Subscriber Exclusive
Brewing the Original Oktoberfest Märzenbier
In Munich in 1872, the famous Schottenhamel tent needed more beer. Josef Sedlmayer had beer to sell ... but it was a stronger lager brewed in the Viennese style. Thanks to beer historian Andreas Krennmair, we have an educated guess about the recipe.
All Access Subscribers can download the Beersmith and BeerXML version of this recipe.
Subscribe today.
There is no single type of Oktoberfest beer. Only in recent decades has the famous hoolie in Munich settled on a deceptively strong, dangerously easy-drinking blond lager. For more about brewing this modern type of festbier, check out our August-September 2021 issue—out now.
However, from its beginning in 1810 until well into the 20th century, there were a variety of beers available at Oktoberfest—advertisements in old event programs make that clear. Depending on the year, you might find dunkel, helles, export-strength helles, weissbier, or even a pilsner.
There is no single type of Oktoberfest beer. Only in recent decades has the famous hoolie in Munich settled on a deceptively strong, dangerously easy-drinking blond lager. For more about brewing this modern type of festbier, check out our August-September 2021 issue—out now.
However, from its beginning in 1810 until well into the 20th century, there were a variety of beers available at Oktoberfest—advertisements in old event programs make that clear. Depending on the year, you might find dunkel, helles, export-strength helles, weissbier, or even a pilsner.
[PAYWALL]
The amber, caramel-laced beer that American brewers often label as “Oktoberfest” is loosely based on the story of märzenbier—the strong “March beer” brewed to last through the summer. Even if better-known American examples tend to be sweeter and darker than most any märzen found in Germany, it has come to be the style most associated with Oktoberfest’s history.
Gabriel Sedlmayr’s Spaten brewery supposedly introduced a märzenbier in 1841, though evidence is scanty, and it may not have had any special connection to Oktoberfest. The beer that established that more lasting connection didn’t appear there until 1872. As the story goes—recounted in Andreas Krennmair’s Historic Austrian and German Beers for the Home Brewer—Michael Schottenhamel was looking for more beer to serve at his famous Oktoberfest tent. After a hot summer, he was running low on Sommerbier, so he approached Josef Sedlmayr—Gabriel Sedlmayr’s brother—who brewed at Franziskaner-Leistbräu.
Josef Sedlmayr told Schottenhamel that they had this stronger beer available, brewed in the Viennese style, “and that it should be in prime condition for Oktoberfest,” Krennmair writes in his book. “Schottenhamel agreed to buy the beer, but also announced that he’d sell it for 12 Kreuzer.” That was relatively expensive—the same price as Salvatorbier, or doppelbock—but in the end, nobody seemed to mind.
There is a bit more to the story, which Krennmair uncovered while researching his book Vienna Lager: “The specific reason why Franziskaner-Leistbräu had brewed a stronger Viennese-style beer,” Krennmair says, “was that Josef Sedlmayr‘s son had apprenticed at Anton Dreher‘s Kleinschwechater Brewery [in Austria]. So he had basically learned to brew Vienna lager at its original source, and he decided to brew a stronger version of it back home as a seasonal beer.”
The following recipe for the beer is adapted from Krennmair’s book, based on his research into lagers of the time. Note the archaic mash regime (and simplify it, if you must), the relatively high finishing gravity, and the relatively pale color (5 SRM) from using 100 percent Vienna malt.
Recipe: The Original Oktoberfest-Märzenbier
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.018
IBUs: 33
ABV: 6.1%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
11.9 lb (5.4 kg) Vienna malt
HOPS SCHEDULE
2.3 oz (65 g) Saaz at first wort [33 IBUs]
YEAST
White Labs WLP820 Oktoberfest/Märzen Lager or WLP920 Old Bavarian Lager
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains, dough in with about 5.3 gallons (20 liters) of 50°F (10°C) water, and rest 3–4 hours. While stirring slowly, add about 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of boiling-hot water to raise the mash temperature to about 91°F (33°C). First decoction: Pull about 3 gallons (11.5 liters) of thick mash to a separate kettle and bring to a boil for 45 minutes. Return the decocted mash to the main mash to raise the temperature to about 149°F (65°C) and rest 10 minutes. Second decoction: Pull about 3 gallons (11.5 liters) of thin mash to a separate kettle and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. Return the decocted mash to the main mash to raise the temperature to about 164°F (73°C) and rest 1 hour. Run off into the kettle atop the first-wort hops, lautering and sparging with 172°F (78°C) water to get 6.5 gallons (26 liters) of wort.
Boil for 90 minutes. After the boil, chill to 46°F (8°C), aerate well, and pitch the yeast. Ferment patiently at 48–50°F (9–10°C) until complete. Rack to a cask or keg and lager for 6 months.
BREWER’S NOTES
This might not take you to exactly the same destination, but if you can’t be bothered with that remarkably drawn-out decoction scheme, consider a classic multistep Hochkurz mash.
For example:
- Beta amylase rest: 144°F (62°C) for 30 to 45 minutes
- Alpha amylase rest: 160°F (71°C) for 30 to 45 minutes
- Mash out: 170°F (77°C) for 10 to 15 minutes
