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Not long ago, craft-brewed lagers were rare in the USA. That\u2019s changed. Today, damn near every brewery produces various styles of lager, and the list includes Festbier. The upcoming Harvest Fest in Seattle<\/a> on September 26th, presented by the Washington Brewers Guild, will showcase the full beer bounty of Washington, and that includes Festbier. Craft brewers across the Pacific Northwest have upped their game when it comes to this style, assisted in part by the availability of the high quality grains that make a good Festbier really shine. If you\u2019re not yet, it\u2019s time to get familiar with this style of beer. (Above: two of my favorite, locally brewed Festbiers.)<\/em><\/p>\n So, is Festbier an actual beer style, or just a catch-all term for beers brewed for Oktoberfest season? Short answer: yes. It\u2019s both of those things. But it shouldn\u2019t be. Let me explain. <\/p>\n Excellent examples of Washington-brewed Festbier<\/span><\/em><\/strong> Festbier has nothing to do with Oktoberfest and it also has everything to do with Oktoberfest. This time of year, things show up on tap lists and in the beer aisles labeled as Festbier, Oktoberfestbier, Oktoberfest M\u00e4rzen, Oktoberfest Lager, or any mashup of those words. Order two \u201cOktoberfest\u201d beers and they might look and taste wildly different. Even esteemed German brewers like Paulaner offer two vastly different beers that say Oktoberfest on the label. <\/p>\n So what gives? Let\u2019s break down Festbier, M\u00e4rzen, and Oktoberfestbier \u2014 what they are, how they relate, and where they differ \u2014 so you can track down the festival beer you actually want. Because I think the one most American craft beer consumers want is Festbier.<\/p>\n M\u00e4rzen (German for \u201cMarch\u201d) got its name the old-fashioned way: it was brewed in March, stored it in dark, cool cellars or caves all summer, and by autumn, it was ready. The beer of choice at harvest festivals. It was the beer served at the very first Oktoberfest, a public celebration in 1810 marking the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (soon to be King Ludwig I). For the next 150 years, if you were drinking at Oktoberfest, you were drinking M\u00e4rzen. It\u2019s not what you\u2019d drink there today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s still what runs through my head when I see \u201cOktoberfest\u201d on a label: amber-red, malty, a little sweet up front, dry on the finish. In other words, M\u00e4rzen. It\u2019s the style most American brewers, but not all, are chasing when they slap the word \u201cOktoberfest\u201d on anything. Most stateside versions land between 5.5 and 6.5 percent ABV.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where it gets confusing: Munich\u2019s breweries don\u2019t actually serve M\u00e4rzen at Oktoberfest anymore. Starting in the 1970s, the city\u2019s six festival breweries began quietly swapping their M\u00e4rzen-style beers for something more quaffable. By the 1990s, Festbier was the norm. Today, the word \u201cOktoberfest\u201d relates to two things: the big beer festival in Munich and a style of beer that is not served at that festival. <\/p>\n The Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP) defines the Festbier as follows. <\/strong>Overall Impression: A smooth, clean, pale German lager with a moderately strong malty flavor and a light hop character. Deftly balances strength and drinkability, with a palate impression and finish that encourages drinking. Showcases elegant German malt flavors without becoming too heavy or filling. Appearance: Deep yellow to deep gold color; should not have amber hues. Bright clarity. Persistent white to off-white foam stand. Most commercial examples are medium gold in color.<\/p>\n Compared to M\u00e4rzen, these new offerings were less intensely malty \u2014 pale, golden lagers with a cleaner, crisper finish, thanks to the use of lighter malts and the extra hop character that balances out the sweetness. Festbier is golden, not amber. Lighter, not as sweet. Built specifically for the festival grounds, which is how they earned the name Festbier. Most clock in around 6 percent ABV.