AN HOMAGE TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST BEER FESTIVAL

Technically speaking, Munich’s annual Oktoberfest (the original celebration) ends on the first Sunday of October. Being that we’re still not exactly feeling the seasonal effects of fall in Raleigh, we see no harm in keeping the festivities going.

PROST!

The centerpoint of the celebration– or Volksfest– across the globe is beer. Namely, Festbier and Märzen. “I’ll take the Oktoberfest,” has become a ubiquitous request at Wye ever since we released Spitzenqualitat! (our Festbier) and Motorik (our Märzen). And, although this verbiage isn’t necessarily wrong, it is valuable to investigate the delineation between the two styles and the festival itself.

Without splitting hairs, ‘Oktoberfest” does not technically refer to a style of beer, but the actual celebration. Festbier and Märzen are the two most prevalent styles served during the festival. Märzen (or Märzenbier) originated in Bavaria, where it was traditionally brewed in March to take advantage of the brewing season before the summer months, when it became too hot for ‘good beer.’ Festbier is a more modern style that was introduced to allow Oktoberfest attendees to drink more beer– it’s less dark, heavy and malty than a Märzen.

In terms of flavor profile, Märzen is rich, sweet, bready (in a toasted bread crust kinda way) with a dry finish. Festbier is sort of a quintessential German lager. It’s bready (in a doughy kinda way), crisp, moderately hoppy and mildly malty.

An easy indicator is also the color of each beer. A Märzen should always appear amber, orange, coppery– almost red. A Festbier will be golden to deep yellow, with more clarity.

“Really, the difference between Märzen and Festbier is that color, and that slightly more crusty, caramel flavor of the Märzen, which presents a little bit sweeter,” said brewer Nick Weber. “That’s definitely more in line with American palates. That slightly sweet, darker character translates very well with what we would expect from a fall beer. Especially when German breweries were really trying to export that idea to America in the 90s. Märzen-style Oktoberfest beer really took off.”

Instrumental in this movement was Sam Adams’ Octoberfest. Which is probably about as Americanized as you can get. Still, this juggernaut was (and is) a very true-to-style Märzen.

Nick said that when it comes to the difference between Märzen and Festbier, it is a very fine line.

“When you’re talking about German beer– any German style– the differentiation between one style and the other is the tiniest little minutia of detail. Like, 0.2% more hops. It’s really really splitting hairs. Y’know, that’s tradition,” Nick said.

This year, Nick and Owen used a more rustic yeast for both the Spitzenqualitat! and Märzen. In this way, the local ingredients were highlighted. 

“[The rustic yeast] presents a little more earthy, and there’s more of a spice note to it– versus the typical whistle-clean german sulfur-bomb kinda thing.”

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

In the world of beer, all things are cyclical. Especially when it comes to German beer. In June, we released our anniversary Maibock, Precious Stones. A few months before that, the wildly popular Golden Days Helles graced our tap lines and retail fridge. It’s hard to ignore how similar both styles (respectively) are to a Märzen and Festbier.

“They very much are closely related,” Nick said. “Festbier basically shares all the same qualities of an Exportbier or Dortmunder Helles, which is just a stronger Helles. So, a higher gravity version of a Helles, which means ‘bright’ in German. Essentially, it’s a clear lager.”

“Maibocks are usually stronger than a Märzen,” he continued, “But, you can think of Märzen as being like a session Maibock. ‘Bock’ means a stronger lager and ‘mai’ means May, so Märzen is March and Maibock is may. It’s just a difference in gravity.”

Ultimately, the creation of Spitzenqualitat and Motorik Märzen is a reminder that so much of what goes on in our brewery is indeed referential. And, we would not miss the opportunity to bring a little piece of Munich to our patio during this very special time of year.