Additionally, Trogner adds Hallertau Tradition hops in the kettle to complement the slightly sweet malts in Oktoberfest Lager with a hint of bright floralness. . | Style Info You've reviewed 0 beers on this list. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional Munich festival (which, no, does not really take place during October) kicked off on Saturday and will continue through Oct. 3. They tend to be slightly sweet,. It would finally be served at the Oktoberfest, under the Heaven of Bavaria. We have returned once again to the age-old recipe and recreated that gloriously smooth, honey-coloured piece of history from times gone by. The answer is a little complicated. Paulaner also makes a mrzen that finished better. If you're on an epic beer quest to sample refreshments from all of Munich's "Big Six" breweries, know that you'll need to do some tent hopping to accomplish that. Hacker-Pschorr (Germany; 5.8). Speaking of Green Bench, Festbier is the brewerys own interpretation of the lesser-known German golden lager now served as the official beer of Munichs Oktoberfest fete. ABV: 6.1 percent This mrzen will knock your loferl off, writes the brewery in the beers Untappd description, referring to tradition of wearing calf warmers during Oktoberfest. 5. Solid if unspectacular. But dont let that fool you. For the most part these versions will adhere to the more recognizable mrzen style that as weve mentioned has become popular here in the States. This is more rum raisiny than I usually go for, but its actually nicely balanced. Marzen is my favorite beer style and Oktoberfest my favorite time of year, so I thought I would list my favorites that I've tried in 2022. A mrzen is an amber lager, brewed in March (aka Mrz) and aged through the summer, peaking in September and October right when the festival gets going. No Beans Allowed. On the nose, notes of orange and yeasty barley. This Maryland brewerys Marzen is brewed entirely with ingredients imported from Germany, and its got a nice, malty flavor profile that features hints of caramel and graham cracker. Log in to begin your beer adventure. Brooklyn Oktoberfest (New York; 5.5). This is what I get for tasting these blind: Brooklyn is one of Drunkspins most reliable bribe-providers (try the Intensified Coffee Porter! Different Oktoberfest tents serve different beers. But fake facts are fake facts, and this is one of the very best mrzens Ive had. A reddish amber brown color. A Mrzen is defined by its mild hop profile; its rich in toasted malts, full-bodied with a strong caramel color. Prost! At worst, you have to settle for a brown ale or a Czech pils (if theres a helles? On the palate, it does have that biscuity flavor, but its missing the honey. Lechner calls it, the perfect pairing!, New Glarus Brewing Company New Glarus, WI. "You'll first notice the malty aroma, followed by a pleasant fresh and hop flower aroma," says Dahncke. Normally, when were mentioning New Image its because of an innovative new IPAlike one with Phantasm. My brother-in-law had it in his top three. The slightly sweet finish gets you ready to go in instantly for another sip. Nice reddish amber color to this one. Caramel malt on the nose, but not super aromatic. Although its been around for more than fifteen years, we cant say weve seen another version quite like this one. Fairhope Brewing. I found it solidly drinkable, if neither my favorite nor least favorite, and thats where all my other tasters had it as well. It tastes like lemon peels and lesser garbage, with no roasted malt, no nuts, no sweetness, nothing. As you would expect from one of the OGs of craft brewing. Not a bad beer, though. This is a pale version that has the barest hint of ominous Euro-lager oxidization aroma, but it quickly turns around into a very nice beer with an uncommon tart-apple note that does not come across as a flaw, but rather a welcome supplement to the other malt flavors. Likewise, Comrade Brewings version of a mrzen plunges us into its depths with a Swiss bottom-fermenting yeast anchoring this Oktoberfest (enough of the nautical puns!). The mrzens here in America typically feature Munich and Caramel malts for beers that tend to be redder, maltier, and slightly sweeter. Just like the Red October, slipped beneath the surface. That should be an interesting incentive as you make your way through the Mrzen beers on your beer stores shelf. Hallertau hops add a mellow bitterness and earthy-floral aroma that add another dimension of complexity, says Lechner. I get a hint of grains in there, maybe pumpernickel bread. According to Paulaner, its Oktoberfest Bier is a glass full of October sunshine, strong and golden.. This German amber lager is pretty much what we all imagine when we think of an Oktoberfest, and it deservedly earned points for being true to the style. The style proved especially handy as an instrument of celebration during festivities surrounding the 1810 marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. Here at VBC we say that our beers are only as good as the people with whom we share them, writes the brewery in the beers Untappd description. Not super memorable, but it goes down really easy. Im getting wood in this. It fooled us well. Its more crisp than sweet, with that bitter-ish hop character, but its not overly bitter. Oktoberfest beer is served in Munich during the festival and comes from six different breweries: Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbru and Lwenbru. OKTOBERFEST FESTIVAL HOURS THURSDAY: 4:00pm-11:00pm FRIDAY: FREE ADMISSION FROM 11:00am-4:00pm; EVENT CLOSES AT 1:00am SATURDAY: 11:00am-1:00am SUNDAY: 11:00am-6:00pm SHUTTLES START RUNNING 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO OPENING! Theres a weird note in there I cant put my finger on. We tend to associate this beloved Michigan brewery with warm-weather offerings like their Oberon or their year-round classic Two Hearted Ale, but their Oktoberfest (spelled, annoyingly, as Octoberfest) was still solid enough to crack our top 10. Its got a nice nose, full of bready aromas, and a smooth, malty flavor profile thatll