My friend and much-decorated homebrewer Shane Caple conjured an old-school Märzen for Oktoberfest, and the result is shown above. Compare it with the appearance of Weihenstephaner’s new-school Festbier, pictured below.
They’re both Oktoberfest lagers. Märzen is the older and more traditional approach, while Festbier has come to embody modernity—say, the past 40 or so years of adaptation, with the style redefined to suit changing tastes, even in conservative Bavaria.
As a reminder, while lagers like these are released in America in late July, Oktoberfest in Munich actually begins in September (this year it’s the 17th), and usually only the last two or three hangover mornings extend into the festival’s namesake month.
Why? For one, northern European summers historically were shorter than ours, and harvest celebrations might begin as early as the end of August (insert climate change game-changer here).
In Munich, a 19th-century royal wedding fete coincided with the usual fall revelry, providing a sufficiently convenient excuse to fix an early start for October’s fest, as intended to innovate some quality autumnal beer drinking time annually for the next two to three centuries. Now that’s looking ahead.
Many beer styles we know today are of European origin, evolving over the ages according to slow, rural, agricultural rhythms. Before refrigeration, it was too hot to brew in high summer, and so brewing schedules were tailored to accommodate. Oktoberfest-style lagers intended for autumn consumption were brewed in late winter and early spring, then aged (lagered) until needed, which is why they’re often called Märzen, from the German word for March.
Nature has its way, humans have theirs, and as beer styles, Märzen (the original fuller-bodied version) and (Oktober)Festbier, the ubiquitous toned-down modern variant, suit both season and occasion. Compared with everyday golden lager, they’re both marginally stronger in alcohol and slightly heavier in the mouth.
Märzen typically is more complex in design, and colored in tawnier shades of amber, brown and orange, while Festbier looks little different from an attractive golden Dortmunder. Both are crisp, clean and offer malty flavor profiles with the discreet, yet firm presence of classic Bavarian “noble” hops. Märzen and Festbier are an epicure’s sheer delight, pairing as well with loaded pizza or enchiladas as the fowl, beef and pork devoured at Bavarian harvest galas.
American craft-brewed versions of Oktoberfest can be Märzen or Festbier depending on an individual brewer’s whim. Some are rigorously true to style, others not so much,...Read more
