amber. It has a very good aroma. You can smell boozy. Yeah, there's bourbon in there. That smells good. We've smelled other ones that are way stronger, boozy smell. But this has got like like almost the right percentage. Right. It's it smells really good. All right, here goes nothing. 12.5%. Here we go. Roll out the barrel, bourbon barrel aged Octoberfest from three sheeps. That's smooth. That's good. That's really good. We should not have read what the ABV was. Because I will guarantee. If we didn't know that this was 12 and a half, I wouldn't have guessed that. No. Because I mean that is very smooth for that. And this is actually good. And I'm I would have to guess, right? This Marzon that we tried earlier is what they used in the barrel bourbon barrel, right? I would bet. This actually tastes better. It didn't say, did it say how long? No. It doesn't say how long they put it in the barrel. Right. But it's gotta be that same Oktoberfest. Because when you look at the can the can is almost, I mean, very similar. Yes. You know, with the artwork and all that. This thing is a good thing. The flavor is definitely this is really good. This reminds me of last this is with veneration, right up there. I mean, they're good. That's very good. Oh, my first two. Boy, uh, I think so. I'm gonna I'm gonna say a 3.5. I like it. Yep, it's not up there with the beer of the year, but it's it's up there. I mean, it's one of the better Oktoberfest beers we've had this season. Yep. When when you were saying that it's up there with veneration, I thought, no way. I mean, that veneration is just yeah, way up there. But 3.5, I agree a hundred percent. And I'll guarantee this is probably the highest score we've given an Oktoberfest this year. Yes. Uh, like I said before, if we do come across the founders again, we'll pick it up and see how theirs is. But yeah, this is really good, and 12.5%, it does not drink like that. No, it's really good. And it's really good. I'm gonna try a little bit more when you go ahead. Um because you wanted to talk about a little bit of a wrap-up thing. Yeah, I'm gonna I wanted to kind of group these together. Yep. Um, just because they're kind of that quote unquote fall theme. Yes, and uh then we'll do the your two surprise beers uh that we that you brought. And uh yeah, so again, I think the the clear winner was the roll out the barrel, but second was the jack, the jack o pumpkin ale, unbelievable pumpkin flavor, really like that. I do think that these ones, let me preface that by saying this the like the Hellas Lager, I don't really see myself as being a fall type of beer. Maybe maybe I'm wrong, but I you know, but it was still good, but I just think they put that in that variety pack to introduce it, right? But I think these ones here definitely scored higher than than our other American Oktoberfest episodes, hands down. So yeah, I I I like it. I think this was a really good one, and I think Sam Adams did a really good job kind of kind of grouping them together. Like again, the only kind of outlier to me was really that Hellas Lager, right? The other ones all I could see fitting together, yes. So yeah, that's again, like I said, clear winner, clear second. Okay, and then the rest of them I think were kind of interchangeable. Yep, and I mean for me to I think you mentioned it once before those first five for the novice crap beer drinker. Recommend trying them, give it a whirl, maybe one of those first, and then try a roll at the barrel. Don't try to drink that one first, right? But Sam Adams, Kudos, they did a very good job. I mean, all four of those are they're um like I think you mentioned, fall-ish, but they all have different flavors, and I mean that was one of our better variety packs, like second to I mean, to the one that you talked about. I wish I could remember the name of that. I know I'm drawing a blank, but it was anyway. This is this is a very good job. I mean, like you said, I like the Jack-O-Lantern, that was really good. That pumpkin, the cinnamon, the nutmeg was really good, but it was still second to the barrel age three sheep. So yeah, I like those. I mean, I'm glad we finally were able to get some flavor out of some fall Oktoberfest beers because we were just not finding anything, right? Exactly. So, yeah, awesome. Well, all right, well, so you so I'm gonna let you talk about the next two that you brought. Oh, you had said uh a friend of ours, Roger, had uh went out to South Dakota. Okay, he went um, it was a couple weeks ago, and he was just out there, and I think he was looking for some Oktoberfest beers too, because I think last year we actually tried a couple of his on one of our Oktoberfest episodes. Yep, I think we did now that you mention it, yes. So I don't think he found any Oktoberfest, but he did find two beers, and uh these two beers were