By Tuan Bui, 1700 Brewing and Brew & Bottle Homebrewing Supplies 

If you haven’t already brewed your Oktoberfest, time to get in gear!  Luckily, we have a couple ways to get a quick Marzen in your fermenter in time to enjoy it when Oktoberfest rolls around late September. Marzen, which means March was traditionally brewed in March and stored away in cooler caves until September but with our new strains of yeast and modified malts, we’re able to produce a delicious Marzen much quicker.  

Batch Size = 5 gallons 

OG: 1.060 / FG: 1.016 / ABV: 5.6% 

• 7lb 12oz German Pilsen Malt 

• 3lb Munich Malt 

• 6.0 oz Caramel 20L 

• 6.0 oz Caramel 40L 

• 6.0 oz Caramel 120L 

This Marzen has a rich amber color that has flavors of a toasty and bready malt with moderate bitterness with a clean and dry finish.  This one will need to be boiled for 90 minutes to ensure DMS does not set in with the large amount of Pilsen malt. 

Hops and additions: 

Consider dropping in some Irish Moss or a Whirlfloc tablet into the last 10 mins of the boil to help clear the beer up. 

Bittering Hop: 2oz Tettnang @90min 

Flavor Hop: 1oz Hersbrucker @15min 

Yeast: Our go to yeast for this brew is any Oktoberfest yeast strain, but there are others on the market that will work as well and, in a pinch, there are a couple hybrid strains that will do that job! For this beer, we’ll use Fermentis 34/70 which is a German Pilsner yeast. Typically, you want to ferment this strain in the 55º range, but this strain has proven to perform well under cooler ale temps.  So, if you’re able to keep this one no warmer than 70º and preferably at around 65º, you’ll have nice activity with a clean finish. 

The lagering process can be a tricky one, but no need to shy away from it.  After you’ve let your fermentation go for about 2 weeks, go ahead and keg it, add some finings and let it sit in your fridge for as long as you can take it!  If you’re bottling, go ahead and bottle like normal and when it’s time to refrigerate, let it sit in your fridge for as long as you can to let it clear up and pour gently to not disturb the tub at the bottom of the bottle. 

Any questions about any of this process, don’t hesitate to give me a call at 757-881-9100. 
 
Now Go Brew Yourself!!