Oktoberfest Beer

It’s already been two days since the cry of “Ozapft is”  was heard – and since then, the beer has been flowing in Munich like an unstoppable tide. But what kind of beer is it? And where can you get which type of beer? Given than fans of traditional Bavarian gear also tend to be fans of traditional Bavarian beer, we decided to take a quick look at beer in its most invincible of fortresses.

Wheat beer or lager?

If you’re currently at the Oktoberfest for the first time ever and have a good knowledge of German beer, you might be surprised that you’ve not been served a wheat beer yet – in fact, that you’d need to look long and hard before you find one. Isn’t Bavaria the place for wheat beer, or Weizen as it’s known in German?

Your answer is that although wheat beer certainly is the most popular Bavarian brew outside of Bavaria, the Bavarians themselves treasure their multifaceted beer culture and ability to produce a range of different brews – so you’ll find pilsner lagers and a range of other beers to be widespread here.

What you’re being served at the Oktoberfest Beer Festival is almost a pilsner, but not quite. Interestingly enough, it’s a completely unique form of beer with elements of several different types, closest to the Märzen form of pale lager. The name comes from the German for March, which was the last month in which lagers used to be brewed. It had a slightly higher alcohol content to help it keep over the summer until brewing could begin again with the colder autumn weather, by which time any Märzen beer left over would be served at the Oktoberfest.

Wiesn-Märzen

Nowadays, of course, breweries aren’t reliant on the weather to produce the cooler temperatures needed by bottom-fermenting yeasts, but Märzen is still produced especially to fill the Oktoberfest beer steins as Wiesn-Märzen.

Six of the Munich breweries provide the Oktoberfest with this kind of beer, both in their own-name tents and in others tied to them by contract. The six are: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Spaten-Franziskaner, Paulaner.

Augustiner: this beer is a very special Munich tradition and comes served in kegs in the Augustiner tent. It’s also available at Fischer-Vroni, just across the way. You’ll find it a savoury, elegant beer with bitter notes.

Hacker-Pschorr: available in the Bräurosl tent and the fuel for the legendary Hacker tent parties. It’s a neatly balanced brew that just slips down…

Hofbräu: unique to the Hofbräu tent, this beer is a perfect mix of froth and depth, of sweet, savoury, and bitter flavours.

Löwenbräu: the drink of roaring party-goers, Löwenbräu has deceptively light flavour and is served both in the eponymous tent and in the Schützenzelt.

Spaten-Franziskaner: when the Mayor of Munich taps the first keg in Schottenhamel, he’s tapping Spaten. Once he’s done his job, you can get this beer – a crowning glory when served with a good, hearty meal – in Hippodrom and Ochsenbraterei.

Paulaner: the Märzen produced by this worldwide brandname brewery is to be had in the Armbrustschützenzelt, as well as at Winzerer Fähndl and Käfer’s. It’s a sweet, smooth, yet complex brew.

And if, despite all of this talk of Märzen, you’ve really got a thirst for a Bavarian wheat beer, of course you can get one of those, too – in the wine tent!