received a lot of awards, so um, and they're from Spearfish Brewing. So both of them are? Yes, okay, nice, and one of them's in a crawler and one of them's in a bottle. Do we not cut do we know where spearfish what town? I don't know if we know that. I tell you what, you continue it and I'll I'll look it up. So the he brought back a crawler of one, the IPA, and he said that was one of their better beers, and then he has a bottle of big bad bones, which kind of reminds me of the Big Bad Baptist, which is uh another very good book, but that one is haven't seen that around lately. No, that was by Epic Brewing, right? And that one is an Imperial Stoat that was barrel-aged. Oh, so that one is you know, I'm really looking forward to that one. Uh, spearfish brewing is in spearfish, South Dakota. Oh, exactly. Okay, well, that we knew that so this should be interesting. So was it he brought them? I just recently got them. So I want the one was in a crawler, so we didn't want to wait too long. So we wanted to tie these two together with because it looks like we got some very good flavor in these very these first six. So hopefully this ties in, you know, with flavor. Because I mean that's one thing that we do like. So I'll let you give the the write-up on that one. So the first one that we have is adventure pants, and it's got dinosaurs on the can on the label, and this is in a crawler, it's a double IPA, all right, huge American IPA, golden color, funky pineapple and tropical fruit hop aroma is what it says. All right, 10.2 percent now. How many IPAs have we had that's been double digits? We've had a few, not many though, right? Not many, we've had a few. All right, I don't sound like a goofy question, but I don't remember if we've ever had a barrel-aged IPA. But this is not barrel-aged either, but okay. I poured you a little strong pour there. I'm sorry, I'll do the same here. All right, but this is in a crawler, so we had to 32 ounce. 32 ounce. So we got a lot of beer here. Uh you know, the IPA color. Yes. Lighter, white head. You can smell some hops. Oh, yeah. There's hops there. I to I can totally, I don't know if I'd call it a pineapple aroma, but I definitely get like a almost like a uh tropical fruit. Yes. No, we we got two different fruits you said, right? The pineapple and tropical. And tropical, yeah. What's a tropical fruit? Tropical fruit is what it says. What is a what's tropical? Mango, what else would be in there? So it's not one specific. No, no, I think it's more a mixture, okay, is what I would I would say. All right. Well, I smell hops. Cheers. Here we go. Too bad. No, I mean for a double IPA. I mean, I was expecting a lot more hoppiness, but the flavor is a lot smoother than the aroma. Yes. I was expecting a more of a bite. Yes. And that's not there. Initially, it was like I was going, it's gonna be that you know, that real bitter kind of thing, and then it's like, nope, gone. Right, it's it up. It is not a for a double IP8, it is definitely not bad. No, this is good. That is interesting. Interesting. So adventure pants. Well, there you go. Right. So I guess the hard part then, you know, we talked about the I don't know what a funky pineapple is. Yeah, I don't either, because honestly, I I suppose you could say that, but it's like the pineapple, I don't I'm not picking up like a strong pineapple flavor, I get more of the tropical side, which is yes, you could say pineapple falls in there, but you get that tropical fruit, but it's not where you can really pick out the fruit, you know what I'm saying? The very specific fruits, right? Well, that sounds real, but I mean it's so and the only thing that that I'm picking up as a double IPA is there's a little bit of dryness in my mouth on the finish, but it's not bad, it's not like a lingering, like there's no bad IPA hoppiness that's sticking around. It's not bad. No, I would agree, I agree with you 100% there because initially I was concerned, yes, because you never know, because we've had some IPAs and in that that are you're like, whoa, it's really dry, and it starts a little bit like that, but then it's kind of gone, right? The aroma is it has a hoppy aroma. You know it's an IPA from the aroma for sure. So this one, if you're doing a blind taste test, you could definitely tell right away that this was an IPA, but the flavor is not that if you said one of these is an IPA, I wouldn't I would have picked this one for sure. But 10.2, it drinks really good, fairly smooth. I think Roger did a good job picking this one up. Definitely, I agree. So, what are you thinking? Uh, score wise, on this one for a double IPA, I'm gonna go a 2.9. Nice. I do like it. I think if it had just a little bit more of the tropical flavor, maybe you know, that fruitiness to it, I I would have I would have easily gone over three because 10.2. I mean, it