Get To Know These German Beer Styles For Oktoberfest 2022

This time every year, you'll notice liquor stores stock their shelves high with Oktoberfest beers from breweries all over the country and across the globe. The very first Oktoberfest was held in Munich on October 12, 1810, to celebrate the marriage between the Crown Prince of Bavaria, later King Louis I, and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. German citizens were all invited, and the festival lasted two weeks (per Britannica). The Oktoberfest in Munich now draws millions of visitors every year, and similar celebrations are held all across the United States in predominately German-American cities.

Oktoberfest beer, or Märzen lager, is the unofficial beverage of this annual festival because of its association with the changing of seasons. The Märzen, or "March," drink was originally brewed in spring to be stored in cold caves for the summer. Once the weather became cooler and more beer-friendly, it was retrieved to be enjoyed throughout the fall and winter (per American Craft Beer).

The Märzen lager is obviously the beer of choice to celebrate Oktoberfest, but for those not keen on it, there are dozens of other German alternatives to try. You are guaranteed to find at least one you like, so you'll be able to get into the Oktoberfest spirit with your stein full. Tasting Table spoke with Jack van Paepeghem, Quality Manager at von Trapp Brewing in Stowe, Vermont, to learn the basics of German beer and its many styles. Prost!

While the pils is the most popular beverage around this time of year, van Paepeghem believes the helles lager is the best introduction to German beer for newcomers. He compares helles lagers to mainstream, macro-produced American lagers like Budweiser or Coors. The word "helles" translates to "bright" or "pale" in German as a reference to the drink's light, golden color and drinkability. It is the most common style of beer found in Munich, a testament to its seemingly universal appeal.

Essentially, a helles is an even lighter version of the German pils. It is made using the same malts, hops, and type of yeast. The only difference is the presence of hops on the palate: While a German pils, no matter the region it comes from, carries at least a slight bite, a helles does not place much emphasis here. This lager is definitely aromatic in its hops. However, its flavor profile is wonderfully balanced, sweeter, and welcoming. Also, because the character of a helles depends more on technique, the final ABV range is wider than a pils. The alcohol content of helles lagers can fall between 4.7% and 5.4%.

You've probably encountered a beer labeled as a "Weissbier." According to van Paepeghem, this is an umbrella term: "Weissbier" refers to any beer made with wheat. There are many styles of this beverage, including dunkelweiss, weizenbock, kristalweiss, and, the most popular, hefeweizen.

Hefeweizen is a relatively modern type of German beer. Although wheat has been used for brewing the drink for centuries, weissbiers were typically reserved for Bavarian royalty. In the middle of the 20th century, hefeweizens became widely available in Germany and beyond (per van Paepeghem). These beers are made with 50% wheat and 50% pilsner malt. They are brewed with low amounts of hops and then fermented warm with weizen yeast before being keg-conditioned. This means that the beer is re-fermented and naturally accumulates its carbonation, as opposed to the usual method of forcing carbonation into it.

Hefeweizens are a super drinkable, soft beverage with a mild malt and creamy taste. The light, floral hops balance the malt with a subtle sweetness carried by the fruity yeast aromas. Because of the keg conditioning, these beers are highly carbonated, which means they are highly refreshing. Hefeweizens are hazy and pale in appearance and normally contain an ABV between 4.3% and 5.6%.

The altbier is the first — and only — beer style on this list to come out of Dusseldorf. According to van Paepeghem, the drink was first brewed in the late 1800s in the old-style or "alt" style of German brewing, which used ale yeasts and lager techniques, similar to a Kölsch. Altbiers are made using pilsner and Munich malts, plus a small amount of roasted malts, which gives the drink its darker color. Noble hops (usually spalt) are incorporated before the beer is cold-fermented and cold-conditioned.

The altbier is a light to medium-bodied beverage with the familiar crispness of pilsner and Munich malts, but with the added toastiness and caramel flavor of roasted malts. The clear amber color makes for an enticing appearance, and the peppery hops lead the way to a dry finish. A darker beer like an altbier may not taste the way it looks; other dark beers like an amber ale typically have maltier, elongated finishes, but the altbier gives you all the nuttiness you'd like with that same sharp flavor.

According to van Paepeghem, the dunkel is the unsung hero of this list. He believes this beer does not quite get the recognition it deserves, and more people should be giving it a shot. The dunkel is Munich's original dark lager and dates back to the 15th century. It was included in the 1516 Reinheitsgebot, or German Beer Purity Law, which dictated that beer can only be produced using water, barley, hops, and yeast and cannot include any flavor additives (Ohio State University).

Dunkel lagers are a direct product of Munich. They use the city's city water and malt as well as other roasted malts, noble hops, and lager yeast. A dunkel is also made using a decoction mash, where a portion of the grain is removed, boiled, and added back to the mash to increase its resting temperature before fermentation.

The roasted malt of dunkel lagers is definitely at the forefront of their flavor profile. They are rich, toasty, and have notes of caramel and chocolate. The reduced hops bitterness results in a subtle sweetness with earthy aromas and a crisp and clean finish. Dunkel lagers appear dark copper or russet brown and normally contain an ABV from 4.5% to 5.6%.

Bock beers are stronger lagers that originated in the northern German city of Einbeck. In accordance with another brewing law, bocks must have a starting gravity above 16 degrees Plato. According to van Paepeghem, "starting gravity" refers to the target amount of sugars from beginning to end. The more sugars there are to be fermented, the more alcohol will turn out as a result. This higher starting gravity translates to bock's ABV falling anywhere between 6.3% to 7.2%.

Besides this higher sugar-alcohol content, bocks are made with either Munich or Vienna-based malts and a small number of roasted malts for coloring. They are accompanied by light hoppiness and low bitterness from noble hops and lager yeast. This results in a malt-forward lager with almost a toffee sweetness. Bocks are full-bodied and easy in the higher alcohol content to bring a certain warmth and comfort we love in dark beers. These favorable characteristics are taken to another level with the next brewed beverage on this list.