Connecticut Oktoberfest: Märzen and Festbier — Connecticut Beer and Cookies

Sep 19

Sep 19 Connecticut Oktoberfest: Märzen and Festbier

The fall time in Connecticut can be magical. The air gets crisp, the leaves change, the apples get plump for picking. Now, with the resurgence of craft beer in our little state, fall time means fest biers and Oktoberfests too. The first Oktoberfest was back in 1810 in Munich and was in celebration of a wedding. Thankfully we don’t need to be in Europe or get married to enjoy awesome fall beer.

Märzen

What I think is great about Märzen is that it's a vestige of a time long gone. Before the refrigeration technology that exists today, brewing beer had a seasonal life. Towards the end of the season in March, Märzen (literally: march beer) was brewed. It was often the last batch of the brewing season so they would use all the malts and hops they had left. That led to a higher gravity, hoppier, maltier, more delicious brew.

Then that beer would often be aged and consumed at the Oktoberfest at the end of September in Munich.

You may be asking, “Why is it called OCTOBERfest if it's in September?” Well, usually the last day of the fest was the first day of October. This year in Munich Oktoberfest started on September 22 and doesn’t end until October 7.

Festbier

Now a days, most beer consumed at Oktoberfest is actually festbier, which is a lower (in comparison to old school Märzen anyway) ABV lager that is loaded with crisp hop notes with only a mild bitter finish. Festbier and its easy drinking lighter ABV nature lets you drink a few giant glass steins on a fall afternoon.

Connecticut Oktoberfest

The craft beer scene in Connecticut has a history of celebrating Oktoberfest and making some awesome Märzen and Festbiers.

Thomas Hooker has a particularly good Märzen, Counterweight brewing has a FestBier that's just right.

In addition to brewing some awesome Oktoberfest beers, Two Road’s OkTWOberfest pays homage to the German tradition in our fair state as well, they had their 6th Ok2berfest just last weekend (sept 15 & 16) sorry if you missed it, there is always next year. Many other breweries in the state are hosting Oktoberfest themed events this month and next so be on the look out, becasue you might miss some great beer and a fun time.

Here are some other Connecticut beers rocking the Oktoberfest vibe, when more are released we will try to update this list (if you know of some CT Okterberfest beers let us know)