Thirst is only beautiful when it is accompanied by beer. —German adage
While it’s called Oktoberfest, the Munich festival for which the celebration is named actually starts this year on Sept. 21. The reason: The weather in Munich is nicer earlier in the fall.
We have the opposite weather trend here in the desert, but the spirit of the celebration is the same—beer, food and music. Let’s take a trip through a couple of the styles synonymous with Oktoberfest, and some easily acquired examples of those styles.
Two styles are traditional when it comes to this time of year: Märzen and festbier. The former is named after the German word for the month of March—and this might seem odd were it not for the history of lagering beer. Before refrigeration, Germany prohibited beer-brewing from April to September, as the beer would spoil more easily—so the final batches were brewed in March and lagered in temperate underground cellars until it was time to party. Märzens are amber in color due to the 100% kilned Munich malt and have the aroma and flavor of browned bread due to the melanoidins in the malt, and a medium hop backbone with spicy, floral and/or herbal notes.
The festbier style is a much more recent phenomenon when it comes to the festivities, beginning around the late 1980s or ’90s—making it a very recent development in beer on the German timeline. It’s simply a paler version of the Märzen, using more pale pilsner malt for a lighter, more “sessionable” drinking experience. The flavor is slightly toasty, but not nearly as much as the Märzen; it has an almost dough-like quality.
Let’s begin with the obvious: festival beers from Deutschland, and I chose a semi-random sampling of beers. Hofbräu’s Oktoberfestbier has the classic toasted bread flavor with floral, spicy hop notes, and it is dangerously drinkable at 6.3% alcohol by volume. I’ve had the pleasure of drinking ein Maß (“a measurement” literally, but what they call the dimpled glass liter mugs) of helles lager at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich years ago and fondly remember enjoying it with a huge pretzel. If something has changed, I can’t detect it.
Weihenstephaner is another venerated brewery in Bavaria where some of my favorite hefeweizens are made, and unsurprisingly, their festbier is an excellent and very quaffable example of the style. A little on the paler and fruitier side than its Hofbräu counterpart, this one had the light toast and the floral hop quality indicative of the style.
My only disappointment in the German examples I picked up for this column was the Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen. The beer underneath seemed fine, but upon pouring it, I got a good whiff of skunk, presumably from light exposure. This is not the brewery’s fault, but it is important to note that this kind of thing can happen to a beer that must travel a long way—which is why I was pleased with finding a canned version of the aforementioned Hofbräu festbier, which prevents any skunkiness.
But fear not the skunk, for there are many American-made examples of these styles, and they are relatively easy to obtain. My first pick is Oaktoberfest from Firestone Walker Brewing. I’ve sung their praises many times in the confines of this column, and this brewery just keeps doing it right. According to their own tradition, they make a festbier and lager it in French oak barrels for the festivities, making this year’s release the 2023 Oaktoberfest. Amber in color, it drinks beautifully with a biscuit malt flavor and a crisp, dry finish. You can even get a bit of an oaky, slightly vanilla flavor as it warms, which may not happen, because it is highly crushable.
Next up from this year’s “haul” was Kern River Brewing’s German-style Märzen. Now, this beer wasn’t undrinkable or even bad, but from the pour, I knew something was up: What little head existed right after pouring vanished very quickly. It was also a bit sweeter than the other beers that I tried, but with a little more fruitiness, a hint of chocolate and the hallmark toasty character of the style; I ended up finishing it. This is unlike Kern River, based on my experience, so I’ll assume I got a bad can and will keep trying their beers.
Last and definitely not least was Mother Earth Brewing’s Oktoberfest German-style lager. According to their website, this is meant to be a cross between a festbier and a Märzen. You may be familiar with Mother Earth from their Cali Creamin’ series of cream ales, which basically keeps their tanks full beer-wise and financially, but every time I’ve reached for one of their beers, I’ve had a great experience—and this one’s no different. It offered lots of biscuit malt, toasted bread, a touch of honey and almond, and a bit of earthiness from the hops. This was my surprise favorite, but it really shouldn’t have been a surprise at all.
Honorable mention goes to the Josefbräu Oktoberfest contract-brewed for Trader Joe’s by Gordon Biersch (unless something has changed that I’m unaware of). Any of the seasonals under this name are excellent, and a six-pack of 12-ounce cans runs you all of $6.99, which is the deal of all deals.
These beers will get you off to a good start if you’re feeling the Oktoberfest spirit. There are also many, many more German and domestic versions of these styles that are potentially worth trying out there. If I missed your favorite, let me know.
It’s also worth mentioning that there are some great Oktoberfest celebrations spread throughout Southern California (the large one in Big Bear, for example), so if you feel the need to celebrate in person, a quick Google search should get you something for whatever level of festival you’re seeking. Just beware: Some places will serve generic, macro-brewed beer, which would make a good Bavarian cry. And you don’t want to be crying at a party, do you?
