Sierra Nevada Brewing is once again collaborating with a German brewery on the annual Oktoberfest beer release. The rotating series has featured many great legacy breweries, but last year was an independent release without a collaboration partner. For the 2023 Oktoberfest beer, Sierra Nevada has reimagined the traditional Festbier made in collaboration with Germany’s Kehrwieder Brewery.

The collaboration is 20 years in the making: Sierra Nevada’s Innovation Brewmaster, Scott Jennings, and Kehrwieder’s Founder and Brewmaster, Olli Wesseloh, originally met as classmates at the world-renowned brewing school in Berlin, VLB (Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei). Jennings and Wesseloh talk about how they created this year’s Oktoberfest release in a new video. 

“I’ve known Olli for a long time. Olli, his business partner Julia, and their team at Kehrwieder are pushing boundaries in the modern German beer scene. We crafted this unique Festbier recipe together with the goal of being incredibly balanced, highly drinkable and flavorful at the same time,” said Jennings. “We both desired to create a modern Festbier style but with the critical distinction of expanding the hop character beyond where that traditional style typically lands.” 

The beer pours a beautiful copper color and has a clean, biscuity malt flavor accentuated by an aromatic, but not too bitter blend of German and American hops – an ode to the cross-continental collaboration. It clocks in at 6% ABV and an approachable 30 IBU (MSRP $12.99/6-pack).

In years past, Sierra Nevada has selected different German breweries to collaborate on unique Oktoberfest releases. Past collaborators include Weihenstephan, Mahrs Bräu and Bitberger, among others. 

Tickets to Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest 2023 on Sale Soon 

Beer fans interested in taking their Oktoberfest experience to the next level can purchase tickets (on sale August 3) to one of four exclusive event nights at Sierra Nevada’s epic Oktoberfest celebrations in Chico, CA, held at the brewery’s festival field September 29 and 30, and October 6 and 7. For more information on the event, ticket availability and pricing, visit https://sierranevada.com/event/oktoberfest/.