I want to brew 6 beers...

[Bryan R]

Festbier is the modern beer served at Oktoberfest. It's like a double Helles. Marzen is more towards the traditional Oktoberfest, that is amber and super malty and sweet.

[Big Monk]

[Techbrau]

Marzen is the amber-colored "old style" Oktoberfest brew. Think a base malt mix along the lines of of 50/50 pils:Munich, or 1/3 each pils, Vienna, Munich. Then, put 3-6% carahell and 2-5% caramunich on top of that.

Festbier is the deep gold colored "new style" of Oktoberfest beer as of about 1990 when it first appeared. It's golden colored and while it may look like Budweiser, the taste is intensely malty. A few of the festbiers from the big 6 rank among the best beers I've ever tasted. It's made up from the same malts as the old style, but with more emphasis on the lighter malts. Basically, dial up the Pilsner and back off on everything else until you hit a deep gold color. Because this makes it more crisp and drinkable, in a way it almost highlights the maltiness even more than the amber version.

Both versions would typically be brewed to an OG between 13.5 and 14p.

[Big Monk]

Since really focusing on and researching the backlog of information here I've been trying to re-evaluate my tastes.

I've been searching for certain flavors in certain beers and now I'm finding them in these German styles. For instance:

I love Brown Ale but the American versions are bit too hoppy and have somewhat muted malt flavors. English brown ales tend to be a bit estery. Enter Dunkel. Perfectly balanced malt and hops with a clean yeast character. It's what I've been after in a brown beer.

Ive been trying to evaluate all the styles I like and when I compare them to a similar German style the German styles are giving me the flavors on my wish list.

[ajk]

It's classic Bavarian styles for me. Helles, Dunkel, Weiss, Märzen, and Rauchbier. Weiss is only one pitch. Rauchbier is be on the last pitch for lagers. I like other styles, too, but these are the ones I need to live.

[Brandon]

[Owenbräu]

I've never bought a Belgian beer and thought 'German'. I will say the lodo techniques have improved my Belgian beers considerably. The yeast character expresses much better bc it's not competing with oxidized malt characters.

[Big Monk]

I should clarify here. I've always used the word Belgian as a stand in for Trappist/Abbey styles which are my favorites over the various regional styles in Belgium.

I agree with AA in the sense that while the ingredient base may be very similar, the final product of say Dunkel and Dubbel is a function of the expressed yeast character.

I'm just really digging the malt and hop flavors with the clean yeast character. I am a devotee of the various Trappist breweries and many of the Abbey beers as well but there is something g refreshing about being able to taste the malt and hops at the forefront in the Bavarian beers I've been having.

It's something I'm growing into. Even in the less than fresh examples of Bavarian beers I get, I'm tasting something that I've been looking for in other places. I'm drinking less and less North American and English beers lately. I still enjoy a small handful of Stouts, Porters and PA/IPA from America (many of the local places to me in CNY, Bell's, etc.) and I still very much enjoy the Trappist production beers. Ommegang is another standout too.

I'm just finding my desert island flavors in even the less than stellar German production beers and I can only imagine what Lodo homebrew is going to taste like. Very exciting.

[Owenbräu]

Ommegang is a bucket list brewery. It's an amazing place. Cannot wait to go back.

[Big Monk]

I have yet to go (Cooperstown is about 1.5 hrs away) but plan on going this fall.