<\/p>\n For beer drinkers in the United States, Festbier is more approachable \u2014 much closer to what American drinkers would call a Helles. Or an adjacent, less common style called Dortmunder. Most of the Festbier I run into locally, brewed in the Pacific Northwest, tends to be a bit more robust than a true Helles, if nowhere near as malt-forward as a M\u00e4rzen. Bottom line: a proper Festbier should be gold, not amber, and lighter on malty sweetness than a M\u00e4rzen. No guarantees, though \u2014 your mileage may vary from brewery to brewery.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Oktoberfestbier \u2014 less a flavor profile than a legal, or regional, designation. Think of it as the Champagne of beer. Sorry, Miller High Life. Only six breweries within Munich city limits are allowed to pour on the festival grounds and use the name Oktoberfestbier: Hofbr\u00e4u, Augustiner, L\u00f6wenbr\u00e4u, Paulaner, Spaten, and Hacker-Pschorr. These days, what they\u2019re pouring is a Festbier. So \u201cOktoberfestbier\u201d and \u201cFestbier\u201d are, for all practical purposes, the same golden lager \u2014 the former is a protected designation, the latter a style category.<\/p>\n Stateside, we don\u2019t play by Munich\u2019s rules, and that\u2019s where things get muddled. American breweries are free to call anything \u201cOktoberfest,\u201d and most, but not all, mean the old-school amber M\u00e4rzen: rich, toasty, higher gravity. Meanwhile, actual German imports labeled \u201cOktoberfest\u201d on U.S. shelves are often the modern golden Festbier, since that\u2019s what\u2019s actually poured in Munich these days. So you might end up comparing two beers that share a season and a name but sit at opposite ends of the style spectrum \u2014 an American \u201cOktoberfest\u201d that\u2019s amber and malty next to a German one that\u2019s golden and crisp. <\/p>\n The key thing to remember about Festbier<\/strong>:<\/span> It isn\u2019t supposed to be M\u00e4rzen. It\u2019s supposed to land closer to Helles \u2014 lighter, brighter, golden, more drinkable. Not quite as light as a true Helles in my experience, but nowhere near M\u00e4rzen territory either. No guarantees, though. Life is like a box of chocolates, and so is beer: you never know what you\u2019re going to get. But hand me an amber-colored, malty-sweet Festbier and I\u2019ll be disappointed.<\/p>\n Like I said, more and more U.S. craft breweries are making lager style beers these days. To gauge that, consider the number of entries at the Great American Beer Festival, one of the biggest beer judging events in the world, in the two style categories that address the beers we are talking about:<\/p>\n You shouldn\u2019t have too much trouble finding a Festbier in the USA these days, especially this time of year when Oktoberfest is on everyone\u2019s minds. It\u2019s great any time of year, but its history is tied to the autumn. Find some and drink it now. <\/p>\n
This style owes much of its character to the quality of the malted barley used to brew it. Here are two of my favorite local examples of the style, each lends special, though slightly different, attention to the grain.
\u2014Four Generals Brewing<\/strong> in Renton ,Washington, is an award-winning brewer of authentic German-style beers. To brew its Festbier, brewmaster Ross uses malted barley imported from Germany (BESTMALZ). Four Generals hosts its Oktoberfest celebration<\/strong><\/a> this Saturday, September 19th (starting at 3 pm). That\u2019s a great opportunity to get into one of my favorite Festbiers.
\u2014Terramar Brewstillery <\/strong>in Bow, Washington, serves up its Haus Festbier as a matter of course. The brewery uses nothing but Washington-grown malted barley in all of its beer (LINC Malt and Cold Stream Malt). Laze away the hours in the Terramar beer garden with a lovely \u201chouse beer\u201d in hand; always a great way to spend the day.<\/p>\nHow Festbier Became Oktoberfest\u2019s Best-Kept Not-So-Secret<\/h2>\n
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TL;DR<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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M\u00e4rzen: The OG Oktoberfest Beer<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nFestbier: The Beer That Replaced It<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Oktoberfestbier: Like Champagne, Only Different<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why This Confuses People in the U.S.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Great American Beer Festival Representation<\/h3>\n
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