have you craving one of those giant Bavarian pretzels. Great Divides take on the Mrzen is a little darker, emphasizing some dark fruits like cherries. This would be hard to drink all day. Golden Road Brewing Oktoberfest 2. The standard Oktoberfest flavor profile is augmented by a buttery toffee note that makes it a touch too sweet up front, but some bitterness arrives to balance things out a bit on the finish. It's free. The nose isnt super strong of anything, but what I can smell has a nice caramel malt character to it. Another fine but not exceptional beer for me. This gold lager comes in at 5.8% ABV and 26 IBUs. On the palate, this one comes on sweet but finishes bitter. Still, pretty good all things considered. While it's a clich . At the official Oktoberfest in Munich, you'll find just six breweries: Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbrau and Lowenbrau. Munich malts provide the breadiness while Hallertau Blanc hops add the earth spiciness. Sam Adams Oktoberfest, er, Octoberfest, is a mrzen -tyle beer brewed with Tettnang, Tettnanger, Hallertau, and Mettelfrueh hops, with 5.3% ABV and 15 IBUs, available every year from about August-October. This is very representative of what an Oktoberfest beer has come to mean in Germany, as opposed to the American mrzens. Most still ranked it towards the middle, but one especially disappointed taster ranked it last, writing, It just tastes like a bad lager.. 5.2% ABV. Jacks Abby Copper Legend (Massachusetts; 5.7). On the palate, this is refreshing and lightly caramel malty but has a more bitter German hop character on the back end. - Highest ranked beers in Alabama: #40. Grab a Bavarian-style pretzel and some schnitzel; put on your lederhosen and grab your trusty stein off the shelf (proper glassware, were not heathens). Alesmith Oktoberfest German-Style Lager From its unique approach to hop harvest that led to an ingenious IPA combining old- and new-world hops to its experimental hop series, this iconic twenty-six-year-old brewery continues to innovate. We cant wait to hoist a heaping half litre of Oktoberfest with an amazing community of craft beer lovers throughout this celebratory ascent of autumn. Paulaner brewery is a real traditional Munich brewery and has always played a big part in the history of the citys culture, says Dahncke. Probably because Jacks Abby Brewmster Jack Hendler painstakingly aims for his German beers to match up to the traditional styles. Light orange amber. After the first sip you will get the perfect balance from the strong note of malt in combination with some bready and toffee notes, but always the bitterness remains in the back.. Unfortunately, these may be difficult to locate, and there are many excellent Americanized alternatives including Sam Adams' more mainstream option. Ranked from easiest to hardest to find in the. Then in the blind, I have it in my top five and she has it in her top three (my brother-in-law also had it in his top two of the first half). This mix of Herkules and Hallertauer Tradition hops, pilsner and Munich malts from one of Munichs big six comes in at 5.8%. One of our favorite breweries in Buffalo, NY, Thin Mans interpretation of a mrzen is spot on. 19. Today, theyre light gold in color and easy-bodied. 6. Oktoberfest is a celebration of all things Germanparticularly beer. This smells like biscuits with honey, its really nice on the nose. Before we dive into the nitty gritty of all the different tents at Oktoberfest, you should know that 1. And has spawned local celebrations at breweries and bars across the globe. Its got a nice biscuit aroma, and the beer itself is a fairly straightforward Marzen that itd be tough to turn down when youre hanging by a campfire. It should be devoid of bitterness. We may earn a commission from links on this page. On the nose, this smells like a German mans urine. But by 1872 Spaten brewery introduced the more amber-hued mrzen, which became the official beer of the fest. And things are no different with their Oktoberfest. However (caveat alert), at some point during the seventies, the big Munich brewers who make all the beer at the festival decided that mrzens were a little heavy for an all-day kicker like Oktoberfest. RADEBERGER PILS - 4.5 STARS. Orange straw in color, more towards the light end of the spectrum. Shaq Looks Diesel at 50 Doing . But for the most part, over the past two centuries every year people gather in Munich to sip overflowing steins in huge beer tents and eat roasted chicken. La Crosse, Wisconsin This was the lightest and most sessionable of the Americans. Ah, autumn. Alcohol: 5.6 percent. But the absolute best place to eat a pretzel is hotly debated by locals. Nice. I even ordered something different for my second beer. To celebrate Oktoberfests official in-person return (and to gear up for all the similar Oktoberfest celebrations that take place here in the States as well), we decided to round up as many Oktoberfest beers as we could get our hands on to taste and rank here at InsideHook HQ. Oktoberfest Bier (Mrzen) #85. Bready, toasty, malty, with just a hint of herbaceousness of Hersbrucker hops, Thin Mans Oktoberfest is rich, but not cloying, according to its Untappd description. Unfortunately, however, it failed to impress our panel of tasters, all of whom lamented its lack of flavor. In 2017, it was Brauhaus Miltenberger that teamed up to create a golden-hued festbier made with all German ingredients. Popular Review Learn to Review 100 1 Review Appearance: 6 / 6 Aroma: 24 / 24 Flavor: 40/ 40 Mouthfeel: 10/ 10 This is decent but feels watered down somehow. The Best Chronograph Watches at Every Budget. Mrzen was the beer if Oktoberfest for over 100 years. At 10% ABV, its almost twice as boozy as the rest of the Oktoberfest brews we tasted. "Best Oktoberfest Beers," Men's Journal . Of course, there are some brewers in the United States that do adhere more closely to the paler, modern German Oktoberfest styles. = Another beer, please! Released this year on Sept. 17th, 2022, the exact day Oktoberfest starts in Munich, Germany, Bierstadts version stays true to the mrzen