that's that's up there, yeah. And it it was not harsh by any means, you know. So I think that they they they did a really good job, and you know, it could be that it's been in a crawler. I don't know, I don't think so. I think it's still the way it came out. I think it's still fresh. I think I don't think it's changed in any way. No, and like I said, I've we've had way worse, yes. Wait, well, I guess way stronger, right? Right, yeah, let's put it that way. Way stronger flavor, way hoppier, way hoppier, things like that. Uh this one spearfish did a good job. Yeah, spearfish did a good job. I I'm impressed, and yeah, I I would drink some more of it. Yeah, I mean, I was you're right, the exact same score. I was gonna say a 2.9 as well, because you know I'm not a hoppy guy, but you've been getting coming a little closer, so so I don't I'm not a so my scores are always usually a little bit lower, and it's not nearly as high as yours, but I am trying to work my way to get a little bit better. It's definitely a good beer for a double, you know. That's so I'm always like so hesitant of trying a double or triple or quad IPA, but this one I'd recommend this is not anything to be afraid of. No, I agree. The the aroma might give you a sense that it's what it is, but the flavor is really good. Yep, don't be afraid of this one, you know. And again, is it something because IPA is you know, we've we've done a number of episodes on it, and we've talked about this before, but episode uh episodes, IPAs are one of those where it's uh real polarizing, right? Because people hate them or they love them, right? There really hasn't been too many, yeah. They're okay, you know what I mean? It's you hate them or you love them, right? Because that hop comes through, correct. You know, even though people don't realize that there's pretty much hops in almost every beer, uh, but it's just a matter of how much. Yes. But this is this is good, you know, they did a good job. So and yeah. So not not to cut you off. Okay, you got another question. I have one final question for you. Okay, because you had actually talked about it earlier. Yep, this is another one. I don't know how you uh I must have saw my questions here. No, no, I sure didn't. But so there is an unofficial sport at Oktoberfest, okay, and it is where competitors hold out a filled one-liter dimpled glass mug with an outstretched arm for as long as they can. Yep. What's that called? And I need to have you spell it correctly too. Well, in the States it's like Steinhoisting, but I don't think that I don't know the German word. Stein holding. Stein holding. Yes, that's what the American one is. Okay, I so what's the German one? Stein Steinho, I don't know. Okay, then spell that. Uh there's an S in it. I I don't know. All right, here we go. Say it with me. Mass Krug stem and uh yeah, mass Krug Stein stem or Steinholding. I like that one better. You like just that's easier. So see, because you had already talked about that before when you're crazy. Yeah, I didn't know you were gonna talk about that. At first, when you said about a sport, I was gonna say horse race, because I remember that was at the wedding, right? But that's not where you went. So see, I mean you it's like you had my notes or something. I know, or did you have ESPN? Uh sometimes. See, I have ESPN too. Oh, that's what's going on. ESPN Plus. So I'm actually gonna give you a half a point because you got the Stein holding. Okay, because yeah, I don't I don't know the the German, it's way longer. Yeah, you know it looks like three or four words put together. Yeah, all right. So all right, so what's the last one that we got? Is that a drum roll? That's kind of like a drum roll. Is that kind of like a drum roll? That works. So this is the one that Roger really wanted us to try, and I'm really looking forward to trying it. Okay. Um, the big bad bones. Big it actually says big bird bones. Oh, well, I think we've got the same on the label anyway. You're right, you're right. But oh, I think this might be big bad bones is the line. Oh it's like a series because this is batch one. Oh, okay. I think I think that's what it is. You're right, yep. So this is so Roger had the Imperial Stout on tap, said it was very good. So he didn't have this one at the brewery is not on tap. Oh it's only in a bottle, and I don't know if it's because it's sixteen point five percent ABD. Excuse me, sixteen point five percent. Wow, so just we just amped it up just a slight bit again. We turned it up a little higher. Okay. So he Roger said the Imperial stuff was very good, okay, but he was not able to try the barrel aged one, and he gave that one to us to try. All right, so we appreciate Roger driving all the way to South Dakota, the far end of South Dakota to bring this back for us to try. That's right. And their small