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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.
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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.
