Marzen and Oktoberfest

BJCP 6A

ABV 5.6-6.3% · IBU 18-24 · SRM 8-17 · Serve 45-50F · Glass Half litre mug

Identify: Amber orange to deep reddish copper, and bright. It should not look golden. An off white head that stays put. The smell is bread crust and light toast, with almost no hop, and no coffee or burnt note at all. Rich and rounded, with a smooth texture that feels fuller than the beer really is. The first mouthful reads as though it will be sweet. It is not. The malt flavour simply stops, and the finish is dry.
Place: Munich, Bavaria. Brewed in March, drunk in autumn
Cause: Munich malt is ordinary barley dried in a warmer, wetter kiln than pale malt. The extra heat and moisture let the sugars inside the grain brown before it dries out, the same browning that happens to the crust of a loaf. That single ingredient gives the beer its amber colour and its bread crust flavour.
Confused with: Festbier, which is golden and less toasty. Vienna Lager, which is lighter and drier. Munich Dunkel, which is far darker and tastes of chocolate and bread crust. Dunkles Bock, which is stronger and darker again.
Numbers: This is the one part of the course where looking at the beer does most of the work. Every style below sits at a different point on the colour scale, and the two that share a colour are separated by strength. Each has one feature you can catch without a lab. Festbier. Golden rather than amber, and much less toasty.
Will you like it and Try: The crust of a roast, or the browned outside of a good sausage. That browned flavour is the main thing in the glass. Toasted bread with butter, or the dark outside of a soft pretzel. Same flavour, arriving by the same chemistry. Roasted nuts, or the skin on a roast potato.
Order and Pair: The word Oktoberfest on an American tap handle tells you the season and not the style. It might be an amber Marzen or a golden Festbier, and both are correct uses of the word. One question settles it: ask whether it is amber or golden. Take the full pour.
Judge, Myth and Remember: Bright amber to copper, with an off white head that holds. Bread crust and light toast on the nose, and nothing burnt. Rich and smooth in the mouth, then a finish that is clearly dry. It should suggest sweetness without ever delivering it. A sweet, sticky finish.