write-up says this is batch one of their barrel age series. Our bird bones imperial stout was aged in malted whiskey barrels for six months, then blended smooth, lightly carbonated, and bold. And 16 and a half percent. So it's so this how many 16.5% ones have we tried? Well, we've compared to the common uh drinker, we've tried a lot, but it's still not that many, right? I mean, we're up in some higher altitude. Oh, yeah, for sure. And 16 and a half percent. And batch one, this is this is kind of cool. So we might have to make a trip out there then, possibly, but you know, so batch one, this is the first go-round, maybe at a barrel. I don't right, and malted whiskey. This should be interesting to see how that oh, it's a little bit darker than the other. Is it darker than the uh you're not gonna see your fingers through that glass? No, this is an imperial stout. There's no there's no there's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. Oh god, that smells like it's an imperial barrel-aged. This is not for the uh and as far as head goes, yeah, there's pretty much none. I mean, it's this is not for the novice drinker. No, I would not recommend, and I haven't even tasted it yet. I wouldn't recommend it to a new person for the first beer. Well, that smells good. Boy, that is uh wow, it's not bad. Yeah, there's not much carbonation at all in that. It's not bad. I'm trying, you know. I wish I would have been able to try the stout. Yeah, before it was interesting because I'm sure the whiskey barrel has brought something into the flavor. Yep, still good man for 16, but it doesn't have a burn. There's no burn, no burn. It definitely has like that roasted malt, burnt malt kind of a flavor, but I don't know if that's what was in the original, you know, or if that's from the barrel. Yes, it could be from the barrel. Wow. This is I mean, what's unique is I mean, it's got a lot of flavors to it. The finish is smooth. There's a lot of flavors from the barrel in there, right? It's smooth finish. It's really I don't know if we could drive there and drink it and come back in one day. Yeah, no, probably shouldn't. This is good. I'm just I can't believe how little carbonation is in there. I'm glad Roger brought this back. This has been a good beer. That is that's interesting. And again, now if we'd have blind taste tested this as far as ABV, I would have guessed 12. Right. I mean, it's double digits for sure. Yeah, yeah. Not 16 and a half. No, it does not taste like but it you can tell that it's when you're sitting here, and how do I say it's your mouth is almost my mouth is almost like you get you drink it and then it almost like it starts to water. Yeah, you know, mine's doing that too. As far as you know, it's a higher ABV, right? Because it's pulling the water right out of your the saliva out of your mouth because it it is up there. Yeah, that's interesting, and that is that's interesting, and it's not like Avery where it's like put a lot of sugar. Oh no, it's not oversweetened. No, there's not that it's my teeth are not hurting from but from the barrel. I mean, I totally and it's kind of crazy because I I don't think we've had I don't even know if we've had a something Asian malted whiskey barrels because I don't get like you know, a lot of times from the bourbon barrels, you you know you get the bourbon, but you get that vanilla and that oakiness. This one I don't get vanilla. No, this is and you know, kudos for them for trying, you know. Oh good, because I mean they had they're investing a lot of money to do some something different, but this this tastes good. I mean, this I mean they're they got a good whatever they're doing, they got a good system going. Yeah. I uh so you're first didn't I go first on the no no that was that was different. Yeah, I thought I went first on the I the double IPA. Did you thought so? Anyway, yeah, I mean this is good, definitely has a stronger, kind of a stronger flavor to it. It's not it's not a boozy flavor. You can tell there's booze in it, but it's not that boozy, like, oh geez, I taste burglar. Like alcohol, like alcohol or yeah, score-wise. I'm gonna take another drink here before I give a score. And while you're doing it, I'm gonna give myself another little hit on that. I'm gonna go like a 3.7. Nice. That's solid. It's solid. That's a solid score. I mean, for our for our scoring, right? Yeah. I mean, I mean, I got to rehash old things, right? It's it's one of those where it's just kind of hard to score it because I don't think we've ever had anything in that kind of a barrel before. And just to, I guess to recapsulate for your scoring, because I know you I don't track it because I'd missed too much at the beginning. Right. But where is your scoring range again? From zero to five with a tenth of a point, yep, is what I normally do. And I think right