style. Keg bowling, anyone? All I know is that this one was too rum-raisiny for me. 15. Best Oktoberfest Beers: Try Out These 9 Amazing Brews Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest Amber Mrzen Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Mrzen Augustiner Bru Mrzen Bier Hofbrau Samuel Adams Octoberfest Great Lakes Brewing Co. Oktoberfest Beck's Oktoberfest Lowenbrau Oktoberfest Oktoberfest, Mrzen and Festbier All rights reserved. Brewed only once a year for the fall celebration, this is authentic Oktoberfest beer at its best. East Brother is one of my favorite breweries, partly for the handsome cans, and partly for their line of un-gimmicky, across-the-board-solid beers. We Tasted and Ranked 17 of the Best Oktoberfest Beers InsideHook - Bonnie Stiernberg 10h At long last, Oktoberfest is upon us. It's finally October, which means you're now free to bust out your 12-foot Home Depot skeleton, stream your favorite scary movies and listen to "The . Hofbru Oktoberfest (Germany; 6.3). A full-bodied beer that's made for Autumn weekends, Summit Brewing's Mrzen-style Oktoberfest is brewed with a mix of Northern Brewer, Tettnanger and Saaz hops. 21. Essentially a lesson in German royalty, Oktoberfest started with a wedding. As time went on, the yearly event became known as Oktoberfest. Smells like caramel candy with some dried figs or something. With an ABV of 5.8%, their Oktoberfest beer is the lightest of the bunch. Before we get to that, I should note that an Oktoberfest beer doesnt always mean exactly the same thing. ZUM WOHL!, Jacks Abby Craft Lagers Framingham, MA. A mrzen uses Munich malt, bringing a deep orange color and grainy, toasty flavor. This is very solid, though there is a bitterness that builds the more I drink. Similarly, because Anheuser-Busch InBev now owns the rights to brew Lwenbru in North America at the Labatt Brewing Company in London, Ontario, Canada, we have not included Augustiner or Lwenbru in our list. This year was the first time since the global pandemic that the annual festival that attracts millions of visitors to Munich, Germany, to imbibe a very specific style of beer, returned in person. On the palate, this tastes very much like a German macrobrew lager. Tis a sacred but solemn time as we close up shop on another summer, and pack away shorts and sandals in favor of flannels, jeans, and that favorite pair of long socks. As the Munich mayor would proclaim upon tapping the first keg, OZapft is! And so am I. ABV: 5.8 percent It received lots of less-than-enthusiastic notes like fine, average and meh something no one should find themselves uttering about their beer on a festive occasion like Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a celebration of tradition and we want to respect that. Paulaner Oktoberfest bier. We kind of think of Czig Meisters Oktoberfest as like the goldilocks of American-brewed mrzens. 7. We find Whisper to be an ideal comparison to crisp weather celebrations and companionship, writes the brewery in the beers Untappd description. A true festbier, Oktoberfestbier clocks in at 6.3% ABV making it a bit bigger than its traditional counterparts. Named Therensienwiese or Thereses Fields, the Wiesn or outdoor meadow hosted days of drinking and horse races. Another big surprise, as Im usually a big fan of Shiner in general. America Is Increasingly Kinless. Its Killing Us. Were typically fans of Brooklyn Brewerys Oktoberfest, but when we tasted it, we wondered if we had somehow received a bad batch. 18. But its a damned fine beer. Pils, Dark Munich, and CaraMunich round out the malt bill, lending a deep biscuit and fresh baked bread backbone. With a dense, billowing head and a remarkably creamy mouthfeel, this is a beer we are proud of and trust that you will enjoy as much as we do Prst!. Other than that though, the inside of the beer rings mostly German featuring Weyermann Vienna malt, Weyermann Pilsner malt, noble German hops, and Weihenstephan lager yeast. Carousels and swings dotted the festival, as did steins of beer, appropriately. She moonlighted as a brand ambassador at 3 Sheeps Brewing Co on the weekends before moving into the beer industry full time as an account coordinator at 5 Rabbit Cerveceria. Lastly, well give you a few updated recommendations of our favorite classic German and current American versions to try. No bitterness and very soft on the palate. Maybe next time I can convince Uproxx to let me expense a cross-country flight. Lagered for eight weeks, The Hunt For Red Oktoberfest comes up for air after two months with a beautiful amber body and creamy mouthfeel. 6. Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier Bavarian Crown Prince Louis (later King Louis I of Bavaria) married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen on Oct. 12th, 1810. Amber in color and stunningly smooth, this mrzen stands for everything the style representsa perfect marriage of sweetness and maltiness. This tastes like a moderately hopped light lager. The Germans mastered it, and now more and more American breweries are trying their hand at replication. Its mightier than your average Mrzen. First brewed by Spaten in Germany, in America this is the most common style of what weve come to call Oktoberfest or Oktoberfest-style beers. Ultimately a bit too astringent to be in the top tier, but plenty good enough to drink by the liter. For me, this defined that balance between malt and sweet and landed in that 5-6% ABV, 10-20 IBU sweet spot. And theyre slightly meatier at 6-6.5% ABV. Paulaner Oktoberfest. Weihenstephaner Festbier 16. Celebrate Oktoberfest's triumphant return with these brews. That makes this beer at least half German, right? ), but my facts are my facts, and this is all downhill after an inoffensive, lightly lemon-peppery aroma. Theres not enough sweetness to balance the hop bite for me, so it finishes slightly more bitter than Id like. Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Mrzen Of course, not everyone can travel. On the scale of everything COVID-19 has taken from us this year, beer festivals don't rank too highly. People. Located in a unique place in Germany, Schneider Weisse sits right in between the world-famous hop-growing Hallertau region and the Straubinger Guboden area known for its malt. 1. If you're interested in specific tastes, we'll take you through various types of Oktoberfest beer so that you can choose what you want. Bummer. Karl Strauss Oktoberfest ABV: 5.8 percent I wouldve put money on that one landing in my top five, as I always stock up on it come Fall. Stratford, Conn.ABV: 5.8%. ABV: 5.8 percent InsideHook - Bonnie Stiernberg. The chocolate and cherry notes are not typical of an Oktoberfest beer, so it ranked lower among the dozen for us. A lot of people call this the best. Brewed with a mix of Black, Munich, Pilsner, and Special Roast malts, as well as Hersbrucker and Tradition hops with lager yeast, this 5.5% BV brew with 19 IBUs packs flavors of caramel and graham cracker and is released every fall. How to Keep Your Core in Fighting Shape During the Holidays, How Good Will Hunting Changed Mens Mental Health for the Better, 8 Perfect Jewelry Gifts From Affordable to Splurg-Worthy, Uber Eats 2022 Cravings Report Reveals That Americans are Predictable as Ever, The Best Comfy Loungewear and Pajamas to Give Her This Year, Everything You Should Buy From Todd Snyders Massive Winter Sale, 25 Winter-Ready Boots That Are on Sale Just in Time for the Holidays. With nearly 10,000 seats, the Hofbru Tent is so large that they sell over 750,000 liters of beer during Oktoberfest. THE 10 BEST AND MOST POPULAR GERMAN BEERS THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY. Founded by a Bavarian, Kosmos Spoetzl, in 1909, Texas powerhouse Shiner-Spoetzl still brews plenty of German styles, God bless them, including this 5.7% ABV, 18-IBU mrzen made with Hallertau and Hersbrucker hops. Temblorfest Mrzen I would have guessed my sample was old, but the label said its good till next May. Nacht-Toberfest stunned us with its ombre garnet to dark teak wood complexion. But I intend to celebrate from afar by spending the week drinking out of a huge ceramic mug and providing safe harbor to any asylum-seeking bratwurst that comes my way. Which is why we love it so much. At one time, all Oktoberfest beers were a type of amber lager called a marzen (pronounced mare-tsen). 4. Off Color pretty much colors in the lines with their Oktoberfest-style mrzen. 11. Its kettle addition of Hallertau Tradition hops gives it some nice floral and herbal flavors and a very pleasant nose that arent typically present in an Oktoberfest. 'Oktoberfest: Beer and Blood', the six-part German miniseries about the famous beer festival at the turn of the twentieth century, is a dark and twisted tale. Americas biggest BeerCon went down in Colorado over the weekend, and Drunkspins Rocky Mountain correspondent will be along later in the week to tell you all about it. Each year, Sierra Nevada teams up with a German brewery for their annual Oktoberfest. On the hop side traditional Hersbrucker and (perhaps a little less traditional) Nugget hops lend a subtle spiciness to the finish. 2. 437k members in the beer community. 1. It was out of this celebration and this brew that the Oktoberfest tradition was born. Whats a party without drinks? Bavarians have been celebrating the harvest with beer festivals since before the 1400s. Weihenstephaner bills itself as the worlds oldest brewery and is certainly one of my favorite. The style of Oktoberfest includes both the beers specifically brewed for serving, or in the style of those served, at the world's largest beer festival, Oktoberfest in Munich, which takes. This is why German import Oktoberfest beers taste different than American breweries Oktoberfest brews, which generally aim for the old mrzen version. 17. Jackrabbit Brewing Company. Im not sure whether the beer is just different this year or if the branding just had that much of an effect on me. Learn More Harder to find, but worth it Jack's Abby Copper Legend ABV: 5.7 percent I assumed it was a German macrobrew, and my brother-in-laws notes had GERMAN in all caps. Its sad that most of the big German brewers moved away from mrzens as their Oktoberfest brews because they can brew the shit out of a mrzen when they want to. Oktoberfest isn't dead in St. Louis. (Its allegedly available in small draft-only quantities in California, which still makes it dead to me; apparently their Pivo Pils has been such a hit that they couldnt spare the tank space to brew another lager this year. This one is very rum raisiny on the nose, with some notes of dark bread underneath. Its free. If it is still around, it sounds super interesting. And in the mid 1960s Paulaners golden-colored Oktoberfest Bier, considered a festbier, began to take over. For our part, we wanted to recognize the holiday by digging into its history. The dark malts (and the booze) lend it a bit of sweetness, but the hops come through at the end and . The horse races that took place on the fields that day were so popular that they decided to do it again the following year, and in 1819 they made it into an annual festival, so it was actually horse racing not beer that started Oktoberfest! Beyond that lovely bit of background, we know it has 5.8% ABV and Hallertau hops. Boy, I was way off. O'zapft is! In Germany, strict trademark rules dictate that only beers brewed by the six breweries located within the Munich city limits can use "Oktoberfestbier" on their labels and ship it to the tents:. Anyhow, the Oktoberfest style is rather loosely defined, as German beer goes (though the category is tightly focused by our sloppy American standards). This is a great choice if you like your Oktoberfest beers to skew more sweet and syrupy than crisp and bitter, and divided us accordingly. The party was so off-the-chain it became an annual 16 day festival from Mid-September to Early October. Adequate Man is Deadspins new self-improvement blog, dedicated to making you just good enough at everything. Known for brewing oft-forgotten or a bit off-the-beaten-path styles, Off Color keeps the tradition alive with their own mrzenWaddle. I don't intend this list to either