Bitburger Brewery Releases Festbier

I took note that you specified "...Bavarian brewers stubbornly clinging to the past...". Are the German brewers in other areas of Germany more open to change?

Cheers!

 

The main problem is that over time oxidation starts to rear its ugly head and the beer becomes stale. I stock up on German import Oktoberfests each year and even when they are kept refrigerated, I find that by November or so (depending on when they were packaged) the flavor begins to fall off. Still drinkable, but not the same beer as when I initially purchased them.

 

Useful input. Thanks.

Cheers!

 

I'd bet that the reason these beers are packaged early has more to do with the difficulty of importing and making sure they're not running against a deadline trying to get the beer to market, or potentially missing getting the beer to market. I don't think there's a reason related to the quality of the beer and in fact, the textbook that I reference that was published for VLB Berlin and also used at Doemens in Munich suggests that long lagering times of more than 5 weeks is detrimental to beer. I can't imagine that German brewers are doing something that they believe to be detrimental just for the tradition of it when we have modern refrigeration systems keeping these beers lagered cooler than would have been possible in caves 150 years ago.

 

In this case it shouldn't be too big of a problem since they probably don't want Oktoberfestbiers sticking around all year long since it is a seasonal festival. It might be a good thing to clear the shelves around November and stick to the fresher year-round Märzens or Vienna lagers or similar styles until the following Oktoberfest. It seems winter is the only season for their brewers to not have to think about the Oktoberfest since they won't have to brew it until the spring, though they might be sourcing ingredients for it if not already acquired.

 

The Munich Oktoberfest beers sold here are bottled late june or mid/late july when they launch here on September 1st. One year there was a new batch from August put on the shelf of either Löwenbräu or Spaten, I can't recall which, after the june/july batch was gone.

 

For the case of Bitburger they bottled their Festbier the end of April and I suspect I won't see this beer on my local beer retailers' shelves until sometime next month (August). You don't think this is "detrimental"?

Cheers!

 

I do believe that's detrimental but I also believe that they think their only other option is to not sell the beer in the USA. This is the first time they've released it right? If so, they might be a longer process than their normal rotation of beers that already have label approval, have gone through ABV testing at an approved lab, or gotten SKU approval from however many distributors they have.

 

A ways back I was talking to a brewer regarding seasonals, and the topic of Oktoberfests came up. This was on the verge of Pumpkin beers becoming a big thing. Essentially his opinion was that you don't want to have an Oktoberfest on the shelf come November 1st, because they'll never sell after that. And the corollary was that Pumpkin beers would sell through December. No wonder for a while there at least, many craft brewers were pushing the latter rather than the former.

 

And I'm the opposite, I want pumpkin beers from Sep-Nov and I could drink a märzen or festbier year-round. Of course I don't want a year old one though, so I look for similar styles like maybe altbier/copper ale, a malty Vienna or märzen style if I can find one. It makes it more special I guess to have the "festbier" a once a year annual release.

 

Yes, this is the first time for Bitburger Festbier I believe. But the MO of German breweries brewing their Oktoberfest beers in the spring has been a long standing thing. By the time I purchased these beers they were already many months old and in the recent past I purchased German brewed Oktoberfest beers that were bottled in February. It seems like quite a 'disconnect' regardless of export/transportation considerations.

And @Snowcrash000 who lives in Germany posted above: "From what I remember from last year, all the Oktoberfest stuff was already 4-6 months old when it came out in September."

Cheers!

 

All of the beer that was going to be sold from May first (start of summer beer/Märzen beer season) until the start of the new brewing season in late september was Märzenbier, and they started brewing and cellaring beer already in December, continuing into the spring until the cellars were sufficiently full/they weren't allowed to brew any longer. As per the Bavarian brewing literature from the 1800s that I have read the standard procedure was to have the beer that was to be stored the longest be brewed in December/January when the weather and cellars were the coldest, not in March. Storing/lagering beer from December to September/October of the following year might seem absurd nowadays when a "lager beer" can be aged a couple of weeks, but such was the practise in Bavaria. Then came the ice cellars by the mid 1800s, the allowing of beer brewing all year round (summer time brewing) and lastly artificial refridgeration which soon made these long storage times a thing of the past (though the history would not be forgotten entirely by all, courtesty of @jesskidden).

 

Pic below from Nov 14th 2019. This is one reason why the beers get to the shelves when they get to the shelves. Brewers of beers like this are probably not too keen on exporting product with only a 2 month sales window.

Everybody in this thread has options they like for Oktoberfest season. Personally, I'd take the below on Nov 14th with or without the discount over 99% of fresher American options. There are alternatives for other folks who want something different.

 

From a consumer's point of view, hell yeah I'd take it too! And that's what smart retailers will do to move what's 'left over' while it's still good.

 

I was skeptical before trying the Sly Fox Marzen for myself in fall of 2018. I was pleasantly surprised by how damned good it was, dare I have the audacity to say that it holds its own versus some of the German imported Marzens - its that good and I wish I could purchase it in my area.

 

They do, but your local distro has to make it available to the retailers. Mine doesn't -- @grantcty has one in Minnesota that does.

That's the Wiesn Fest Spaten brews for the fest. You'll notice they don't mention the Amber Märzen that's exported to the U.S.

 

I've heard the same thing from retailers, but they tell me it's because the customers all turn off the urge when it's no longer "Oktober."

Good years are when there is a lot left over and the retailers put it on sale -- I bought the crap out of Paulaner and HB Wiesn a couple years ago because one retailer had it for $8 a six thru December.

 

Thanks, I should have mentioned that what they serve isn't the same as what they export.

 

I just caved and bought my first Oktoberfest of the season. Well, sorta. It was Erdinger. Bottled in April.