March? October? September? What’s with the German beerfest calendar?

Q: Why do we drink March beer (Märzen) at Oktoberfest in September?

A: There’s no beerfest quite like das original — Oktoberfest. Lederhosen, pretzels, bratwurst and — of course — lots of German lager served in 1 liter Maßkrug steins fill the festival grounds just outside central Munich. Traditionally, two beer styles are prepared for Oktoberfest: Märzen, an amber-colored malty lager of medium strength, and Festbier, a straw-colored light lager that’s easily crushable liter after liter in a Munich bierhalle.

But for the average beer drinker, the terminology can get a bit confusing. Märzen is named for the German word for March. But we drink them at Oktoberfest. Which, just to confuse things a bit more, is mostly in September.

So which came first, the beer or the fest? It all goes back to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, or Reinheitsgebot. It’s one of the world’s oldest consumer protection laws. We remember it mostly as regulating what can and can’t go into beer. Even today many German brewers consider it “beer” if it includes only malt, hops, yeast and water.

But the Reinheitsgebot also set rules for when and how the cold-aged lagers of the region should be fermented. The law banned the production of beer between St. George’s Day on April 23 and St. Michael’s Day on Sept. 29 to avoid off-flavors when the beer was fermented during the hot summer months. The Märzen style, then, was developed to be brewed in March to keep beer cellars full through the summer and be ready to tap in the autumn.

That made it the perfect style for King Ludwig I to have ready to serve for the celebration of his marriage to Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on Oct. 12, 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to join the festivities, which soon became an annual tradition. Today, that party is celebrated over the 16 days leading up to the first Sunday in October. Oktoberfest, then, is more about celebrating the arrival of October (and the Märzen beer with it) than it is a celebration during October.

Make sense? Good. Here’s another curveball. This year, the Munich party does not end on the first Sunday of October. Since 1994, the schedule has been adjusted to celebrate the reunification of West and East Germany. Whenever the first Sunday is on Oct. 1 or 2, the festival continues until Oct. 3, German Unity Day. The 2023 calendar puts Oct. 1 on a Sunday, so the party will continue until Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Want more ‘fest? Don’t miss the Horsemen Oktoberfest celebration at Maple Branch Brewery on Sept. 23!