Oktoberfest





OKTOBERFEST




Call it an Oktoberfest. Call it a Marzen. Either way, it's delicious. Perhaps the most famous style of beer from Germany, the Oktoberfest is a celebration beer. It's brewed to commemorate the Oktoberfest folk festival, held annually in Munich. The Bavarian celebration is the biggest festival of it's kind in the world. Held annually at the end of September, it closes on the first Sunday of October and has done so since 1810, when King Ludwig of Bavaria allowed the general public join in his marriage celebrations. Today's Oktoberfest lasts between 16 and 18 days, and millions of people flood Munich to participate in the festivities.

In 2013 7.7 million liters of Oktoberfest beer were poured, a quantity that would fill 3 Olympic sized swimming pools. Of course there are other beers poured at the dozens of beer tents peppering the fair grounds, but the Oktoberfest is easily the most popular. Oktoberfest is also called Marzen, as the beer is traditionally brewed in March (Marz is German for March), and lagered throughout the Spring and Summer months.

Oktoberfest brews are subject to the German brewing laws that were ordained in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Primary among these ordinances is the Reinheistgebot, a purity law that states that true beer can only contain barley, hops, and water. While Berlinerwiess and other styles have circumvented these guidelines with fruit or other additions, Oktoberfest beer has maintained these ancient traditions. Also, in 1553, a Bavarian ordinance limited the brewing days from September 29th, St. Michael's Day, to April 23rd, St. George's Day. Since monks were deeply involved with the brewing industry back in the 16th century, using these religious feasts as parameters was more for book keeping purposes than anything else.

As the festival of Oktoberfest became more and more popular, more breweries were trying to get involved and peddle their beers at the celebration. To curb this, more regulations came down. This time, they limited the breweries involved to only those that are located within the Munich city limits, which today amounts to about 6 breweries, including Paulaner and Lowenbrau.

Oktoberfest beers are also called Marzen, as mentioned above, or VMO, which stands for Vienna/Marzen/Oktoberfest, as all three styles are so similar they are nearly interchangeable. The beer is balanced, but sweet malt flavors are more pronounced than any hop bitterness. In the mid-range of the beer color wheel, the lighter malt bill will create a copper to orange hue with notes of amber and straw coming through as well. Some versions are darker, and that's not a problem, especially on the homebrew level. One thing that is important to maintain is the noble hop characteristics that are so synonymous with German beers. Floral, mild resin, and herbal aromatics should be pronounced, but never taking the flavor profile from the malt bill. Germanic hops are generally low in Alpha Acids, making them poor bittering hops, however they more than make up for this trait with big aromatic features, which turn the beer into a well balanced beverage. A clarifying agent such as Irish Moss or Whirlfloc is recommended, as this beer should be clean visually and on the palette.

This version was created with home brewers in mind. Most amateur brewers don't have lagering capabilities, so an adjustment has been made to the yeast to reflect that circumstance. Now, if lagering is something that you can do, use a German lager yeast and follow the instructions on the package and allot the proper amount of time for aging.

Oktoberfest Recipe:
The beer itself is fairly simple. We have tried many different versions of this recipe, tweaking ingredients and fermentation schedules, but we come back to this one time after time.

Malts
10 lbs Vienna Malt
3/4 lb 60L Caramel Malt
1/4 lb CaraFoam
Hops
1 oz Tradition Hops
1 oz Hersbrucker Hops
Yeast
K-97 German Ale Yeast
Other
1 tsp Irish Moss

Malts
Vienna Malt: This European base malt can be interchanged with Munich malt, as they are basically the same thing. Slightly darker than American base malts, Vienna malt also imparts a stronger (but not overpowering) malt flavor that our domestic base malts tend to lack.

60L Caramel Malt: This specialty malt will contribute not only a fair amount of sweetness, but also a beautiful color that makes this beer stand out visually. 60 is a mid range Caramel malt, with lower numbers (10, 20, etc) being much milder and higher being stronger flavored and darker.

CaraFoam: Also called Dextrine Malt or CaraPils, this highly specialized malt is generally used explicitly for head retention in bottled beer. 1/4 lb is all that is required for batches under 10 gallons.

Hops
Tradition: A noble German hop with a higher percentage of Alpha Acids than many of it's relatives, Tradition hops are uniquely suited as a first hop addition to Marzen beers. They will bitter without overpowering the malt aspects of the beer and leave a clean finish.
Hersbrucker: Aromatic hops like these are wonderful additions to German beers and help create the uniquely German characteristics in Marzens.

Yeast
K-97: Safale K-97 is a German Ale yeast strain developed so that anyone can make a traditional tasting beer without having to lager. Lagering is the cold fermentation process that can take many months to complete, however with this yeast strain that is no longer an obstacle for home brewers. K-97 will create the classic German beers without having to purchase expensive new equipment of take over your own refrigerator for 6 months.

Irish Moss: We use Irish Moss as a clarifying agent. These negatively charged seaweed particles attract proteins and other free radicals in your boil kettle and drag them to the bottom once cooled, thereby removing haze from your final product. Whirlfloc tablets are another option for this process. Regardless of your preferred methods of clarity, it is important that beers of this style are clear. Lagering can do this as well, but most home brewers don't have that capability, so adding Irish Moss (or something similar) can work wonders for cleaning up the beer.


CHEERS!!


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