proclaim the best Oktoberfest available today nor do I wish for lower-ranked beers to be labeled as "bad." Rather, when pitted against each other, some of these beers were more enjoyable when tested by a single reviewer. Smells like proofing French bread on the nose, pretty aromatic for a lighter beer. For that reason, were dropping it on this list because its just a damn good beer. This is a grown-up Oktoberfest deserving of all its awards and recognitions. It pours a lovely amber color and you can pick up hints of caramel on the nose, but for whatever reason, this time around, the flavor didnt deliver on its promise. This is good, but its too big if Im trying to drink all day long, says my friend Jon who assisted during the taste testing. Find him on Twitter @WillGordonAgain. Now thats what we call an homage. Id be curious to see how this one fared in a true Oktoberfest contest, where you have to drink four or five of each beer. It doesnt have the most eye-catching label like the East Brothers or Societe (though its perfectly fine), and it doesnt even say Oktoberfest on it (because its a mrzen and was in the seasonal section I was able to put two and two together). City: Los Angeles. Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest Amber Mrzen On the nose we immediately detected a great maltiness and charred wood, followed on the sip by a very balanced maltiness. The official website for Oktoberfest 2023 in Munich. Mrzen or Mrzenbier, often simply referred to as "Oktoberfest lager" in . Burnt orange in color with a cream head, this Connecticut-born Oktoberfest rendered "a little coppery" on the palate at first, followed by crispy and bitter flavors . Victorys Festbier is brewed with traditional German malts, and though it racked up some respectable, middle-of-the-road scores from our tasters, it failed to truly stand out from the rest of the pack. In 2017, it was Brauhaus Miltenberger that teamed up to create a golden-hued festbier made with all German ingredients. This is a nice, multidimensional brewski. These beers were brewed in . History, tradition, hospitalityOktoberfest is not only the biggest but, I think, also the best beer festival in the world, says Christian Dahncke, head brewmaster at Paulaner, one of the six Munich breweries that actually has permission to brew and sell the original Munich Oktoberfest Bier. Brooklyn Oktoberfest Mrzen Lager 4. This has a subdued aroma thats mostly grainy with a bit of floral and citrus hop character; the expected caramel is present but faint, with a honeyed sweetness that balances out the slightly aggressive (for the style) hops. Profile ABV: 5.9% IBUs: 23 Served at: 45 - 50 Hops: Northern Brewer, Hersbrucker. It should be big on malt flavors. Since introducing its Oktoberfest beer O'Fest in 2009, Devils Backbone has always released it in August. [So Oktoberfest] is an event dear to Paulaners heart.. Unless you're one of the 16 million people from around the world lucky enough to be spending Oktoberfest in Munich this year, chances are you may not have access to all the officially credited Oktoberfest beers. While the recipe is traditional, we lager the beer in French oak barrels to give it an extra smooth mouthfeel with a hint of oak character.. This was a bit of an outlier in that its an American Oktoberfest beer thats clearly trying to ape the German Oktoberfest light lager rather than a mrzen. With Nacht-Toberfest youll find all the flavor profiles youd associate with a malt-forward beer: baked dark bread, biscuit, toast, and a little bit of nutty caramel. Wallenpaupack Brewing Company Hawley, PA. Were big fans of Wallenpaupacks Paupack Cream Ale, naming it one of the best beers we drank last November. Their Oktoberfest Marzen is brewed with a blend of light and dark Munich malts, giving it a nice, sweet caramel flavor that our tasters singled out among a few of their favorite things. Not at all. Perfect For: Spending an October day by the pool. Download an album of German Oompah music. 14. Not a lot on the nose, straw? Good cracker character in the malt. This Pennsylvania brewerys Oktoberfest is an extremely well-balanced beer that manages to offer a bit of a twist on the traditional style without straying too far away from it. This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Where to Eat Brezen at Oktoberfest You can't walk but a few feet at Oktoberfest without seeing a brezen. It only took us one sip to write in our notes, Yup, thats a mrzen-style beer to a T.. [Oktoberfest Bier] has a smooth, aromatic, malty taste, as well as a slightly delicate bitterness that makes the difference, says Dahncke. 3. I should also note that two of Karl Strausss oldest brews, their Red Trolley Ale and Columbia Street Amber Lager, are the kind of cant-miss sweet malty beers that Ill pour every time I see them. On the palate, this one has a plummy, fruitcake vibe to it, as you might expect from the nose, but its nicely balanced by its crispness. Paulaner has brewed its bottom-fermented Oktoberfest Bier during every Oktoberfest since 1818, and its proof that theres no need to mess with a good thing. 12. 3. 8: Saint Arnold Oktoberfest Appearance: 4 Aroma: 7 Flavor: 6.5 Total:. You dont have to answer that right away. You dont quite see brewers just naming any damned beer an Oktoberfest brew like a lot of them do with IPA, but there is still some variation within the larger umbrella of the style. Melissa's take: "It has a little hoppiness to it, which is nice." Oktoberfest - Schell's Brewing This smart roomba is on sale and ready to suck up dust, pet hair, or whatever else is lingering on your floor. All information, news, events, dates, beer tents, rides, prices, routes and shops for Wiesn 2023 All the information and news about the largest and most beautiful folk festival in the world. 