now I am just under 5,900 beers and beers that we've beers that we've tried. Tried and rated and rated, yes. And I would say, I mean, um could be speaking online, we don't have a lot that are 3.5 and above. No, we have far more that are lower than that, right? Yeah, so I think that what that my point would be that we're maybe not critical, but we're not we we don't give away a good score, right? I mean, we're we're legitimately trying to be honest and tell tell the listeners if it's a good beer or bad beer. So when you say 3.7, it's up that that means it's up there, and like I said, I just I really again I would not recommend this to somebody that's never had a big beer, and we we classify this as a big beer, you know. No, it's a big bad beer, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but you know what I mean, and right, yes, it's a high ABV, all that kind of stuff. I would not recommend this to a new person because they're gonna, I think they'd be turned off right because they're not used to that. But for us, for us, I mean, it's I yeah, I'm glad it's it's almost it's I could be speaking on a turn again, might be right in our wheelhouse, yeah. Yeah, I oh I agree. I think I do think, and I know you know not to toot our own horns or anything, but I do believe that we if we're experts at any one style, it's barrel-aged beers because we have tried, I mean, it's gotta be pushing 800 different up really is it that many? Barrel-aged beers, not just bourbon barrel, rum barrel. I mean, we've tried all sorts of different barrels. So, could this I know that you kind of alluded to it, we're cutting the line for Oktoberfest. Maybe we should go back into trying some more barrel-aged beers. Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't, I wouldn't turn it down. So maybe we should. I mean, because I mean, I haven't looked in the last few days, but there's not a lot of Oktoberfest beers, because usually they're gonna be out in early August. Yep. So September. I think they're just leaving whatever they have out now. Yep. So maybe our next few podcasts, maybe we should unless the listeners wanted us to try something else. I don't know if they want to send you a message to say, hey, try this or try that. Yeah, you know, if you're out there and you have something you really want us to try, let us know if we can't find it. Well, then we're gonna have to figure out alternative ways to possibly get it here. So but I I like this bourbon barrel stuff. So that's yeah, oh yeah, yeah, exactly. And I know we've both have a number of them that we have never tried that are in our like in my basement, in your basement. Uh, you know, so we can definitely dip our toes back into that for get back into that arena again. Yeah, yep. So my final point. Oh man, you had another question, but it's not a question. Oh, good. So just in case we have any of our listeners that are thinking about planning a trip to Germany, the dates for the Oktoberfest in Munich 2026. So next year are September 19th through October 4th. Okay. So I thought I'd be at my my uh PSA. There you go. There you go. Is that is that a good yeah? Public service announcements for all the listeners out there if they want to, if they're thinking about going. Oh, I forgot to give you my score. Yeah, what's your score? You you get a I was actually gonna go with 3.8. I really like it. I mean, it's so the other good part of all the things you said echo completely, there's the finish is like so smooth, even like when you stop drinking, you know. Sometimes even on some of these Octoberfests, you have something lingering. This one, uh it's not there, no, not at all. I mean, I get a little bit of a little bit, but not so that's almost scary because then you're drinking a high ABV, it doesn't not taste like it's a high ABV, and it finishes so smooth, it's like wow. This is one of those that you could drink that bottle and go, hey, oh, wait a minute. I better not stand up, right? You know, so oh I need a little help. Yeah, now, like I said, it's definitely a different flavor because I think because of that, the peted whiskey or malted whiskey, I'm sorry. But it's still very interesting, and I'm super glad Roger thought of us when he saw it because I'll guarantee that bottle wasn't cheap. No, I mean that kudos to him. I'll I owe him a beer now. There you go. Yeah, next time we see him, we both probably owe him a beer. We will give him a pat on the back. Yeah, you know. So you want to what do you get? What do you got for your wrap-up, or what do you think? I know it's not one class, it might be two pieces, but spearfish, and I know these are the only two beers we've tried for them before, but they were both very good, and it makes me want to check into it to see you know how many double-digit beers do they have, right? You know, I'm sure they've