Münchner Oktoberfestbier    

Festbier, Wiesnbier

The Münchner Oktoberfestbier is a bock-type beer brewed by the Munich breweries specially for the Oktoberfest. It is a strong bock-type beer which, owing to its relatively high original gravity of 13.5%, not only has a fairly high alcohol content but is also very full-bodied. By adding only a small amount of hops, the Münchner Oktoberfestbier has a light bitter hops flavour and tastes slightly sweet with a malty note. It has a strong yellow colour and is always filtered. Its alcohol content ranges from 5.1 - 5.7 vol.-%.

Münchner Oktoberfestbier is drawn from pressurized steel tanks at the Oktoberfest and drunk from Maßkrüge (1 l beer glasses). In other towns and cities in Southern Germany, festival beers are drunk at the corresponding festivals. Festival beer is often also drawn from wooden barrels at atmospheric pressure without a pressurisation unit and with a Bavarian broaching ceremony.

Münchener Oktoberfestbier is only available in Munich.

Münchner Oktoberfestbier was first served in 1810 at the first Munich Oktoberfest. Prior to the invention of the cooling machine by Carl Linde in 1876, March was the last month in which it was possible the brew bottom-fermented beer before the hot summer. This is because a temperature of 6 to 10°C is necessary for fermentation with bottom-fermenting yeast. This last March beer of the year was always brewed to be somewhat stronger, stored until the autumn and drunk at the festivals. In this way, a beer speciality was created in Munich which is now sold outside of the Oktoberfest, the so-called “Wies’n”, and bottled but which is only sold during the period of the Oktoberfest.

Barley malt, bottom-fermenting yeast, hops and water.

The barley malt is mashed. By maintaining certain temperature ranges, the starch contained in the malt is broken down by enzymes into sugar. The liquid (wort) is then separated from the malt residues (draff) in the straining vat. When the wort is then boiled with the hops it is concentrated to an extract content of 13.5%. The 6 to 7-day fermentation of the sugar during the main fermentation is carried out using bottom-fermenting yeast at between 6 and 10°C. The long, intensive storage period which lasts until autumn is carried out at -1 to 0°C. The desired carbon dioxide content is controlled by maintaining a counterpressure of approximately 1 bar in the storage tank. Following filtration with diatomaceous earth, the festival beer is bottled or transferred to barrels.

Oktoberfestbier is brewed by the six big Munich breweries.

Several 100,000 hectolitres of Münchener Oktoberfestbier are brewed specially for the Oktoberfest every year.

Münchner Oktoberfestbier is drunk only during the Oktoberfest period.

The term “Munich beer” is used by a number of breweries based in the area of the city, usually with the addition of the particular beer type or of the company logo. Extensive legal trademark protection exists for these. As a result, the designation “Münchner Oktoberfestbier” is protected by trademark.

Verein Münchener Brauereien e.V.