Now I know that Oktoberfest has finished by the time you receive this Festbier, but I didn’t receive it early enough to go into the September packs so you’ll have to extend the German folk feels a little longer to enjoy this beer in the spirit it is intended.
Given the Weltenburg Abbey isn’t within the city walls of Munich, this technically isn’t an Oktoberfest beer. That right is reserved for the beers of the six breweries that are. But many German breweries make special beers for the Oktoberfest period.
Traditionally Marzen’s were the style of the Oktoberfest beers, but modern interpretation of the festbiers are dialled back a little to make them more sessionable. Most of them are lighter in colour, not quite as full-bodied and slightly lower in ABV than the traditional Marzens, and stylistically sit somewhere between a Marzen and a Helles Lager.
Our beer pours a lovely almost-clear golden colour, with a nice aroma of grainy malt and grassy hops. The taste is clean with just a little sweetness from the malt, balanced well by the slightly spicy hop bitterness.
Without getting too sweet, the beer does taste reasonably full in the mouthfeel which gives the impression of a slightly bigger beer. As intended, it is very easy to drink and imagining yourself in a German beer hall you could easily enjoy a few steins of this beer.
The 'Festbier' from the Andechs Monaster brewery
A delightful dopplebock from the world's oldest monastery brewery
The beer brewed to celebrate the anniversary of the Weltenburg monastery brewery
