It’s still September but Oktoberfest has arrived

Photo by Ben Lisle “O’zapft is!” proclaims the mayor of Munich, at noon, on the first day of Oktoberfest. “It is tapped!” This year’s Oktoberfest kicks off on Sept. 21 in Munich.

A few Portland-area breweries will be marking the occasion that day as well, including Belleflower and Austin Street in East Bayside, Bissell Brothers at Thompson’s Point, and Mast Landing in Freeport. One week later, Biddeford will host its own fest. The first Oktoberfest was staged in Munich in 1810 — a two-day celebration of the marriage of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

The party was so popular, it was reprised annually. A number of different beer styles have featured at the festival over the two centuries since. For a time, the signature style was a Dunkel.

Spaten adopted the amber-colored märzen style for the event in 1841, and has stuck with it ever since. Around 1870, beers similar to Vienna lagers (a close cousin of märzen), though at bock strength, were ascendant. Paulaner began brewing a lighter-colored Festbier in the mid-1970s, pitching it as a more drinkable style.

In recent decades, this has been the beer one would expect to bathe in at the festival: a golden, medium-bodied lager, slightly sweet with low bitterness, a little boozier than a typical pale lager — something like a helles flexing its muscles. Most Maine-brewed Oktoberfest beers are still märzenbiers (or märzen-adjacent). But we’re also seeing a more contemporary “Festbiers” being made.

I still prefer the toastier märzen — a style that seems perfectly crafted to transport us into the crisper days of fall, as the leaves turn to match the märzen’s amber hues. But I’m more than happy to slosh a few Festbiers around — its bready sweetness a fine complement to savory sausage and salty pretzels. MAST LANDING BREWING’S FEIERABEND ABV: 5.

4% NOTES: Translated as “Quitting Time,” Feierabend is clear and deep gold in color. The aromas are lightly grainy, but pretty neutral. Crisp and light-medium bodied, this festbier is malty, with some sweetness (though not as much as many in the style).

It finishes with a bit of herbal character. Its lower ABV and relative dryness (for the style) makes it a good option if you’re entering fest-mode. TRIBUTARY BREWING’S OKTOBERFEST FESTBIER LAGER ABV: 5.

8% NOTES: It pours a pale gold with a slight haze. The nose suggests grainy sweetness to come. Medium-bodied, the maltiness is layered and doughy, joined with some honeyed sweetness and light floral accents.

Crisp, but not dry, it is a pleasure. BELLEFLOWER BREWING’S BELLEFEST ABV: 6.2% NOTES: Pale gold, with a slight haze.

A fruity-floral perfume, ripe and plummy, wafts from the glass. Medium-bodied, its malty sweetness is sustained through the finish. The comely new can design suggests that this one is Scrugsy-approved.

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