Beer Centric: The Modern Oktoberfest Festbier

Oktoberfest has commenced, and that means plenty of Oktoberfest lagers are appearing on shelves and draft lines throughout the region. While many Americans still associate the season with amber-colored Märzen lagers, the beer most commonly served at Munich's Oktoberfest today is actually Festbier. This modern Bavarian lager is lighter in color than its Märzen predecessor, yet equally rooted in German brewing tradition. Characterized by a brilliant golden hue, soft bready malt character, and a highly drinkable finish, Festbier was designed for a festival environment where beer is enjoyed by the liter rather than the pint.

The transition from Märzen to Festbier occurred gradually during the late 20th century as Munich breweries sought a beer that was less filling and more sessionable than the traditional amber lager that had dominated Oktoberfest for generations. While Märzen remains synonymous with Oktoberfest internationally, visitors attending the actual festival in Munich today will be served a pale golden lager that emphasizes elegant malt flavor, clean fermentation, and exceptional drinkability. The result is a beer that showcases German brewing precision while remaining approachable for a wide range of palates.

Festbier retains many characteristics of classical Bavarian lagers. Brewers rely heavily on German malt varieties that provide notes of fresh bread, honey, and cracker-like sweetness while noble hops contribute a gentle balancing bitterness. The style typically finishes crisp and smooth, with enough body to support the malt profile without becoming heavy. It is a beer built for celebration, pairing naturally with roast chicken, grilled sausages, pretzels, schnitzel, and other traditional Oktoberfest fare.

Fortunately, beer enthusiasts in the United States do not need to travel to Munich and can drink local in order to experience the style. Local breweries have embraced Festbier as a seasonal specialty, producing interpretations that honor Bavarian tradition while showcasing their own brewing philosophies.

A perfect example is Union Craft Brewing whose Fest Beer carries the seasonal tradition into the Mid-Atlantic craft beer scene. Brewed in the spirit of Munich's festival lagers with German malts and noble hops, this beer is characterized by a brilliantly clear honey-amber appearance followed by a toasty, lightly sweet, and biscuity malt notes.  This biscuity malt character also works well with pumpkin pie. Blends seamlessly. 

SAVORing Ten Years of Craft Beer

This year the Brewers Association celebrated ten years of presenting SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience. And has we all know the craft beer landscape has changed dramatically during those years. According to the Brewers Association at year end 2007 there were 1,449 operating breweries in the United States with 1,406 being craft breweries and accounting for $5.74 billion in sales. Ten years later at the end of 2016 the total number of breweries escalated to 5,301 in which 5,234 were craft and $23.5 billion in sales. And as we know, that number increased during 2017 with multiple craft breweries opening weekly. This growth was no doubted fueled by legislative changes at the national and state levels; using Virginia as an example, the number of craft breweries skyrocketed when the state finally allowed breweries to serve beer in pints without having to also serve food.

The 2017 event featured 172 craft beers from 86 craft breweries as opposed to the 2008 event which hosted 48 breweries pouring 96 craft beers.  The inaugural event was was most likely concentrated with Pale Ales, English Porters, and a few West Coast IPAs, but over the next ten years transitioned to heavier IPAs, barrel programs, and sours. Whereas the latest event was heavy on the IPAs and sours, session styles re-surged with low ABV Pilseners, Kölsch, and Gose. Now I will come off as a hypocrite because I spent half the night targeting the sours and barrel aged beers, with both Crux Fermentation Project (Sour Golden Ale & Better Off Red) and D9 Brewing Company (Defying Gravity Series, 1st Edition - Cape Canaveral & Wild Things Series, 1st Edition - Pearedox ) each proving my favorite beers of the evening.  And the Union Craft Brewing Older Pro with Blueberry (Fruited Wood-Aged Sour Beer) and the Schlafly Bottleworks Gooseberry Gose were excellent.

Yet I was excited that more breweries were pouring traditional ales and lagers that I feel as a beer culture we are losing focus. Seattle's Reuben's Brews poured a traditional Gose, no extra flavors, just lactobacillus, salt, and coriander. It was fantastic. Did you know that Stevens Point Brewery is the nation's 5th oldest brewery? They've been brewing continuously for 160 years, specifically their flagship Point Special Lager.  They also produce the Point S.P.A. (Session Pale Ale) which is my new bicycle beer if I can find it. Summit Brewing Company out of St. Paul, MN has been brewing since 1986 making them the 30th oldest brewery. They were pouring their flagship Summit Extra Pale Ale as well as the Summit Keller Pils. The later is nails the style, with North Dakota two-row Moravian 37 barley and Saaz hops from the Czech Republic. An awesome Bohemian Pilsener. Complementing that on the German Pilsener side was the Half Acre Beer Company Pony Pilsener. 

Sadly, during my four hours at the event, I seemed to only have tasted through one third of the beers as well as missed the entire upper level of oysters and cheese.  Yet, SAVOR was still a remarkable event I I look forward to popping open the collaboration beer: SAVOR X, a Baltic porter brewed with hops and cocoa husks, courtesy of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and New Belgium Brewing Company. Cheers.