8. The world's biggest fest started in Munich, Germany in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. But dig underneath the delicate head and youll discover a clean, crisp Oktoberfest-style beer thats not over the top or too fancy. Golden Roads marketing materials for this beer go out of their way to highlight its rich caramel notes, but oddly, the flavor we all immediately picked up on here was coffee. Meaning if you dont make it to a Yard House near you to try it now, during the most perfect time of the year, you might not ever try it at all. But you may not know that this Colorado-based brewery also kills it with their lager program. Our team of five tasters gave each beer an individual score based on their impressions, and those scores were then tallied up to give us our final rankings. One of the big six Munich brewers, Paulaner has multiple Oktoberfest beers, with this one being the German lager type. Not really a fan. For three or four weeks out of every year, I get to experience what life must be like for IPA lovers. In 1896, these stands were replaced by tents, which have become the focal point of the event. American Blonde (American Blonde Ale) 11 / 17BeerAdvocate #7. Bakery chains Rischart, Mller-Hflinger, and private bakers Zttl, Wimmer, and Karnoll's Backstandl in Viktualienmarkt have all been pointed out as the best. Basically, the Oktoberfest-style beers brewed in America are actually nothing like the festbiers made for the real Oktoberfest in Germany. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. All in all, this is a celebratory beer, first brewed for a celebration, and now continually brewed for Oktoberfest celebrations. But the true secret according to Dahncke is the bottom-fermenting yeast, which builds a higher alcoholic content together with a full malty body. Today, Paulaners Oktoberest Bier is the most-served beer at Oktoberfest in Munich. 8. Grab a sixer or 12-pack of cans and bottles, or, find it on tap at the local bar. This is nice, but could maybe use a little more bite. This one in particular is a perfect, classic example of the style crisp, bready and well-balanced that pours a lovely gold color and has a dry finish. Oktoberfest has the 6.3% Augustiner Wiesn beer in the Augustiner festival tent, in the Fischer Vroni, and in the Tradition festival tent on the Oide Wiesn. This smelled weird, then tasted good for a second before being undone by a cheap back end that resembled a solid Oktoberfest jam cut with two ounces of Bud Light. This was a major surprise. Then the other 30% end up being a collection of novelty flavors, peanut butter fudgesicle sundae stouts, and apology blonde ales. There are also three small tents for Augustiner: the chicken and duck grill Ammer, the Wildstuben, and the Zur Bratwurst tent. ABV: 5.8 percent Shiner Oktoberfest Mrzen-Style Beer 3. The Top 23 Oktoberfest Beers To Try This Fall Hop Culture Best German Inspired Recipes Easy Oktoberfest Hofbruhaus Oktoberfestbier Clone Brew Your Own Oktoberfest Beer Recipe How To Enjoy The Por Festival At Home Oktoberfest Mrzen Biab Recipe 2 5 Gallon Mr Small Batch Brewer Oktoberfest Party Beer Full Guide To Becoming The Host With Prost You can taste it at the Hacker-Zelt and the Pschorr-Brurosl. Kind of like the charred ends of buttered toast. East Brothers Beer Co. Festbier Brewed with German Pilsner, Munich, Cara Munich, and Vienna malts, plus a traditional mrzen yeast, Whisper is Tree Houses culmination of years toying with the idea of a German-inspired lager to celebrate Oktoberfest. Towing a lustrous line between amber and gold, this version boasts deep toasty notes complemented by a crisp citrus lemon bite. Fredericksburg Oktoberfest. He lives in Cambridge, Mass., and some of his closest friends have met Certified Cicerones. This 5.5% ABV mrzen out of Utica combines bready malts and German noble hops for a sweet, drinkable lager available every year from August to October. Mild, earthy, and sweet, this beer sneaks up on you. Before you ask: yes, Sound of Music fans, this brewery is owned by that von Trapp family. Brewed with imported German Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich malts, Green Benchs Festbier produces a strong malty backbone tempered by a clean hop bite. assholes.). Ballast Point Dead Ringer (California; 6.0). Best known for farmhouse alessuch as Spotted Cowand fruited sours, New Glarus puts its own spin on the autumnal German beer with Staghorn Octoberfest. They tend to be slightly sweet, moderately roast-y, ideally a bit nutty, and in the 5- to 6-percent alcohol-by-volume range. Samuel Adams (Massachusetts and Ohio; 5.3). Blue Point is now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which certainly doesnt disqualify them from making good beer, but, you know. Oh, and a fourth: It should finish clean. A 5.8% ABV, 13 IBU mix of German Tradition hops and a bunch of deep amber malts from Golden Road Brewing, an LA brewery founded in the golden age of 2011. Like its German brethren, this Festbier is more golden than amber. The pool ended up being a nice mix of American craft mrzens, imported German Oktoberfest lighter lagers, and German export mrzens all ranging from the syrupy, rum-raisiny prune brews of the too malty ones, to the bitter, watery, sometimes piss-tasting pilsneryness (sorry, thats just the way I think of it) of the too hoppy/too watery ones. Any Mrzen list without this beer is inadequate. Try it . Oktoberfestbiers have experienced an evolution since the first Oktoberfest was held in 1810. Lets go. 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Repeat three times. Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest Amber Mrzen 3. Beer. Nice amber color. Deep malt character 5.8 percent seemed to be the standard for Mrzen. The nuptials included a raucous party open to the citizens of Munich on the fields in front of the city gates. This years Sam Adams Oktoberfest does taste very raisiny to me, and the top five or six all were pretty fantastic. Buy on Drizly Buy on Minibar Delivery. Its a nice amber. If you love the hop bombs, virtually every brewery and bar will have you covered, usually six or seven times over. Green Bench Co-Founder and Head Brewer Khris Johnson uses a traditional double decoction process and natural carbonation to truly mimic an authentic German-inspired interpretation of this celebratory harvest beer. Super malt-forward thanks to the combination of Pilsner, light Munich, and Vienna malts, In Like A Lion offers a caramel-y, honied sweetness bordering on sticky toffee pudding. Vibrant orange amber color. Of course, thats a little unusual for an Oktoberfest, but even if you ignore the fact that it doesnt taste true to style, theres a lack of boldness here that we dont typically associate with coffee-flavored beers either. Clean malt smell leads to a nice pine sting with a bit of caramel underneath. Today may mark the official end of the 187th Oktoberfest celebration, but that doesnt mean the party needs to stop. And awesome. Its German raw materials meets California wine barrels, said Brynildson in the press release. Is it possible it tastes better out of the can than out of the tap? Google Oktoberfest 2020, and the first thing you'll see is just the word "canceled.". Jacks Abby brewmaster Jack Hendler takes pained measures to make sure his German styles measure up to their Bavarian counterparts. Not too sweet, not too bitter with nice caramel malt and enough head to cut any syrupiness from the darker, sweeter malt. Bonus: We cant say with one hundred percent certainty that this beer is still available by the time of publication, but Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, FL, teamed up to brew a smoked mrzen called Spark. I buy it every year and generally put it slightly over Sierra Nevadas. Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest 2020 For almost a decade, Sierra Nevada Brewing has been crafting some of the world's most impressive Oktoberfest beers, sometimes as collaborations with European brewers. Left Hand Oktoberfest Mrzen Lager (Colorado; 6.6). 13. Classic was the word most commonly used to describe Breckenridges offering. Hofbru Tent (Festzelt): About The Hofbru Tent: As the child of Munich's historic Hofbru Haus ( meaning Royal Brew House ), this is the wildest and most fun Oktoberfest tent. So, for the sake of clarity, Im going to use the word Mrzen throughout when referring to the beer, and Oktoberfest when referring to the event held in Munich each September. Brands shown/Gabriel Serrano More of a toffee-amber color. Find in a six-pack, pour two into a stein. Green Bench Brewing Company St. Petersburg, FL. Every taster pounced on the fact that it tasted more hop-forward than a traditional Oktoberfest classic Oktoberfest notes not very prominent, one wrote with several of them even noting that it simply tasted like a pilsner. All other breweries must call their seasonal lagers Oktoberfest-style beer. You could convince me this was a washed-out pumpkin beer based on aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon, but it turns more typical as it opens, with light roasted malt and sweet toffee that dries out on the fairly bitter finish. The flavor features a small dose of dry, dark chocolate and just the right amount of caramel. Above all, its a very nice balance of malt and crispness, which is exactly what I want in an Oktoberfest lager. In both cases, my ideal is a nice balance of sweet flavorful malt and crispy hoppy bite, neither too syrupy sweet nor too hoppy bitter or watery. Blind tastings are flawed in a lot of ways, too chief among them being that Im a firm believer that any drinks story makes up part of how it tastes and the can/bottle design is part of that story. So we werent too surprised when they sent us an Oktoberfest lager and it knocked our socks off. Thats probably thanks to Serenade, Blue, and Midnight, dark roasted malt, from Troubador Maltings. Its for a post!, Im going to defer to the copywriters of Southern Bavaria and just quote them here: Forbidden as it was to brew in summer, a stronger beer the Mrzen was brewed earlier in March. Some might argue that its worth visiting Denver in late September / early October for something other than the Great American Beer Festival. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. Its the latter grain that gives this particular beer a bit of a darker color than youll normally see with an Oktoberfest. It is a combination of old traditionsand a big beer festival, where each of the six Munich breweries tries to brew the best beer for this event.. Again, if you buy an Oktoberfest-style beer in America, it will most likely be an amber mrzen. Its still sufficiently malty, but those hops give it a subtle way of standing out. A vaguely cinnamon aroma leads to a strong caramel palate and a firm, dry finish thats marred by a bit of cardboard. At long last, Oktoberfest is upon us. Created in 1872, Spaten Oktoberfest is considered the worlds first mrzen. ABV: 8.0%. Oktoberfest has a relatively high alcohol percentage of between 5%-6%, yet smooth and friendly to drink. First pioneered by Paulaner, festbiers today in Germany are THE official beer of Oktoberfest. Berkshire Oktoberfest (Massachusetts; 6.8) This one also has chocolate on the nose, along with a spiciness that reminds me of Saaz hops. 6 Best Oktoberfest Beers 2021 - Marzen, Lager, Festbier. The Verdict: With a good malty nose and full mouthfeel, this LA beer is made with . Elsewheres Oktoberfest is just super balanced and beautiful. This beer purity law, created in 1516, was intended to . Outsource your vacuuming to iRobot.This smart roomba is on sale and ready to suck up dust, pet hair, or whatever else is lingering on your floor. And you can bet that there were toasts, aka prosts, and beer steins clinking aplenty. Oh, how I aspire to one day be among those big, drunk, shitty tourists! (Doesnt taste barrel-aged, but I could drink a lot of these, one taster admitted.) Golden Road Brewing Oktoberfest In Germany, Oktoberfest means beers that are brewed specifically for the Oktoberfest event in Munich. Cmon! This one was fine for what it is, but like I said, I tend to prefer the mrzens to the German-style Oktoberfest lagers. Youll find much of the classic here: dark toasted bread builds up the malt profile finished with a balanced hop bite. Originally brewed in March, mrzens (which literally translates to **surprise surprise** March in English) were stockpiled to survive all through the summer and well into the