Abbeydale Brewery Oktoberfest Festbier (@WeeBeerShop @AbbeydaleBeers) By @SpectreUK

I have to admit that I may be a little late drinking this Oktoberfest Festbier. Apparently the Germans celebrate Oktoberfest and drink this beer at the end of September. That made me wonder about the other months of the year, and if they celebrate those months at the end of the previous month. And why not if they do, if you're going to celebrate something, why not the next month, especially if the one you're in isn't all that great.

At 5% in volume this Oktoberfest Festbier was brewed by Abbeydale Brewery, in Sheffield. Sheffield I may point out, not in some leafy town in Germany. Personally I love their sausages, but that's another blog entirely. All I can think is that they must have nicked the recipe one September on a drunken night in Hamburg.

The back of the can stated that this is a fresh, crisp and rich beer, with a bready aroma. It recommended washing down a pretzel with it. Without a pretzel to hand, I decided to wash down my fish, chips, and battered sausage with this Oktoberfest Festbier in October instead. Fancy that.

On opening the can there was a strong depth of maltiness to the aroma of the dark brown beer inside. I could see how this Oktoberfest Festbier would go down well with a good bready meal, something like a Ploughman's Lunch in the UK. There was definitely a freshness to this beer, with a sharp bitterness from herbal hops after the strong maltiness first bathed my tastebuds. The breadiness of the malted barley flavour came back quickly after the crisp bite of hops and cushioned my senses off into the aftertaste. This is a gorgeous malty beer, fit for a bread heavy meal indeed. However, it went rather well indeed with my takeaway from the local chippy too.