What's Brewing On the Information Super Highway
A search for "Marzen" turns up plenty of information
April, 1998With March fast-approaching I fired up the web browser to research articles on the deep, amber colored beers of March, namely Marzens -- rather than talk about what the web can do, I thought we'd show it. Within seconds of searching my favorite beer directories, I learned that technology and networking seems to be a unifying theme behind this style.
The synopsis is as follows: The original Marzen beer was brewed in March, and because of the lack of refrigeration, was stored in caves at the foothills of the Alps through the summer months when brewing was suspended by law. Marzen beers were stronger to survive the many months to their completion, for which a celebration took place. In 1810 a famous wedding between Prince Ludwig and Princess Theresa held over the course of 16 days launched what is still today the world's largest and most famous beer events, the Oktoberfest.
Marzen beer became Oktoberfest
In the 1840s, Vienna brewer Anton Dreher developed a lager beer that swept through Austria. An apprentice at Dreher's brewery was Gabriel Sedlmayr III, son of Josef Sedlmayr, owner of Franziskaner-Leistbrauerei which eventually became Spaten-Franziskaner Breweries. Brewing a batch of beer in the Vienna style 1871 and introducing it at the Oktoberfest in 1872 resulted in a complete sell-out of the beer at a price 3-crowns more than other beer available and sales of 2-1 over any other beer at the fest.
Vienna style lager became the official Oktoberfest beer.
Spaten's pioneering work with Pasteur on yeast and refrigeration allowed year-round and consistent production of the beer. Austrians colonizing in Mexico brought their Vienna Style lager and yeast to their new home and beers such as Dos Equis Noche Buena, Leon Negra and Negra Modelo represent some of the finest examples still available today. That's why Marzen beers are as available in March as they are in their original season for celebration, the fall.
Vienna/Marzen/Oktoberfest beers are alive and well today, but not in Vienna. An email correspondence with Austria's premier beer writer confirms that although the style flourishes around the world, it is not currently being produced in any noticeable quantity in its home country today.
Technical Brewing Notes http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.5/miller.html On the technical side, Dave Miller writes about the benefits in the beer yielded from a decoction mash brew process traditionally used to create Vienna Style/Marzen beers. "Reasons for the advantage all center on the boiling of the mash, which liberates undermodified starches and extracts more of the flavor and color from dark malts such as Munich and caramel malts. Although I have been able to brew good Marzen and Doppelbock at my brewery, the beers lack the utter smoothness of the best German examples. I believe that the reason is that, in order to get the color, flavor, and aroma of the style, I have to use relatively high proportions of dark grains such as Munich, Aromatic, and dark caramel. Using a decoction mash, I would be able to get the characteristics I want with lower proportions, and avoid the roughness these grains can impart."
Homebrewing Marzen
http://byo.com/97mar/oktoberfest_recipe.html Jeff Frane offers an extract brewing recipe for Octoberfest/Marzen beers and recommends brewing the beer soon for authenticity. "There are two distinct possibilities for lagering Marzenbier. You can create excellent beer by holding the beer for six to eight weeks... [Or] the classic Marzenbier process calls for a six- to eight-month lagering period.
Considering spring and fall's union with summer and winter, representing a combination of equal opposites, it's a wonderful cycle of life you can celebrate in each glass of Marzen/Oktoberfest beer. The unusual path Marzen beers have taken to reach your glass seems to signify a destiny rather than an accidental discovery. Technologies and networks have kept this style vibrant an evolving to this day. Prost. Salud. Cheers!
Mark Silva is co-founder with Pat Hagerman of Real Beer, Inc., publishers of the Real Beer Page on the WWW. He can be reached at 415.522.1516 http://www.realbeer.com or by email at silva@realbeer.com. He denies all rumors concerning an Ides of March spent with Monica Lewinsky.
On The Web Bibliography: The Fest Tie-In from Beer Historian, Gregg Smith
http://realbeer.com/rbp/authors/smith/
articles/oktober_fest.html
The Vienna Connection from The Maproom http://www.maproom.com/beerjrnl/oktober.htm
Back to Germany from Spaten USA http://www.spatenusa.com/ur-marzen_fest_history.html
On to Mexico from Dos Equis http://www.dosx.com/amber.html
Examples of Marzens on the WWW
Bayern Brewing - http://www.bayernbrewery.com DeGroen's/Baltimore Brewing Co - http://www.degroens.com Dos Equis - http://www.dosx.com Reccow Fest - http://www.reccow.com Spaten - http://spatenusa.com
Sprecher - ttp://www.sprecherbrewery.com/