got a bunch that are lower, you know what I mean. But I thought they were both really good. So maybe we could have Roger even send us a little message or something online. Yeah, what what he found, maybe he tasted because I think he had a flight of some out there, so maybe he had another one that was tasty good too. If he sends us a message, yeah, that would be I'd love to hear what what he had and what his thoughts were. Right, you know, and like I said, the the double IPA for that style was very good. Yep, you know, I could have used maybe a little bit more fruit flavor, so to speak, but it was good. And this one, I mean, 16 and a half percent is crazy. That is amazing, and it was drinkable. Yes, that's the part that I really liked, is the fact that you could drink it. Yes, uh, again, I wouldn't recommend it to a new person, but if you're a seasoned veteran like we are for the the barrel age stuff and all that, give it a whirl because they they do a good job. That's awesome. I guess we kind of touched on it. Sam Adams does a great job. I mean, they have a good, they're not barrel-aged like this, but that but for their small niche of beers they brew, they're doing really, really good. I'll definitely have a little more of that pumpkin one because that was very good, right? And three sheeps, really good. I mean, yeah, so the hard part for me is we struggled to find flavor for quite a few episodes for a long time. I mean, we were just aimlessly wandering, trying to find something that had flavor, and all of a sudden now we have one episode where we've got just flavors coming out multiple flavors. We have one beer that has flavor, we had a number of them, and it's not all the same flavor, they're all right, which was good. So I I really enjoyed this just only because Marzons have a very distinct flavor, and we know what that is. Yep, these were all fall beers, which opened up the spectrum for us, but I still liked it. I still like to be able to try the. I mean, I don't know what you think about trying different beers. I agree with you, and the fact that like the Sam Adams ones all had that fall theme. Again, the only one that kind of was to me was an outlier for a fall theme was the Hellas. Yes, but other than that, I mean they were all very good, and even the Hellas was very good, you know. And yeah, and then it was uh honestly, it was cool to have the three sheeps, the Oktoberfest, and then the barrel-aged Oktoberfest. So that I mean, we've talked about that I don't know how many times that we'd love to be able to try both, yes, and we did, and when they store it in a barrel, it did improve it. That's and I think we'd even recommend it too. Some of the other breweries should try barrel aging their beer, their marsons. I mean, because I I think there's there are some other breweries out that have a very central waters. Last year I thought, man, we're on a more and more people seem like they're getting into that, and then now all of a sudden this year it's like back to not many, you know. Because like Central Waters has a very good barrel aging process, and their beer, their their Marzano was not bad. It would have been great to try it. So, I mean, knock on wood, maybe there'll be other breweries that want to branch out and try that as well. Yep, because I'm hoping that would be awesome. I mean, because and we'll even go up, we'll volunteer to go somewhere and yeah, if you need a taste, a taster to give you their honest opinion. We would love to have to do that, right? We could do an on-site on location. That would suck to have that as a job, wouldn't it? Yeah, so when you retire, yeah, there we go. We got a future in that. So awesome. Well, hey, dude, thanks so much for bringing these. You definitely uh stepped her up this week compared to and again, it's not your fault, but you found some better flavors. Yes. So, and then again, thanks to Roger for grabbing that he brought. Yeah, that was a good way to end this episode with uh with those beers. So awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for listening to this. I know it wasn't all one style this week, but it was kind of fall. Yep, you know, and uh look for the Sam Adams, look for the three sheeps. If you're in South Dakota, go to spearfish. I'm really interested to see what else Roger tried there and uh kind of get his input on it. And you never know, we may end up out there at some point location one. So awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening. Like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold. See ya! See ya. Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, a comment, or a beer. You'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at Northwoodsbeerguy at gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're on Untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
