Celebrating Oktoberfest at Home: Märzens and Fest Lagers

The novel coronavirus and the associated COVID-19 pandemic has upended everything, and crowd events everywhere have been struck from the 2020 calendar. One of the world's biggest beer events, Munich’s Oktoberfest, was not an exception, and for the first time in decades, there will be no Oktoberfest, no Cannstadter Fest in Stuttgart, no Oktoberfest-style celebrations in North America or anywhere else, except some on-line virtual events. It’s not quite the same, really, but it’s about all we have until we can get past this pandemic.

Brewers are still releasing seasonal lagers that are associated with the late-summer and early-autumn season. The most traditional is the classic late-summer Fest Marzen, a final release of an amber or copper- colored lager brewed the previous spring and lagered over the summer. Modern brewing allows such a beer to be brewed whenever the producer wants to, and most of them adhere pretty closely to a malty, rounded, somewhat toasty profile, sometimes with a touch of caramel.

The more current style, Fest Lager or Fest Bier, is more like a slightly amped-up Bavarian Helles golden pale lager, with a touch more alcohol and just a bit more hop presence.

There are already quite a few releases available across the country, and in the Pacific Northwest and, specifically, Portland, Oregon, these lagers have been available in specialist beer shops and in supermarkets with better beer selections.

First up, it may not be brewed in the city of Munich, but Aying is just a short way south of Bavaria's capital, and the town's Ayinger brewery, run for decades by the Inselkammer family, has received numerous accolades for excellence in brewing traditional Bavarian beer styles. Ayinger's Oktoberfest-Marzen is nearly a template for the style, pale copper in color, temptingly malty in aroma, superbly balanced between hops and malt. Consider it a benchmark of the Fest Mrzen style. Enjoy this one on draft at a German beer bar, or from half-liter bottles.

Much closer to Portland, Heater Allen's Bobtoberfest is also a worthy Fest Mrzen, and follows the style guidelines quite well, comparing well to Ayinger's version. Heater Allen has been moving from strength to strength with its releases lately, and the 2020 edition of Bobtoberfest is no exception, a well-balanced malty beer with just enough hop presence. It's easily found in 16-ounce cans

Getting into Portland proper, Level Beer has released its own tasty unfiltered Oktoberfest lager, with the deliciously aromatic addition of fresh hops. This one is broadly in the style of a Fest Marzen, brilliant and shiny copper-amber, freshly-aromatic hops, and again, a finely balanced beer with just the right touch of bitter finish. The brewery has plenty of outdoor seating, so a journey out to far northeast Portland will be easily rewarded, and Level's Oktoberfest is also available in cans.

Portland's Zoiglhaus Oktoberfresh is also a Fest Marzen, unfiltered and chewy, and again, a fresh-hop lager. Last year's edition of this beer earned a gold medal at the Oregon Beer Awards, which is all the reason you need to sample it in 2020. Drop by Zoiglhaus to try it fresh on draft, or pick it up in 16-ounce cans.

Seattle's Reuben's Brews has gone from tiny operation started up by a talented homebrewer into a full-fledged regional craft brewer, with easy to find in metro Portland. Reuben's Fest Beer is just that, pale golden and malt-accented, maybe slight touch hoppier than a Bavarian equivalent might be, but it's so pleasing and spot-on, a perfect accompaniment with hearty German food, and an easy and tasty drinker on its own. Find it in 16-ounce cans.

Seattle’s Fremont Brewing also has a fine, crisp take on their pale golden Fest Bier, moreish and very pleasant to drink, easily on a par with the similar beer from Reuben's, and also in 16-ounce cans.

From across the country, it's a little miraculous that Jack's Abby lagers are found at all in Portland, shipped all the way from Massachusetts. The brewery's Copper Legend Octoberfest pus us back in Fest Mrzen territory. Like Heater Allen's Bobtoberfest, this one comes pretty close to the standard set by its Bavarian inspiration, balanced, malty, and just a bit crisp, and it pours a perfect pint from a 16-ounce can.

Portland's Rosenstadt brewery has been forced to perform an impressive pivoting act. Up until early in 2020, the small tenant-brewing operation (it brews as a guest on other systems) was draft-only, and as we know, the emergence of COVID-19 put paid to much of the commercial draft beer trade. Remarkably, Rosenstadt has rebooted as a bottled-beer operation, and has been expanding its range over the last few months, including a current seasonal Festbier, a Fest Lager in the malty style associated with the modern Oktoberfest. It's light and refreshing. You might find it on tap at Olympia Provisions Public House in Portland, and it's easy to find in 12-ounce bottles.

Does Wayfinder Beer even need a mention at this point? Of course it does, and Portland's highly regarded brewery has been steadily releasing great beers, including 16-ounce cans of its 2020 Freiheit Premium Festbier. It's another classic pale-golden Fest lager, a touch hop-forward, and so damn invitingly drinkable that it's hard to stop at just one.

Colorado's Left Hand Brewing packages its Oktoberfest Marzen Lager in 12-ounce cans, and it's quite malt-forward, almost caramel-like, and compared to any of the Bavarian counterparts, it's less balanced and somewhat more "sticky." This is one for fans of grainy-sweet uber-malt character.

For those looking for something without any of the mild alcohol buzz typical of a fest lager, Athletic Brewing's Oktoberfest is a non-alcoholic version of a Festbier, sold in 12-ounce cans. It's comes across as more of a grainy barley tea with a hop touch and a sweet finish. Technically, it's a very-low-alcohol beer (no more than 0.5% alcohol by volume), which legally qualifies as "non-alcoholic." It's passable for those looking to avoid the alcohol buzz of a typical beer, but compared to a typical alcohol-containing beer, it still comes across as more beer-like than beer.

And to round things out, Munich's Hacker-Pschorr offers its classic Bavarian-brewed Mrzen as another benchmark example. It's sold in 330ml bottles stateside, but your favorite German beer bar might be able to manage a half or full liter for that Munich-style experience. Like Ayinger, this is an expertly balanced pale-copper lager, with rounded malt aromas and flavors that will have you cheering "Prost!" with enthusiasm.

This roundup of seasonal lagers isn't meant to be comprehensive, so it's a good idea to see what else is on offer at the better beer shops and beer bars in the region, as well as what the breweries themselves are releasing. There are also seasonal lagers from Occidental Brewing, Block 15, Sierra Nevada, Chuckanut Brewing, and Bavaria's Weihenstephan, all avaialable at better beer shops.

As a reminder, Portland beer bars Stammtisch and Prost are planning a social-distanced versions of Oktoberfest; the former will hold theirs on October 3, 2020, while Prost's is on September 26. Reservations are necessary, bookable for groups no fewer than four or greater than ten, for two-hour sessions, with plenty of German Oktoberfest beers to choose from. It won't quite be like the good old days, but give them credit for trying. Mount Angel's famous Oktoberfest is also a virtual-only event this year, with on-line purchasing, package pickups from October 1 to 3, and the actual on-line festival of music planned for October 3.

Stay safe out there, please remember to mask up when scoring your favorite lagers, and enjoy the beers of the season. Prost!