Ah October, Thanksgiving turkey dinners, food coma’s and Oktoberfest. Beer is a wonderful thing and having a 16-18 day festival to honor it sounds good to me. I’m going to introduce you to 2 beers today, one made specifically for Oktoberfest and another that is a Czech style pilsner.
First up is Surrey’s own Russell Brewing Company with another solid entry in their Brewmaster series, Russell Marzen. Marzen is a tradition Oktoberfest beer that’s been brewed since the 16th century in Bavaria. Russell’s take on this classic has all of the usual traits of a good “Dunkles Märzen” which is amber to dark in color (amber in this case) with 
a rich malt flavor and a clean finish. The only major difference is this Canadian interpretation is decidedly more hop filled than the German marzen, which isn’t a bad thing. Once again the Russell Brewmaster series hits a home run. One minor quibble is the only size available is a 650ml bottle which makes it hard to get it in to restaurants that aren’t willing to put it on tap. This is an issue I have with the Brewmaster Series in its entirety, a missed opportunity.
Next up is the clean and refreshing Pilsner from Gordon Biersch in San Jose, California. an area know more for Silicon Valley than beer. This isn’t a typical west coast craft beer, there’s hops but not a lot and it is very easy to drink. It’s a great summer beer that can also hold its own on a cold fall night. You’ll notice in the picture that I picked up a five pack…ya ya someone was thirsty before picture time. This beer gets bonus points for being distributed locally by my pals at Beerthirst, you should check out the great stuff they’re doing for the local beer scene.
Stop drinking crappy beer!!!! You have no excuse.
Scott.
