(Bloomberg) -- Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer festival, celebrated every fall in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, since 1810. (In recent times, it has started in September.) Today more than 6 million drinkers from all parts of the globe come to imbibe the easy-drinking, amber-hued Oktoberfestbiers (called Märzen) that are provided by just six big German brewing titans.
U.S. brewers have turned Oktoberfest into their own tradition, creating a raft of autumnal beers in that classic style. Here are eight great examples, running the gamut from traditional and experimental oddities.
Firestone Walker – Oaktoberfest
Instagram: Instagram photo by Firestone Walker
California's Firestone Walker—as of 2014, the 16th largest craft brewery in the U.S. by sales volume —has continued to improve since Belgium's Duvel purchased it in 2015. In its brilliantly executed Märzen, Oaktoberfest, imported traditional Pilsner and Vienna malts provide an authentic amber sweetness balanced by Noble hop sharpness.
Half Acre – Lager Town
Instagram: Instagram photo by Bitter Pops
When Chicago's competent Half Acre brewery decides on a recipe, you can rest assured it will be worth trying. Its Lager Town Octoberfest, as the brewery puts it, “lives in the malty bosom of Munich's storied tradition.” With a nicely cutting rye spiciness to balance out potentially cloying malt sweetness, it's all-too-easy to pound in succession when served fresh.
Jack's Abby – Copper Legend
Instagram: Instagram photo by Mandy Hyden
All-lager Massachusetts brewery Jack's Abby focuses on showing the craft beer world how eclectic non-ales can be. Here, it uses locally grown wheat for a smooth and quite drinkable Märzen, Copper Legend, a ruddy-hued, bready, creamy, well-balanced delight.
New Glarus – Staghorn
Instagram: Instagram photo by New Glarus Brewing Company
According to Midwestern brewing institution New Glarus, its Staghorn Octoberfest is “Wisconsin's Real Red,” made with “[g]reat Midwest barleys, the world's most expensive hops, fresh yeast from Germany, and clear Wisconsin water.” With more than 1,100 pounds of malted barley in every batch, the brewery's attention to detail pays off, yielding a richly grainy and spicy fall-appropriate pleasure.
Oxbow – Oxtoberfest
Instagram: Instagram photo by Melissa Lobkowicz
The farmhouse team at rural Maine's Oxbow brewery offers easily the most bizarre—and possibly most delicious—beer listed here with their Oxtoberfest. A smoked saison riff on an Oktoberfest, it packs malt-forward flavor but finishes dry with an earthy smoke character in the periphery. (More adventurous drinkers should seek out Oxbow's Blended Oxtoberfest, a version soured in Riesling barrels and blended in the Solera method, in which a fraction of older vintages added to fresh beer increases the average age of a bottle's contents.)
Sierra Nevada / Mahrs Bräu – Oktoberfest
Instagram: Instagram photo by Lukas Taylor
Each fall Sierra Nevada collaborates with an esteemed German brewer to whip up a novel take on the Oktoberfest genre. This year it has teamed with Bamberg, Germany's Mahrs Bräu, utilizing the nearly forgotten Record hop varietal. The resulting beer is caramely, with a crisp, citrus-like character.
Surly – SurlyFest
Instagram: Instagram photo by Linnea Batsche
Midwestern brewing outfit Surly packs three different types of rye into its Oktoberfestbier, which, after a dry-hopping process with the Sterling varietal of hops, results in a more aggressive interpretation of a Märzen than any other listed here. Starting with a biscuity sweetness, the finish provides a uniquely bitter and floral astringency.
3 Floyds – MunsterFest
Instagram: Instagram photo by Bitter Pops
Another midwestern upstart, 3 Floyds, went uncharacteristically traditional with its Märzen, brewed in accordance with Reinheitsgebot (the German bier purity law of 1516, which legally limited beer's ingredients to water, barley and hops, with yeast added only once Louis Pasteur discovered its properties some three centuries later). Floral, nutty, and toasty, it's a surprisingly delicate offering from the metalhead brewery, which is better known and well-loved for more palate-distorting beers.
To contact the author of this story: Spike Carter in at Spike.Pinch@gmail.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net.
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