Oktoberfest: It’s All About the Malt

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2006 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Kevin Kutskill

Picture yourself, thousands of miles from home, seated at a long wooden table, in a “tent” that seats thousands of people. A dirndl-clad waitress serves you a plate of roasted chicken and a masskrug (1-liter glass mug) of beer. An oompah band plays a lively polka in the background.

For any hardcore beer lover, going to Munich to experience the Oktoberfest celebration firsthand is a dream come true. Unfortunately, many of us can’t travel to Germany to partake in the Wies’n (the locals’ term for Oktoberfest). But if we can’t sample authentic Oktoberfest beer at the source, we can certainly brew our own.

Brewing an Oktoberfest is a delicate balancing act among malt aromas, malt flavors, bittering and attenuation. If it is too malty or sweet, it will taste more like a Munich dunkel. If it is too bitter, it will taste closer to a Northern German Altbier. To me, it is much more challenging to brew this style than a hoppy IPA or a malty bock because of the balance involved…