Not too long ago, we highlighted some of our favorite Oktoberfests brewed in the United States. Germany is the birthplace of Oktoberfest (both the festival and the beer), and it’s rich in history. The festival has withstood mass epidemics, world wars, and terrorism and it’s still going strong all over the world. We’d be remiss (at the very least) if we didn’t share our favorite German-brewed Oktoberfests, too!
Oktoberfests are also called Märzen, which is German for the month of March. Odd that you’d call a beer by two different months, right? Fun fact: the beer was originally brewed in March, before the hot summer months rolled around—brewing during those months made beer spoilage more likely. The beer lagered in cool, dark caves and cellars, and once October rolled around, all that tasty beer was ready to go. We have far more controlled brewing conditions now, but the beer is still traditionally more popular in the fall (but if you can’t live without it many months of the year, you can find it year-round from many breweries!).
These are some of our picks: