Joseph Brau: Octoberfest

I really can't believe that Dan Gordon graduated from a brewing engineer program in historic Weihenstephane, Germany, because the beer the Gordon-Biersch Brewing Company makes for Trader Joe's and Costco is at best, ordinary, and at worst undrinkable. While shopping for groceries I made the decision that if I'm gonna try a bunch of fall related beers, I had to try every one I could get my hands on.
Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest pours a light amber with a good inch of head to it. It smells sweet, and up front it's sweet on the tongue, with caramel and pilsner malt, but the finish is slightly sour, leaving it slightly off putting. I get very little hop bitterness anywhere in this guy either. I guess for 6 bucks I can't be incredibly picky but I wish if Trader Joe's was going to impersonate craft beer they'd offer something with some more backbone to it.