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Author Topic: American Märzen  (Read 11041 times)

Offline ram5ey

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #45 on: September 06, 2021, 06:18:29 am »
I guess I just drink what I like and not care about what others do. I think there is a place at the table for any well made beer and if no one likes it no one will keep making it.

Isn’t it weird to get so upset about what commercial breweries are or aren’t making when we are in a forum dedicated to the hobby where we make it ourselves?  I don’t know. Maybe I’m just way out of the mainstream these days.
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Offline erockrph

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #46 on: September 06, 2021, 06:30:52 am »
I bought a mixed six pack of Märzen style beers at my LHBS and split it with my BIL yesterday. We ranked them top to bottom as follows:

Paulaner (German), Revolution (Chicago), Riverlands (local St. Charles, IL brewery), Haaker-Pschorr (German), Warsteiner (German), and a unique Around the Bend (Chicago) with a very light hand of “Pasilla Chili and Epazote”.  All were quite delicious and (other than the Octoberfiesta by ATB) to style, FWIW.

And Saturday I brewed an American Helles, substituting Montana Craft Pils and Proximity Base Malt for German malts ….hoping it will be tasty and not entering or presenting it as true to any style, just thought I’d give it a try.
Paulaner Ofest Märzen is my desert-island lager. As long as I can get my hands on some in good shape, then every other brewery can brew a Carabok labeled as an Octoberfest and I could care less.
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Offline Bel Air Brewing

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #47 on: September 06, 2021, 06:32:56 am »
I agree, and that is why an American Oktoberfest beer is no longer purchased by us. Boston Beer Company's Oktoberfest used to be on tap in my bar every fall. But...no more.

The beer we brew right here tastes better to us. I'll bet this is the case for many on this forum. All of us can (and do) brew very high quality beers.

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #48 on: September 06, 2021, 07:30:12 am »
Visited my sister in Wisconsin, picked up a 6 of New Glarus Staghorn Oktoberfest. This is very well made, Dan Cary went to brewing school in Germany and apprenticed at Ayinger.
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Offline Village Taphouse

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #49 on: September 06, 2021, 07:55:15 am »
Paulaner Ofest Märzen is my desert-island lager. As long as I can get my hands on some in good shape, then every other brewery can brew a Carabok labeled as an Octoberfest and I could care less.
Yeah, love the Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen.
Ken from Chicago. 
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Offline Village Taphouse

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #50 on: September 06, 2021, 07:55:34 am »
Visited my sister in Wisconsin, picked up a 6 of New Glarus Staghorn Oktoberfest. This is very well made, Dan Cary went to brewing school in Germany and apprenticed at Ayinger.
The Staghorn is great.
Ken from Chicago. 
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Offline Saccharomyces

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #51 on: September 06, 2021, 08:06:10 am »
I agree. It’s like ordering pepperoni pizza in Italy. They have no idea what you’re talking about.

I was stationed in Italy for a year and a half while I was in the Navy.  Pepperoni is an Italian-American creation.  I may not look it, but I grew up in an Italian-American family.  Italian-American cooking, while tasty, is not Italian cooking.  Italian-American cuisine is adaptation of Italian cooking techniques to local ingredients much in the way that Pre-Pro Pils was an adaption of German brewing techniques to local ingredients.  Most of the Italians who emigrated to the U.S., like my bisnonni (great-grandparents), were dirt poor Italians from the Southern part of Italy.  They made due with what they could get. Several true Italian dishes made it to this country.  I ate what I knew as pasta and spaghetti soup that my nonna (grandmother) made my entire life growing without knowing that it had an Italian name; namely, pasta fajioli.  Pasta fagioli was peasant food.  It is a complete plant-based protein source much in the way that beans and rice are a complete protein source. Americans think of chicken cacciatore when they hear the word "cacciatore," but cacciatore is s style of cooking (a.k.a. "hunter" style).  My bisnonna (great-grandmother) made cacciatore with several different types of meat.  She lived to be over 100, so she was part of my life into adulthood.  I am grateful for that experience.

