This is one of my favorite parts of the Cincinnati Oktoberfest season. I drink a ton of Oktoberfest beers, and I figure out which one is my favorite. A little self-serving, maybe… but it’s a blast. This year I decided that it would be best to put a page together where you can visit and get the latest updates on where we’re in the competition.

With beers being released at very different times, and often some brackets making their way into later rounds before some other beers even hit shelves – it can all get a little confusing. Hopefully, this will help you keep it all straight. It might help me keep it all straight, too!

If you’re looking for all the information about THIS year’s Oktoberfest celebration – check out this!

The Rules

Not that this is too stuffy of a beer competition… but there are some rules. This is how it’s sort of evolved over the years, and that’s definitely not to say that it will be the same next year either – I’m always figuring out new fun ways to keep this growing and evolving.

  1. If a Cincinnati brewery releases a packaged Oktoberfest beer (it doesn’t matter what form of Oktoberfest, Marzen, Festbier, Weizen… it’s all good) it’s automatically entered into this competition. I’ll make sure I snag some to get it in here.
  2. If a Cincinnati brewery wants a draft-only Oktoberfest beer to be entered, I can do my best to get it, but I can’t promise anything. This is expensive and extremely time-consuming. For a guy that just quit his job this year… it’s tough.
  3. If you want a draft-only beer entered… get it to me, and I’ll add it in, also.
  4. If a brewery buys the beer for me… I’m still gonna accept it – remember the expensive part. It won’t change my review of the beer, and it certainly doesn’t help them out in the competition, either. If I didn’t buy a beer, it would be noted on this page and each time that the beer competes.
  5. If a local homebrewer wants to send one of their Oktoberfest beers to compete… I’ll accept those, too – I just need enough for it to make it through at least 4 rounds of competition.
  6. The only round that is done “blind” is the final round – that’s again, just for ease of making this all happen.
  7. The object of the competition is not to judge “to style” necessarily… It’s to determine what I think is the best Oktoberfest beer that year. What do I want to drink? Some years it’s a very festy Festbier… some years it’s a super-traditional Marzen… some years a great mix of the two styles.
  8. This all means nothing, and there’s no prize… and my opinion shouldn’t change what you drink…. at all.

The Competitors (Continually Being Updated)

  • 16 Lots Oktoberfest
  • Big Ash – Oktoberfest
  • Braxton – Oktober Fuel
  • Brink – Brinktoberfest
  • Christian Moerlein – Wootz
  • Fifty West – Vienermobile
  • Esoteric – Oktoberfest
  • Fibonacci – Herbsfest (this was gifted to me by the brewery)
  • Fretboard – Rockin’ The Rhein
  • Grainworks – Oktoberfest
  • HighGrain – Meadow
  • Homebrew – Elijah Moreland’s Marzen (this was gifted to me by Elijah)
  • Humble Monk – Block Partei (this was gifted to me by a listener/viewer)
  • Listermann – Festbier
  • MadTree – Ziegler
  • Municipal Brew Works – 1791
  • N.E.W. Ales – Middie Marzen
  • Northern Row – Brewer
  • Rhinegeist – Franz
  • Sam Adams – Oktoberfest
  • Sam Adams – Festbier
  • Sonder – Oktoberfest
  • Streetside – Rainy Day Clubhouse
  • Taft’s – Oktubberfest
  • Third Eye – Drittes Auge Festbier (this was gifted to me by the brewery)
  • West Side – Festbier
  • West Side – Oktoberfest
  • Wiedemann – Oktoberfest

This Year’s Competition (Continually Being Updated)

Winners are in bold.

Round 1

  1. Taft’s Oktubberfest vs Third Eye Drittes Auge Festbier
  2. Fifty West Vienermobile vs Rhinegeist Franz
  3. Fretboard Rockin The Rhein vs Wiedemann Oktoberfest
  4. HighGrain Meadow vs MadTree Ziegler
  5. West Side Festbier vs Humble Monk Bock Partei
  6. Listermann Festbier vs Grainworks Oktoberfest
  7. Brink Brinktoberfest vs West Side Oktoberfest
  8. Braxton Oktober Fuel vs Sam Adams Oktoberfest
  9. Sonder Oktoberfest vs Sam Adams Festbier
  10. Streetside Rainy Day Clubhouse vs Esoteric Oktoberfest
  11. Fibonacci Herbsfest vs Northern Row Brewer
  12. N.E.W Ales Oktoberfest vs Municipal Brew Works 1791
  13. Christian Moerlein Wootz vs Big Ash Oktoberfest
  14. 16 Lots vs Elijah Moreland’s Homebrewed Märzen

Round 2

  1. Third Eye Drittes Auge Festbier vs Fifty West Vienermobile
  2. Fretboard Rockin’ The Rhein vs MadTree Ziegler
  3. West Side Festbier vs Listermann Festbier
  4. Brinktoberfest vs Braxton Oktoberfuel
  5. Sonder Oktoberfest vs Esoteric Festbier
  6. Northern Row vs New Ales
  7. Moerlein, Wootz vs Elijah Moreland’s Homebrewed Märzen

Round 3

  1. Third Eye, Drittes Auge Festbier vs MadTree, Ziegler
  2. West Side, Oktoberfest vs Brink, Brinktoberfest
  3. Sonder, Oktoberfest vs Northern Row, Brewer
  4. Moerlein, Wootz vs West Side, Festbier

Finals – The Blind Round

  • The final four winners will all go head to head in a blind round, and the final winner will be crowned Champion and this year’s BEST Oktoberfest beer! This round will be done live in person at Fretboard Brewing on 10/10/22 – where the winner will take home “The Golden Gnome” – which is probably the most prestigious trophy in the universe!

This year’s finals – MadTree Zielger vs Brink Brinktoberfest vs Sonder Oktoberfest vs West Side Festbier

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