While it would be delightful to go all the way to Germany to drink beer at Oktoberfest, Total Wine has a fun selection of Oktoberfest beers to choose so you can celebrate at home. Here are a few easy choices including one from a local Arizona local brewery, Huss Brewery.
1) Shiner Oktoberfest
2) Paulaner Oktoberfest
3) Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
4) Huss Brewing Oktoberfest
For a bit of history, Oktoberfest is an annual festival in Munich, Germany. It is held over a two-week period and it ends on the first Sunday in October. The festival is related to love (we hope!) and marriage. It was the celebration of the marriage of Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen to the crown prince of Bavaria, who later became King Louis I. This was back on October 12, 1810 and the festival lasted for five days. Fun, right?
In 1818, the annual festival began serving food and drink. This excitement later developed into large beer halls with balconies and bandstands.
Today, Munich brewers recreate these festive structures complete with folk costumes, music, dancing, and overflowing beer steins. It is said that Oktoberfest draws more than six million people each year, many of them tourists. Perhaps you will be one of them in the years to come.
What’s awesomely interesting about Oktoberfest is that yes, there is beer, but it’s not just any beer. It’s Märzen.
Märzen (“March” in German) or Märzenbier (“March beer”) is a lager that originated in Bavaria. Brewed in March, it has a sweeter taste (compared to Bavarian pale lager). With a medium to full body, Märzen can range in color from pale to amber to dark brown. It is this deliciousness that has traditionally been served at the Munich Oktoberfest.
A Bit about the Total Wine Oktoberfest Beers:
Note: We conducted a beer tasting with these four beers with a group of Arizona seniors who’ve had their fair share of beers in their lifetime, and the Shiner came out on top for them!
Shiner – Shiner, TX is the home of Spoetzl Brewery who brews Shiner Beers. Kosmos Spoetzl, born and raised in Bavaria, Germany, bought the brewery in 1915 and with his Märzen beers, put Shiner, TX on the map. Coppery-gold in color, made with two-row barley, it has a light sweetness and hoppiness that comes across as a “low, leafy grassy note.”
Paulaner – An amber beer style developed over 200 years ago to celebrate the original Oktoberfest. A family-owned Munich-based brewery, Paulaner offers this style year-round in the US due to popular demand. Malt taste with a some bitterness; medium body with a dry finish.
Hacker-Pschorr – Only six Munich breweries are allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest – and Hacker-Pschorr is one of them. Hacker-Pschorr came to be when Maria Theresia Hacker, daughter of brew master Peter Paul Hacker, married brewery servant Joseph Pschorr. Has a fruity taste with a reddish gold color. Compared to the others, had a sweeter and fuller body.
Huss – Huss began in 2013 in Tempe, AZ. Run by husband and wife team, Jeff and Leah Huss, it has grown into the third largest brewery in Arizona. Has a copper-red hue and full body with a slight malty sweetness and lovely aroma.