2019 Imported Oktoberfests Blind Tasting

They are using the term in the contemporary Austrian manner, in which a beer of 11% plato (fermented out to an abv of the brewer's own choosing) or more can be sold as a Märzen.

 

Crusader said it first, but I was just about to say it's Austria, not Germany.

 

Thanks. I just returned from Austria and was wondering about these light-colored “Märzens” I was drinking. Are they seasonal, or year-round?

The Augustiner Salzburg märzen was indeed great (hard to see the porcelain mugs exactly what color it was), and if it were available fresh like that in the US, I’d drink it all the damn time. However, I feel like the #1 ranking is somewhat due to the setting you’re drinking it in.

 

My local Gary's had the 330ml Ayinger on the singles shelf tonight, so I went ahead and grabbed a couple just out of curiosity. And I'm honestly hoping it's as good as ever. Tonight's not a good night, but I'll be sure to post back this weekend with my impressions. Prost!

 

Ah thanks. I was having a bitch of a time finding this information on their website.

Maybe, maybe not.

Augustiner’s (the Munich one) Oktoberfestbier is rated much lower at 3.98 and is 15th on the list.

Rothaus’ Eis Zapfle isn’t distributed to the US (not that I know of) and is 69th on the list at 3.84.

So it’s not brewed for Oktoberfest season, and it’s not Marzen-strength for Germany.

I would argue this beer is in the wrong category here on Beeradvocate.

 

I'm having my first Benediktiner now, and am very pleased. Especially at $5.99 a 4-pack! Love that hop-based pep in its step, and I can definitely see enjoying it over the course of an afternoon/evening.

 

I'll take the bait ... what style would you call it? I think it would be difficult to switch it with the brewery calling it Märzen.

 

I suppose it is analogous to the relationship between stout and porter, where reductions in gravity in both styles are said to have resulted in English brewers keeping the stout in their portfolio (at the lower strenght) and dropping the porter. In Austria the Märzen had simply been a stronger, beefier lager beer, but with reductions over time (appearing to have started already by the turn of the century and cemented by the post-WW2 lower limit of 12% plato for Märzen in Austria, reduced further to 11% by their entry into the EU) leading to the once uncommon (due no doubt to its higher price) Märzen supplanting the lager beer (and especially the even lower gravity, and more popular, abzugbier), to become the most common beer style in Austria.

So if a British brand of stout sitting at around 4% abv can be included in a stout category, with us acknowledging the historical processes which led to beers of that strenght being labeled stout, then perhaps we can extend the same acknowledgment to the Austrian Märzen?

On page 8 of this pdf from the Austrian brewers association there's a breakdown of beer types in Austria for 1990, 2017 and 2018. The Lager/Märzen category of minimum 11% plato (they did not want to/bother to acknowledge the change made in the legislation by the EU entry in 1995 apparently) made up 53.6% of the market in 1990 but 61.4% in 2018. For Pils it was 6.2% in 1990 and 3.3% in 2018. Even though they don't breakdown the Lager/Märzen category one need only look at the major brands of Austria to see the dominance of Märzen beer as far as labeling goes.

It's interesting that they still have a schenkbier class of 9-11% plato (which had 4.2% of the market in 1990 and 6% in 2019) since that strenght band would have been filled by the abzugbier which was dominant in the 1800s at least. A remnant of the old schenkbier/lagerbier division which is still also on display in the Czech republic to this day (with its výčepní/ležák).

 

They are year round, with brands like Gösser Märzen, Zipfer Märzen, Egger Märzen etc.

 

Then again from a rating perspective I can see the problem with this reasoning however, it would be akin to rating countless South American brands of "Tipo Pilsener" against Czech lager beers. It would be a mess. I guess I am simply more interested in understanding the present by way of the past and vice versa. I am not into the rating process. So feel free to ignore this paragraph.

 

Good point. Although we do place Schlenkerla's "Marzen" in the Rauchbier category, but then again it clearly says "Rauchbier" on the label.

Maybe put it in the Vienna Lager category? But you make an excellent point, I don't have a great answer. And I don't know enough about Marzens in Austria to confidently say they're like Vienna Lagers.

Do you think Firestone's Oaktoberfest was in this style given it's lower ABV?

Coincidentally a local brewery, Schilling, has an Oktoberfest that is actually an Austrian Marzen at 5.1%. I hope the cans get distributed to MA so I can try it.

Excellent stuff here, thanks for this post! Clears things up for me.

What are the ABV's for Pils, Schenkbier, and Marzen respectively?

I'm just curious why Pils sells so poorly, and Marzen sells INCREDIBLY well in Austria.

 

Augustiner in Salzburg was the biggest surprise of my July trip to Germany and Austria. I had zero expectations. It was only a few blocks from our hotel. It is a massive beer hall and beer garden complex but also a traditional Austrian food court if that makes any sense. The only beer they were serving was this Märzen. You grab a ceramic krug (.5L or 1L), pay the cashier for your beer, get a token, take the token over to the guy pouring beer from a massive Holzfass and then drink and repeat. I probably had better beer in Bamberg but not that much better and when you have low expectations and then get blown away it makes an impression.

 

I grabbed a pack too but haven't tried it yet. I love when I get reverse sticker shock. After looking at a $17 bottle of craft beer, I had to do a double take when that 4 pack of 500ml cans rang up for $4.79.

 

I've posted this previously, but it's fun:

 

Back at'cha, do you think Great Lakes is in-style being so high in ABV?

It brings up the whole blind tasting question as in home-brew competitions -- here's this beer to try, it's entered as a Märzen, what do you think? I thought Oaktoberfest was a pretty good rendition, I don't buy GL anymore because it just doesn't quench my Märzen thirst.

Another example is Sierra Nevada Summerfest; labeled as a Bohemian Pilsner by the brewery, yet I find it much closer to German Pils -- judging it against style would garner low points. That said, I love the stuff and drank the hell out of it this summer.

 

It's my favorite all-around oktoberfest this year and the <$6 for 2L price point can't be beat.

 

Another great point.

I forgot my cousin went to Vienna this year so I just talked to him. He said there was Marzen everywhere. He also said it was excellent. I asked if it was comparable to beers labeled as Vienna lagers there, and he said yes.

Makes sense though, since they're just using Marzen as a strength designation, and Vienna lagers are in that range.

 

Most Pils and Märzen brands are within the 11-12% plato band, and have an abv of around 5% (ca 4.9-5.2%). Nothing out of the ordinary in other words.. Augustiner's Märzen is a bit lower abv and lower attenuated than most, at 4.6% abv and 12% plato as per the neck label (an Untappd check in from this year shows the same specs). This represents a more traditional abv for a lager beer of that gravity, even if it makes it an outlier in today's beer market. The schenk beers I have found are Zipfer Drei at 3% abv and Kaiser "2.9%".

 

How many "Viennas" did he actually find in Austria? I mostly found Helles-like lagers and the Austrian take on Pilsner (beside the Märzen from Augustiner). I've heard other reports that Viennas are very few and far between.

 

Did you find that beer in NY? BeerMenus has it only in NJ.