American Made Marzens

Collecting Samples for the Festival. Got a special one from the local Rahr and Sons.

 

Looking for some Fest Beers for the season. I know the style can be flooded by a zillion brands, so want to know which are worth it from the community.

Thanks,

1009

 

Being from Massachusetts, and not being aware of your location, I HIGHLY recommend taking a trip to Barewolf Brewing in Amesbury and checking out their Marzen Retrograde. Best American-made Oktoberfest I've had.

 

I just had my third can (over 3 days) of a very local Oktoberfestbier, Crystal Lake Brewing from the far northwest suburbs of Chicago.

A really nice take on the style -- probably the best Ami Wiesn I've had in a while. Herbal hops and crackery-bready malts with a crisp, clean finish.

 

Well technically any beer not brewed by one of the Munich Six for the Oktoberfest festival shouldn’t call their beer an Oktoberfest with a “k”. If they do, it should say, “Oktoberfest-style”.

But no one really follows that. Except Bells and Sam Adams apparently (off the top of my head).

 

You learn something new every day on here...that’s an interesting detail that I’ve never known of noticed.

 

I'm not sure spelling (or letter usage) has anything to do with that, just the word itself -- but English spelling might be a loophole.

 

Well, if Erdinger can ignore that for marketing their wheat beer in the USA, I guess it only matters in Germany.





I don't believe Erdinger labels the beer that way in Germany (based only on their web site, so IDK actually).

And, Ayinger might be skating close to the line, too (but they do make it two words):



And, again, based on their web site, they do not market this beer in Germany (at least by that name).

Besides, I thought the reserved name was Oktoberfestbier (one word).

 

And Jack's Abby, oddly enough.

 

Hmm, yeah you both could be right. I don’t have a source for what I posted, I just thought I’d either read it here or elsewhere.

My implication was that you couldn’t use it in Germany, and that you weren’t “supposed” to use it here either, but no one really observes that. Similar to Kölsch and Cologne.

 

This is just an assumption but I'd bet that the American brewers who are calling their beers "Octoberfests" with a "C" are not mainly doing so out of respect to conventions in Germany, but rather, are doing so because it's the American spelling of October and they figured it would be more accessible for their audience. If the German convention even mattered to them AND they saw this spelling as being respectful, it was probably just an added benefit in their eyes. No offense to Boston Beer Company, but it's not hard to imagine that they were probably caring more about America than Germany when it came to naming their product. Keep in mind that most of the popular beers that use this spelling are from many years ago... when (I'm assuming) there were fewer "Oktoberfests" (with a "K") on the market. (Jack's Abby is the exception in that it's from the past decade.)

I think it's also a safe assumption to make that the non-Munich German brewers who use the term are only doing so for export product (be it for beers that are only made for export or beers that are also sold on their home turf). Some German brewers seem to show a certain degree of caution and/or respect rather than being all or nothing. I believe Weihenstephaner Festbier used to be called Oktoberfestbier over here. Ayinger's clever wordplay is stating that their beer is a Festbier-Märzen with the added "Oktober" being a suggestive element.

 

https://thefullpint.com/beer-reviews/reviewed-samuel-adams-octoberfest/

I knew I didn't make it up on my own, "the full pint" repeats this legend, and recently too, as this article is from last year.

They are also respectful by naming the beer “OctoberFest” with a “c” rather than a “k” because the word is a protected appellation for beer produced at large breweries within the Munich city limits. However, that protection does not apply outside of Germany (or maybe the EU), so American brewers are free to call them “Oktoberfest.”

 

If I'm reading it right, that's just coming from the person reviewing the beer, not BBC. I don't put any stock in it on its own. Even if BBC stated something similar, I'm not sure if I'd buy into it. I certainly don't take all claims from brewers about their products as gospel. I don't even make an exception for BBC. Of course, I'm making a total assumption and it could be dead wrong... but I find that I'm usually wrong about things only 24 hours a day.

 

Oh yeah I completely agree. I just posted it more to prove to myself I wasn't making things up out of thin air, and that I had read it SOMEWHERE over the years.

I didn't post that link to prove this as fact.

 

I guess I just like disrespectful breweries better.

 

The only way an American brewery can disrespect an Oktoberfest is to add too much caramel malt.

 

I'd say, add *any* caramel malt!

 

This is interesting. No trademark as issued in 2019 for "Oktoberfest".

https://lexdellmeier.com/en/blog/can-“oktoberfest”-function-trademark

 

This was to register the name of the fest itself, if I am understanding correctly.

Nonetheless...

"The name "Oktoberfestbier®" is a registered trademark. The holder of this name is the association of the Munich breweries." -- https://www.oktoberfest.net/oktoberfest-beer/

 

Saw that one too.

Explains how Ayinger can use their label.

Oktoberfestbier is for the Munich big 6, verboten for everyone else.