Oktoberfest beers

Oktoberfest is not only an event; it is also a style. The traditional style guidelines describe an amber-gold lager, robust at 5.2% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV), bottom-fermented and lagered for at least a month, with pronounced malt flavors from Vienna malts, usually accented by the German noble hops such as Hallertau and Tettnang. An Oktoberfest is brewed very much like the reddish-amber Marzen beer that was served at the Crown Prince's wedding in 1810. Before the revolution in brewing caused by refrigeration, Marzen beers were brewed in March, lagered or cold-stored in caves for 10-12 weeks, and ready to drink by the late summer or early fall.

Oktoberfest bier was introduced in 1872, through collaboration with Spaten brewery's Gabriel Sedlmayr, and Anton Dreher of Vienna, Austria. Nowadays, imported Oktoberfest biers tend to be lighter in color and body than the traditional Marzen style, while American craft breweries are creating festbiers that are often slightly higher in alcohol, richer in hops aroma and flavor, and redder in hue than the European festbiers.

Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrau, Lowenbrau, Paulaner and Spaten are the traditional German brewers of Oktoberfest beer, since all brews or bottle beer within the city limits of Munich. Other German brewers of similar festbiers include Ayinger and Beck's of Bremen. American craft breweries, such as Capital Brewery of Madison, WI; Stoudt's of Adamstown, PA; Danskjold of Solvang, CA; Frankenmuth in MI; Gordon Biersch of Palo Alto, CA; Firestone Brewery of Solvang, CA; Samuel Adams; August Schell Brewery of New Ulm, MN; Rio Grande of Albuquerque, NM; and Pete's Wicked Ales of Palo Alto, CA, also produce beers (both ales and lagers) that overlap with the Oktoberfest style (some in name only).

This year the following famous German beer brands are presented: ?«Augustinerbrau?», ?«Hofbrauhaus?», ?«Hackerbrau?», ?«Lowenbrau?», ?«Spatenbrau?».
What goes best with an Oktoberfest? If a stein is in one hand, the other usually holds a ???wurst??? or sausage. At the Munich Oktoberfest, the food is served in gargantuan portions: haunches of oxen and whole chickens are spit-roasted, and myriad sausages are steamed and served with sauerkraut and onions. American sausage-makers, such as Usingers of Milwaukee, Gerhard's of Napa, Bruce Aidells of San Leandro, Bradley Ogden Sausages by Saag's of San Francisco, and Amy's of New York, all make flavorful sausages -- beef, chicken, pork or veal - often flavored with fresh herbs and seasonings ??“  that complement the bready, malty notes of an Oktoberfest beer.