Oktoberfest: it's German for Festival of Beer and Boobs!
Bierleichen: it’s the German word for people who pass out from drinking too much. Literally, beer corpses. You’ve got to love a culture that has a word for just that, right? That’s why today we’re celebrating Oktoberfest beers.
Much in the same way department stores drag out the wreathes, red ribbons, and oversized jingle bells while you’re still dealing with a Halloween candy hangover, the liquor stores are stocking their refrigerated shelves with Oktoberfest right now, even before post-season baseball begins. So we’re going to take a moment out of this glorious August day to talk about these fall beers.
This year the official Oktoberfest in Munich begins September 22nd and runs through October 7th. So, it’s not all in October, either. Way back when, the dude in charge of Germany’s social schedule pushed his glasses up his nose and signed a document to begin the celebrations in September for the better weather. But when the party started, back in 1810, it began in mid-October to celebrate the October 12th wedding of Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. The events wrapped up with a horse race, which was apparently such a good time that they decided to do it again the next year. And that, folks, is how traditions begin. With lots of beer.
Okay, so say you’re going out today to buy some Oktoberfest beer a month before the celebration that is not actually in October: what do you look for? First of all, keep in mind that Oktoberfest is its own style, and no beer drinker in Munich would be caught dead (or bierleichen) drinking a harvest ale or pumpkin beer. Oktoberfest beer is also known as Märzen, as traditionally it was brewed in March before the heat became too oppressive to brew. The brewers then kept it in cold storage during the hot months and brought it out just in time for the festivities. A beer to celebrate the end of debilitating heat?! I dig it.
The Märzenbiers are typically big beers: deep copper in color, full, roasty, and toasty. Not a hop head’s dream beer, but one that will keep you warm on those first wonderful chilly nights of the season. Some suggestions? Harpoon and Brooklyn breweries offer up decent Oktoberfests. Sam Adams is omnipresent and isn’t a bad choice, though if looking for something more traditional Spaten’s Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen and Paulaner’s Oktoberfest-Märzen are worth a shot. Careful of the green bottles, though; sometimes they have a bit of skunk to them.
So let’s all grab a Märzenbier after work today. We can sit on our porches in the orange, early evening sun, listen to the late-summer crickets, and toast the fall and the Germans and good beer.