fall. Its syrupy and sweet and definitely leans more malty than crisp/hoppy. You may not be able to make the trek to Munich this year to experience Oktoberfests triumphant return, but there are plenty of options to help you get in the spirit here at home. There were 18 in all, which is probably approaching the upper limit of how many beers you can sample blind and still have coherent taste buds by the end (I didnt spit either, it seemed somehow both un-American and anti-German). Head is sort of uriney and smells like an American pils. Very orange-amber in color. It's a traditional Marzen Oktoberfest lager, described as a "smooth, yet mildly hoppy" beer. On the palate, by contrast, it comes on sweet, with a very light toffee flavor. On the nose, I get more caramel toffee on the nose, with maybe some candied pecan nuttiness sneaking in there as well. ABV: 6.2 percent Four out of five of us who tried it noted that it tasted like what you would drink at a frat party whether or not you see that as a good thing depends entirely on you and your college experience. Darker in color, amber towards brown. Billed as a full-bodied, bottom-fermented specialty beer, it comes in at 6.3% ABV and 23 IBU, with Herkules, Perle, Magnum, and Select hops and a combination of light and Munich malts. Prost! 10. At 8.0% ABV, Avery's The Kaiser is the booziest Oktoberfest on this list. Solid beer nonetheless. The Texas hill country community of Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants in 1846, and even 175 years later, those roots still show. 1. Did I redeem myself for not being able to recognize oak that I did once again correctly identify a German macro? 4. But for the most part, if youre drinking an Oktoberfest in America, its probably a copper-hued, toasty mrzen lager. The city of Munich came to celebrate these nuptials annually, and dubbed the grounds Theresienwiese, or Theresas Fields. The land is still known affectionately and colloquially as Weisn.. For this tasting, I just grabbed every Oktoberfest beer I could find here in Central California, plus a handful of other breweries we knew that could ship samples. The taste wasnt as good, as a slightly sour edge emerged (I figured it was an age/storage issue and wrongly guessed it was one of the Germans). One of the lightest ones, orange in color but really almost yellow. Results were split. Their German hefe called Promised Marvels made our list of The 20 Best Beers to Drink in Fall 2021, but its their own Oktoberfest that makes the cut here. Wallenpaupacks Oktoberfest won a gold medal from the Brewski Awards in 2021 and VinePair named it one of the Six Best American Oktoberfest Beers Weve Tasted This Year (2020).. Featuring both Midwestern and European malts along with German yeast and Wisconsin water, New Glarus version of the amber German lager marries the brewerys Midwestern mentality with traditional German heritage. I would class it more as interesting. Not better, or worse, exactly, but a slight departure. We love how breweries known for other styles put an equal emphasis and care on nailing these German-style mrzens. I should note that my wife had this in her bottom three, but women can be very irrational sometimes. These are three German phrases you will undoubtedly hear a lot of at Oktoberfest, and often shouted joyfully. The aroma is killed by a brutal skunkiness that eventually fades, but not until the damage is done. Dust Bowl, in Turlock, California (you may have seen it in Colin Kaepernicks terrible Netflix show) brews this amber-colored mrzen every Fall, which never feels very autumnal in Turlock. On the palate woof, this is rum-raisin city. With Oktoberfest upon us and more than 5,300 U.S. brewers producing hundreds of takes on the Mrzen style, we took at look at beer industry site BeerAdvocate's rankings of various Oktoberfest. After graduating with a journalism degree from Northwestern University, she attended culinary school before working in restaurant management. Another great brewery out of, once again, San Diego, Karl Strauss has been around since 89, making it kind of an OG in the local scene. Jackrabbit Brewing Company Mrzen 18. So technically, this is a helles lager, but this uber popular sports bar with over a hundred taps collabed with Schneider Weisse to create the German brewerys only bottom-fermented beer to debut in the United States. This tastes like a German macro lager but also an excellent version of that. These limited seasonal beers will sell out quickly, so don't delay in placing your order to get some of the tastiest beers we have on offer. There are just no blunt edges; its smooth as a cashmere sweater. Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Vienna, Caramunich, Aromatic. But there are plenty of modern American versions that deserve recommendation as well. Today, Germanys largest folk festival and one of the most famous beer festivals in the world normally welcomes over six million visitors. Youll first notice the malty aroma, followed by a pleasant fresh and hop flower aroma, says Dahncke. On the palate, this is sweet but light, and lightly syrupy. This definitely tastes like a Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, which is high praise. Firestone Walker Brewing Company Paso Robles, CA. My Favorite 2022 Marzen/Oktoberfest Beers, Ranked Been seeing quite a few posts about Oktoberfest/marzen beers lately. It smells crisp. Quality content "The beer has a malty sweetness and the bitterness levels are just right to balance the malt character for . Its got a dark amber color, hopefully meant to mimic the changing of the leaves during the fall season. And all is brewed with due reverence to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516.. From another San Diego brewery, Alesmiths Oktoberfest is a mrzen-style lager coming in at 5.5% ABV and 13 IBU, characterized by a clean, elegant, and toasty malt character. It's been enjoyed in Minnesota for two decades worth of Fall seasons with no signs of let up. This one comes on sweet and malty on the nose, with notes of maple syrup. 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