Arbeiter Oktoberfest

 Arbeiter Oktoberfest.

5.6% ABV, 24 IBU, Arbeiter Brewing, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Clear, copper colored, fine white head..

In the nose: clean, malty, semi-sweet.

In the mouth: unmistakable Märzen flavors right off the bat, crisp, clean, easy going, malty, quite tasty. Medium bodied and a good drinker. Goes down oh, so nice. 

This moderately strong, rich, and malty yet highly drinkable lager style was traditionally brewed in Bavaria in the month March (März or Märzen in German) and allowed to rest, or lager, in cool caves all summer long to be enjoyed in the fall. Before modern brewing equipment, much less refrigeration, the summer months were simply too warm to properly brew lager biers, so they had to brew a lot of beer through the winter and spring to get them through to the fall when temperatures cooled to allow brewing to commence again. Since they already had this Märzenbier on hand in the fall, they began serving it at very early occurrences of the annual celebration of the royal wedding that eventually became the Oktoberfest many of us are familiar with.