Afternoon Beer Break: Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest

It’s Friday, friends, which means we made it through another work week. That means it can be time to crack open a cold one (or think about which one you might have with dinner). While it’s still summer, cooler temps are around the corner, which means it’ll be time for a break from those hazies. A solid fall option is the Oktoberfest style, and that’s what we’re talking about – Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest.

If you take a close look at that can, you’ll see this is a Marzen Lager. You may know what a lager is (most of the traditional big American macrobrews are lagers. But Marzen? That might be a term you’re not as familiar with. For this, you need to go back in history a bit. The style originated in Germany, and is one that’s normally brewed in the spring (Marz = March), and then aged (or lagered) over the summer, finally being served in the fall. That brings us full circle, then, for why this style is commonly called Oktoberfest (you can read more on it here).

Poured into a glass, the Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest is just as you would expect it to be for this style – a deep amber color with a creamy head, and a deeply malty, beery nose greeting you from the glass. For that first sip, you pick up some very bready notes in the flavor, quickly followed by a hint of sweetness. To my tastebuds, I was also picking up a bit of a metallic aftertaste at the end, which I found a bit surprising.

As lagers are generally the beer most people become familiar with at first, mixing things up with the Oktoberfest style is an easy step to take, as the flavors aren’t as overpowering as, say, a hoppy DIPA or barrel-aged stout. At 6.6% ABV, the Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest could be a dangerous one, so do drink responsibly. For that cool night by the campfire, though, it should be a nice transition from your summer sips into those deep winter brews. This one isn’t available just yet, but you should start seeing it on the store shelf once the fall starts to set in. lefthandbrewing.com