Name: Oktoberfest
Brand: Hamburg Brewing Company
Availability: InStock

Two ingredients do most of the work in Hamburg Brewing Company's Oktoberfest, and the brewery names both.

The first is Vienna malt, which according to the newsletter goes in by the ton. Vienna sits a shade darker on the kiln than pilsner malt. It is the malt that gives the Marzen family its toast and its faint caramel edge without pushing anything toward roast. Load up on it and the color and the depth both come from the grain alone.

The second is Perle, a German bittering hop with a clean, faintly spicy character. Perle is not an aroma showpiece, and it is not being used as one here. Hamburg's own framing is that the big malty flavor fades away to a clean hop bitterness provided by the Perle hops, for what the brewery calls a full-flavored and balanced experience.

That handoff is the whole design. A Marzen carrying that much Vienna malt has a great deal of sweetness available to it, and the risk in the style is a beer that never puts it down. A firm, neutral bitterness at the close is the usual fix. Perle is a sensible hire for the job, because it clears the palate without leaving a flavor of its own behind.

Oktoberfest is a returning seasonal for the brewery, which describes it as having roots in traditional Bavarian culture. It is a Marzen lager at 5.7 percent.

It goes on tap and into 6-packs to go at the Boston State Road brewery on Thursday, September 3. Hamburg says it will also reach craft beer retailers around the area.

Editor’s Take

Perle is one of the great unsung workhorses of German brewing, and it holds the thankless distinction of being valued mostly for what it does not do. It does not shout. It does not smell of mango. Its entire professional reputation rests on turning up at the end of a very malty beer, tidying the place, and leaving without a word. In an era where hop varieties get their own names on the front of the can in a typeface you could read from orbit, there is something quietly excellent about a hop whose job description is essentially janitorial.

And it matters here, because a Marzen built on tons of Vienna malt is a beer with every opportunity to overstay. Vienna is generous stuff. Left unsupervised it will keep talking about toast and caramel long after you have stopped listening. Perle is the one at the end mentioning that it is getting late. Raise a glass to the hop nobody puts on the label.

Source & Editorial

JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.

Oktoberfest Leans on Vienna Malt, Then Lets Perle Close It

Hamburg's annual Marzen returns Thursday, built on a heavy load of Vienna malt and finished with Perle. The brewery is after big malt flavor that hands off cleanly to bitterness instead of lingering sweet.

Source & Editorial