Though it doesn’t feel like it in Hawaii, given our recent string of hot, humid days, it is fall, and in the beer world that means it is the season for Oktoberfest-style beers. These actually begin showing up in the isles in August, a welcome change from the lighter lager styles we’ve been enjoying all summer.
The official Oktoberfest celebration in Munich, the biggest beer-drinking festival in the world, traditionally takes place in September; this year festivities run from Sept. 16 to Oct. 3. Festival beers (“festbier” in German) are not all alike, and the style has changed a lot over the past couple of decades. In fact, many of the beers served in Munich are quite different from what we drink in the U.S. If you’ve never had a festbier, it’s time to try one.
Many Oktoberfest beers brewed in the U.S. are based on the Marzen style. A slightly malty lager with wonderful notes of toasted bread with a hint of toffee and caramel, it has a fuller flavor than the typically lighter German helles lager.
ZWANZE DAY A SOUR CELEBRATION
In 2008 a brewery in Brussels, Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij (Cantillon Brewery), released an experimental lambic beer — at the time a rare sour style of brew.
Sours are now a familiar part of the beer lexicon, and that release date has become a sort of beer holiday, Zwanze Day, after Cantillon’s seasonal sour blend.
The annual event will be celebrated Saturday at 68 locations around the world. Hawaii’s official party is set at Real a Gastropub in the Ward Farmers Market, marked by the tapping of a keg of this year’s Zwanze blend — a 2-year-old lambic brewed with oolong tea.
It’s a breakfast-and-beer event, with a 9 a.m. toast timed to correspond with the moment the beer is served in Brussels. A quarter-liter of the Zwanze will be $15. Chef Lee Warnick’s breakfast items, $10 to $15, include biscuits and gravy, pot roast and hash, chorizo and eggs, roast pork and apple fried rice, and French toast. Reservations are not being taken; doors open at 8 a.m.
The gastropub is also closing in on its last week of business in the Ward area, which is scheduled for redevelopment. Last call will be Sept. 30.
Owner Troy Terorotua plans to reopen in another location but is still securing the right spot. In the meantime, to reduce inventory, bottles at Real are 20 percent off. Call 596-2526.
— Star-Advertiser Staff
Samuel Adams’ Oktoberfest is one of the best -known and most popular American interpretations of this style. It is malt-forward with a touch of sweetness, and its warmer flavors make it ideal for fall weather in a place like Boston. Personally, I find it a bit too heavy to enjoy more than one at a time, so I tend to gravitate toward other selections.
Another choice in the traditional style is the Oktober Fest-Marzen from the classic Bavarian brewery Ayinger. A bit drier and less sweet than the Sam Adams, it features a fantastic toasted-grain profile reminiscent of freshly baked sweet bread, and its clean finish makes it easy to drink. This beer is available for just a few months, so it’s one that I always pick up.
What’s interesting is that while the Oktober Fest-Marzen is brewed in Germany, it’s quite distinct from other festbier in Munich. The six breweries setting up serving tents there have slowly — by that, I mean over the past couple of decades — lightened their festbier, making them more drinkable. Beer there is consumed by the liter, so the lighter and more easy-drinking, the more people can consume.
Hofbrau’s Oktoberfestbier is one of the official beers served, much lighter in color and malt flavor than the offerings from Ayinger or Sam Adams. Its bright golden hue and pillowy white head of foam might lead you to mistake this for a classic German helles lager. It still has a touch of malt aroma, like freshly baked white bread, but little sweetness. Light but still full of flavor, with a crisp and refreshing finish, it’s easy to understand how Oktoberfest-goers can drink multiple mugs of this beer. It’s also perfect for Hawaii’s climate this time of the year.
In that same vein, consider trying Weihenstephaner Festbier, Uinta Fest Helles and Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, all great examples of lighter, less sweet festbier. Whatever you select, these beers are a great change of pace from your normal routine, so try a few while they are available.
Tim Golden, a certified cicerone, shares his obsession with all things craft beer monthly. See his blog, “Beer in Hawaii,” at beerinhawaii.com.
