Beer Face Review: Hofbräu Oktoberfest
Taste and the good old-fashioned ability to get you drunk are among the top ways to finding a good beer, but what attracts you to trying a new one? Aesthetics, whether you consciously know it or not, play a big part when you’re selecting an unfamiliar beer to take for a test drink. Checking out the shape of the tap, looking at the graphics on the case in your distributor, or eyeing up the Beer Face (the bottle’s label) all can play a strong role in legitimizing a potential buy. A weak Face makes a beer look like it doesn’t have it’s act together. Lets take a look at the Beer Face of Hofbräu Oktoberfest and see how effective they are in conveying the sense of its storied heritage.
Being based in Munich, the royal Hofbräuhaus brewery was a key beer supplier to the first Oktoberfest of 1810. Two years later, in an attempt to offer King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria a top-notch brew with some extra alcohol (man, because being a King back then was ROUGH, damn drafty castles), the “Oktoberfestbier” from Hofbräu München was born.
The modern Oktoberfest’s bottle has 3 labels: a rhombus-shaped one on the neck bearing their logo, a rectangular informational one on the back, and the ovular supposed show-stopper on the front. This is the Face, the one that is supposed to envoke “How YOU doin’?” from strangers. The color palette of consists of a royal blue, a warm yellow, gold and white. Set against a green bottle, I’m thinking of skipping through a summer field in Sweden, not a brisk fall night of drunken chanting with my buds. These colors are very strong, but aren’t working. So what’s left?
At the center of the ovular label, is a quant illustration of the Hofbräu tent at Oktoberfest, and a surrounding festival atmosphere incorporating horses and a ferris-wheel. This is their shot at conveying the real “feel” of the Oktoberfest experience through a Bob Ross miniature. Not getting that feeling much it across the bar, and not seeing much more with my magnifying glass.
Comparing this to their regular label for the original brew, let’s see what they did different for the crown jewel of Munich’s great gift to the world, Oktoberfest. Not much except an updated doodle better suited for the napkin your bottle sits on. Inappropriate colors and a lack of realign effort for the label of such a seemingly important authentic German brew. Man, all that drinking around Oktoberfest makes Germans lazy!
Take a look at the Beer Face in your hand. What’s looking good and successfully telling you it’s that time of year to throw some bratwurst on the grill?
on October 26th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
It is true that the face makes the beer… but you can never judge a book by it’s cover (unless you’re Tim… then you judge a book by the smell of the cover).
Take Ethiopia’s Harar (which comes in Stout and “dark” (Hakim) and is available in the US… had my last bottle in Chicago). It has a label which could be drawn by a sixth grader holding a crown in his teeth… but it’s a fine brew. (http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/8840.jpg). It has a nice wheat aroma, sweet start and heavy follow through… prefect for local food.
Compare that with the more commercially successful Tusker from Kenya (http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/beergeek_1919_1595444) which is widely available in Canada. People universally love and drink this beer overseas and buy the tee shirts like a stoner at a Grateful Dead concert. Problem is that even though it comes in a handsome bottle, it tastes like a Pilsner Urquell laced with formaldehyde… largely because it is laced with formaldehyde. Granted, you’ll get drunk faster… but I’m not sold on the taste… and it doesn’t go good with the local food at all. (I did buy a tee-shirt though ;)
I make a point of trying to order something I’ve never had before each time I go out. Sometimes I accidentally order a Pabst Blue Ribbon (as I was ridiculed for at Foxes and Tails recently). But for every one of those I’ll order a Nodding Head Oatmeal Stout which makes me want to kiss the waitress who brought it to me.
on November 15th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for sharing those Faces, Brian. I unfortunately have not had the chance to sample either. Although Harar can’t compare to the glitz of a American Coors Light Face (I jest), it does seem to be a true glimpse into Ethiopian culture.
It’s good to hear you’re adventurous in your beer selection. Beer Faces can often play a big part in selecting that new brew to try, but as Brian and Harar remind us, ugly faces need love too!