Tracht
Festbier
I like to think of it as the “ultimate party lager”.
Oktoberfest:
Originally a celebration of King Ludwig I & Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen marriage on 12 October 1810. For anyone extra interested in the festival, make sure to check out the Wikipedia page.
German Oktoberfest beer style (Festbier):
Modern day German festbier ranges in color from gold to light copper/red. As pale lagers became more en vogue in the late 1800’s (they were basically the hazy IPA of that time) Oktoberfest beers began to gradually shift paler and paler in color. Today, many of the six “official” Oktoberfest beers approach the same golden color as a Helles, Export Helles or Dortmunder Export Lager. One exception is Hacker-Pchorr, which is deep copper in color and has pronounced toasted bread character. This one also happens to be one of my favorite examples of the style and so our Festbier skews closer to the light copper end of the spectrum. Outside of the six Munich breweries allowed to serve beer at the official Oktoberfest in Munich, many other breweries in Germany make their own take on the style, so don’t think this is some exclusively brewed style.
American Oktoberfest:
American-style Oktoberfests tend to be deep copper, depending heavily on crystal malts to obtain this color. The use of crystal malts, paired with the American versions’ often higher abv results in a sweet finishing, less drinkable beer. Ours is not this style of beer.
Our Festbier "Tracht":
5.9% abv, 25 IBU (aka just a smidge of bitterness)
Fermented with an extremely clean lager yeast.
Light copper in color.
Notes of toasted bread & Bavarian pretzel w/ subtle sweetness
Subtle floral hop aroma
Malty, but not overly sweet finishing.
Somewhere in between American & German Oktoberfest, landing much closer to German examples.
Built to be enjoyed in slightly irresponsible quantities.
Malts (All Weyermann): Barke Munich, Barke Pilsner, Carafoam
Hops: Bittered w/ Perle, Hallertau Mittelfruh late boil additionLagered for 1 month