WHAT MAKES A GOOD OKTOBERFEST BEER?
Oktoberfest: What is it, what makes a good Oktoberfest beer and what have Mad Squirrel brewed up this year?
What is Oktoberfest?
Oktoberfest is an annual festival in Munich, Germany held over two weeks and ending on the first Sunday in October. It started back on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. Since then, the event has grown enormously, drawing more and more visitors each year — around 7.2 million people joined the festivities in Munich last year.
But Oktoberfest isn't just limited to Munich anymore. It's celebrated across Germany and indeed worldwide, including in the UK, where these events are becoming increasingly popular. The festival is all about celebrating Bavarian culture, from wearing traditional clothing like lederhosen and dirndls to enjoying classic foods such as bratwurst, pretzels, and gingerbread hearts, and, of course, it’s about the beer.
Here at Mad Squirrel, we are brewing two special beers for the Oktoberfest celebrations in the UK: a lager called Festbier and a wheat beer named Weis’n. Cheers to a great time!
So what makes a good Oktoberfest beer?
In short, it's a beer that's easy to drink, something that everyone likes (or at least no one dislikes!), and can be drunk over the many hours of a celebration. Prost!
Traditionally, this means a lager, but also one specifically brewed to last. Lagers are brewed and conditioned at low temperatures, and in medieval times brewing stopped after March when temperatures got too warm due to increased fire risk and later due to the bottom fermenting yeast requiring low temperatures. This meant the beer had to last until Oktoberfest, which required a relatively high alcohol content and bitterness, compared to a normal “helles” (the standard German lager beer), to preserve it. These qualities have remained defining traits of German Oktoberfest beers.
Today, this translates to a lager that’s sessionable while having a good body, balanced bitterness, and a moderately high alcohol content.
Mad Squirrel Oktoberfest beers
> Mad Squirrel’s traditional Oktoberfest beer is Festbier, a 5.2% lager
This lager boasts a good body and bitterness that aligns with the traditional Munich festbiers. However, our head brewer Matthias, rather than leaving this a simple lager with a base malt, has added his own twist by incorporating a subtle hint of caramel aromas. This addition enhances the beer's depth and flavour complexity while staying true to its historical roots. The caramelisation is achieved through the age-old technique of decoction mashing, where a portion of the mash is boiled to caramelise the sugars before being returned to the main mash. This process not only imparts extra flavour but also gives the beer a slightly darker hue. While decoction mashing is less commonly used today due to its higher energy demands, it produces a unique flavour profile that adds to the quality and individually that is Mad Squirrel. We've also adjusted the alcohol content to 5.2% to better suit the UK market
So we have a Festbier at 5.2%, a great sessionable lager with hints of caramel, a great body, low hoppiness and just the right level of bitterness for balance. It’s perfect for keeping you and your tastebuds happy throughout Oktoberfest!
> Mad Squirrel’s innovative Oktoberfest beer is Weis’n, 4.6% Hefeweizen
Our Mad Squirrel Weis’n is a 4.6% Hefeweizen, a drinkable wheat beer, cloudy to appearance and delicious to the taste with a rich smoky wheat-filled flavour with overtones of clove and banana. Add it to your Oktoberfest beer list for a taste of something a little different, but totally Bavarian!
This beer is a tribute to the traditional wheat beers you might find in Munich, and Matthias saw Oktoberfest as the perfect opportunity to introduce more beer enthusiasts to this style. Known as weizenbier or hefeweizen in Germany, and commonly referred to as weissbier (meaning "white beer") in Munich, this type of beer hails from Bavaria. It is made by replacing a high proportion of the malted barely with malted wheat , hence a wheat beer. Special strains of yeast are also used which create its distinctive banana and clove flavours, while the low hop bitterness and high carbonation balance out its malty sweetness.
Our Mad Squirrel Weis’n is a 4.6% ABV hefeweizen, a wheat beer, cloudy to appearance and delicious to the taste with a rich wheat-filled flavour with overtones of clove and banana. Be sure to add it to your Oktoberfest lineup for a unique yet authentically Bavarian experience!