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I was asked recently why our new fall seasonal, Festbier, is labeled as a Vienna-style lager instead of a Märzen-Oktoberfest, a style descriptor used for many beers marketed as “Oktoberfest” beers during this season. Because I’m a huge bier nerd, here is why we call our Festbier a Vienna-style lager.

The Viennas and Märzen are closely related, but my understanding always has been that Vienna-lagers are typically a bit lighter in color, a bit lower in alcohol, and a bit more bitter than Märzen. I think our Festbier is lighter in color, a bit more bitter, and lower in ABV than most Märzen-Oktoberfest beers. Guidelines from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and North American Beer Awards (NABA) support these general comparisons, while the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) guidelines indicate that a Vienna lager is darker than a Märzen.

While Vienna is a “style” of amber-colored lager bier, Märzen is technically not a “style,” but rather a brewing method by which the bier is brewed in March (Maerz) with a higher ABV than a normal version of the bier in order to preserve it while being stored during the summer.

Why? Bavarians traditionally did not brew bier during the hot summer season for fear of infection from heat-loving, beer-spoiling bacteria.

Brews had to stop by the end of April (April 23 – St. George’s Day) and could not commence again until the end of September (September 29, St. Michael’s Day).  So, Märzen bier was traditionally brewed in March, and the brewers wanted their barrels emptied by the end of of September, often at the Oktoberfest celebration, so they could refill them with the new bier brewed in the fall. We brewed our Festbier in late June/early July, not March, so it is not produced by the “Märzen method” of brewing.

In the mid-1800s, brewers Anton Dreher in Vienna and Gabriel Siedelmayer (Spaten) in Munich were friends. They both helped to promote lager brewing methods, and Dreher is credited with popularizing an amber “Vienna” lager that was darker than Pils but lighter than Dunkel. Dreher’s amber lager also became a popular style for Munich brewers, and a style they found well-suited for production by the “Märzen-Method” of brewing.

Dreher and Siedelmayer also both pioneered the use of artificial refrigeration in brewing, which led to better microbial stability of the bier. This also probably led to the lowering of ABV with the Vienna-style bier, while the Märzen tradition of brewing seems to have influenced the retention of the higher ABV bier in Munich-style Märzen.

BJCP explains the differences in Vienna lager versus Märzen-Oktoberfest as follows:

Style Comparison: Vienna has a lighter malt character, slightly less body, and is slightly more bitter in the balance than a Märzen, yet with many of the same malt-derived flavors. The malt character is similar to a Märzen, but less intense and more balanced. Lower in alcohol than Märzen or Festbier (Export Helles/Wies’n bier). Less rich, less malty and less hop-centered compared to Czech Amber Lager. 

Part of the confusion surrounding what is an “Oktoberfest” bier is that the original rich amber/brown Märzen lager style is no longer served in Munich at the official Oktoberfest. It has been replaced by a pale Export Helles/Wies’n lager that is a higher alcohol version of the common Helles Lager. The Munich breweries serve a +/-6% pale lager at Oktoberfest and send a dark amber traditional Märzen lager to the U.S. The BJCP explains the evolution of Oktoberfest bier as follows in their description of “Festbier/Wies’n Bier.”

History: Since 1990, the majority of beer served at Oktoberfest in Munich has been this style (i.e., 6% golden lager). Export beer specifically made for the United States is still mainly of the traditional amber style, as are US-produced interpretations. Paulaner first created the golden version in the mid-1970s because they thought the traditional Oktoberfest was too filling. So they developed a lighter, more drinkable but still malty version that they wanted to be “more poundable” (according to the head brewer at Paulaner). But the actual type of beer served at Oktoberfest is set by a Munich city committee.

In conclusion, we first contemplated doing the Wies’n bier style by making a 6% golden Export Helles Lager, but we thought it would be too similar to our existing Helles, and that Americans familiar with dark amber Oktoberfest bier would not see the authenticity. We brew a 6.25% ABV Maibock with a rich amber color, and we did not want to make our Festbier too much like it. So, we made a bier that fit midway between Helles and Maibock that still qualified as a bier style for Oktoberfest.

Now, next time you enjoy a Festbier, you can enlighten your friends with some serious bier nerd knowledge and appreciate all the extra thought that we put into making this bier. Prost!

Steve Holle, The Bier Nerd
Founder & Managing Owner, KC Bier Co.