Special 2021 release celebrates tradition with Amber Marzen style lager
Today Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. announced the release of its 2021 limited edition fall seasonal, Oktoberfest, the brewery’s ode to beer’s largest party. This year’s edition is an Amber Märzen, a traditional German beer with a 5.5% ABV.
“The beer has a malty sweetness with a little bit of herbal, floral hop presence, and the bitterness levels are just right to balance the malt character for drinkability,” says Scott Jennings, Innovation Brewmaster at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. He adds, “it’s a substantial beer but it’s really, really drinkable.”
When developing this edition of Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest, the brewers were aiming to produce a darker malt-forward Oktoberfest beer, and the traditional Amber Märzen style fit the bill. Jennings notes that this year’s darker style is a departure from the brewery’s seasonal Oktoberfest offerings of the past few years which was in the style of modern fest biers, such as Helles bock, that began rising to popularity at Oktoberfest in Munich in the 1970s and 1980s. He adds that an Amber Märzen would have been a mainstay at Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich prior to that shift toward lighter styles.
Sierra Nevada’s 2021 Oktoberfest pours a clear deep amber color with aromas of dark bread and graham cracker. The flavor is well balanced between sweet maltiness and delicate hop bitterness with a medium body, making this beer a solid example of the traditional Amber Märzen style.
Raymond
Terry Bunch