As an aside, the beer I drank when I drank beer in Italy was of all things called "Dreher" (I did not know who Anton Dreher was at that point in time). I doubt that it was true to the Viennese style, but it was better than Bud. How is that for a twist?
« Last Edit: September 06, 2021, 08:22:25 am by Saccharomyces »

Offline Saccharomyces

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #52 on: September 06, 2021, 08:21:43 am »
One of the early brewpubs around here was opened by a guy name Theo DeGroen.  Theo was Dutch by birth, but he was a German-trained brew master. While all of the beers he brewed were better than anything I could get in a bottle, his dunkel, pils, and hefeweizen were exceptional.  All of the guys from Fort Meade who had been stationed in Germany loved the place.  It was a sad day when Theo shuttered the Baltimore Brewing Company.  Theo trained the guys who went on to found the Victory Brewing Company in Downington, PA.  Victory's number one selling beer is Belgian-style tripel called "Golden Monkey," but they make a true-to-style German pils called Prima Pils using all noble hops and German malt.

Offline Megary

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #53 on: September 06, 2021, 08:49:41 am »
One of the early brewpubs around here was opened by a guy name Theo DeGroen.  Theo was Dutch by birth, but he was a German-trained brew master. While all of the beers he brewed were better than anything I could get in a bottle, his dunkel, pils, and hefeweizen were exceptional.  All of the guys from Fort Meade who had been stationed in Germany loved the place.  It was a sad day when Theo shuttered the Baltimore Brewing Company.  Theo trained the guys who went on to found the Victory Brewing Company in Downington, PA.  Victory's number one selling beer is Belgian-style tripel called "Golden Monkey," but they make a true-to-style German pils called Prima Pils using all noble hops and German malt.
Victory makes a lot of great beers and Prima Pils is outstanding, one of my all-time favorites.  Unfortunately, I tried their Festbier last year and sadly, I wasn’t impressed.

Offline Bel Air Brewing

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #54 on: September 06, 2021, 02:33:27 pm »
Finally! Found a decent Oktoberfest beer, brewed right here in Texas!
By Altstadt, a brewery in Fredericksburg.
Very clean, crisp. No caramel, not overly sweet. Much like what you would get in Frankfurt, when ordering a Festbier.

Better than Ayinger, and just a tad better than Paulaner. But these two beers might suffer from transportation issues across the pond.

https://www.altstadtbeer.com/

https://www.altstadtbeer.com/beers/oktoberfest/
« Last Edit: September 06, 2021, 02:36:27 pm by TXFlyGuy »

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #55 on: September 06, 2021, 06:41:06 pm »
Not a fan of Staghorn. Marzen ain’t supposed to be nutty in my opinion. I love New Glarus Two Women lager though, could drink gallons of that one.
Dave

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Offline Steve Ruch

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #56 on: September 06, 2021, 07:16:40 pm »
I'm not a great note taker, but I'm pretty sure I've never used any crytal malt in a marzen; usually some combination of munich, vienna, and pilsner malts.
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Offline Bel Air Brewing

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #57 on: September 06, 2021, 08:27:16 pm »
I'm not a great note taker, but I'm pretty sure I've never used any crytal malt in a marzen; usually some combination of munich, vienna, and pilsner malts.

The last one we made was 60% Pils, 20% Munich, 20% Vienna.
Turned out nice. Got the idea from the Village Taphouse.

Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #58 on: September 06, 2021, 09:31:57 pm »
Are we talking about festbier or marzen now?
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Offline Bel Air Brewing

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Re: American Märzen
« Reply #59 on: September 07, 2021, 05:51:11 am »
Are we talking about festbier or marzen now?

Marzen, but there is a fine distinction between the two.

I have never found a true Festbier brewed in the US. On the other hand, many brewing companies put out a Marzen-Oktoberfest this time of year.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2021, 06:14:27 am by TXFlyGuy »