Herbstoff is something I can pick up easily. Traveling around Franconia, one runs into small older breweries that have it in their Helles. Locally I get it in many beers such as Kölsch style beers.
My wife has an excellent palate for most flavors. I think she may be blind to this one. She will get a beer, say it is really good, and I taste it make a face, and it is oxidized. Bilsch, have you had similar experiences with tasters not getting Herbstoff?
It happens all the time. I can taste a lot of things other people say they can’t. It’s not a blessing but more like a curse and makes finding truly great beers a difficult task. It also tough to share the flavor experiences with others without seeming like a beer snob. But as you know, the upside is every now and then you get that really great one which is worth the effort.
Yes I have also noted a lot of small breweries in Germany having obvious oxidation faults. Unfortunately it seems for brewers in every country there are few solutions to this problem other than costly equipment upgrades which are easier for the bigger ones to afford.