The Real Oktoberfest Beer

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Most American brewers cater to the common taste and produce malty amber lagers for this time of year. Samuel Adams Octoberfest is nationally available, and a number of regionally brewed brands are available in various markets.

You can also find variations. Your local brewpub is likely to brew a malty amber ale—rather than the German lager style—age it longer than usual, and serve it up as a fest beer, and chances are it will be fine. Coleman imports Erdinger Oktoberfest Weissbier, which, unconventionally, is brewed with wheat but is still amber colored—he’s learned that lesson. It’s brewed just outside of Munich and tastes excellent.

For me, festbier is that amber lager. If you wonder why I’m not rapturously describing the individual beers, even though I love this style and this season, it’s because festbier is a rather narrowly defined type of beer. Most brewers stick closely to the guidelines, and their beers are all pretty much malty amber lager with good body: clean, drinkable, and great with a wide variety of food.

Small and subtle differences among them—a bit more biscuit character here, a touch of anise there—make for a recurring debate each year among fans of the fest regarding which is the best. Boston Beer’s founder and brewer Jim Koch allows that since beer is an all-natural product, slight variations in the year’s malt crop and hop harvest are reflected in the brew. Draft line conditions and glassware may also make a difference.

“And finally,” Koch says, musing a bit, “taste memory is a peculiar thing, as Proust taught us. The situation and the moment of enjoyment of the beer can affect our memory of the beer’s taste in mysterious and very human ways.”

Enjoyed properly, with an open heart and unburdened mind, festbier is part of life well lived. It is a beer for food: Whether lightening the hearty roast ox and pig’s knuckles of Oktoberfest or smoothing the edge of saucy pizza, festbier is the great all-rounder. It is equally delicious on its own, accompanying song and conversation. It is the German at his best: competent, uncomplicated, and content. Enjoy it all season long.

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