Let’s face it—you can have all the traditional Oktoberfest outfits, a bangin’ Oktoberfest playlist, some killer Oktoberfest decorations, and all the delicious Oktoberfest foods you can muster, but if you get the Oktoberfest party beer wrong, oh Erklärungsnot!
Erklärungsnot – when no excuse will get you out of the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. Tsk, tsk.
An at-home Oktoberfest party isn’t worthy of the name if the Oktoberfest party beer choice is bogus. Go ahead and bag the Budweiser, kick the Coors to the curb, and just say no to Natty Light! A day may come when your domestic imposters will do “just fine;” but it is not this day!
What beers are served at Munich’s Oktoberfest?
The beers served in the tents at Oktoberfest in Munich are a specially brewed kind known as festbiers. A festbier is a slight variation on the traditional “Oktoberfest” beer style and it’s exclusively brewed for consumption at Oktoberfest. You can’t find these specific beers anywhere else. I mean it; stop looking.
Beyond that, only Munich’s “Big Six” breweries are allowed to sell their beer at Oktoberfest. That means, at the actual festival in Munich, you’ll only be able to drink festbiers by:
- Augustiner
- Hacker-Pschorr
- Hofbräu
- Löwenbräu
- Paulaner
- and/or Spaten
There’s a lot more to know about the beer served at Oktoberfest, so click that link for my complete guide! Now, let’s move on to your epic Oktoberfest celebration.
For everything you could ever want to know about experiencing Oktoberfest as a non-beer drinker, check out that link. It’s got everything: wine, liquor, cocktails, and all non-alcoholic options.
What kind of beer is Oktoberfest
What we know here in the US as an “Oktoberfest” beer is a marzen-style lager. Characteristics of American Oktoberfest beers include slightly sweet, reddish in color, and medium bodied.
Munich festbiers on the other hand are lighter in color, lighter in body, less filling, and more closely resemble a Munich helles than an American Oktoberfest-style marzen.
Fun fact: When referring to beer styles, the terms “Oktoberfest” and “marzen” are now effectively interchangeable. According to official brewing guidelines, only beers produced in Munich for the purpose of the festival can be called “Oktoberfest.” However, these rules apply only to German and EU brewers, so that’s why so many craft breweries in the US are able to use “Oktoberfest” for their marzens
What beer to serve at an Oktoberfest party?
Now that you know what beers they serve at Oktoberfest in Munich, let’s get into what you’ll need to serve at your Oktoberfest.
When planning your own at-home Oktoberfest, your main objective is to stick to the six Munich breweries: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten.
You won’t be able to find their true ‘festbier’ in stores since they only produce these for the Oktoberfest beer tents, but you’re not completely out of luck.
Most of these breweries market an “Oktoberfest” beer here in the US and a couple of them even produce a “festbier” (sometimes also called a Wiesn) for exporting too. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s a great alternative.
German Oktoberfest beers
For your backyard bierfest, even in the US, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding:
- Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier
- Spaten Oktoberfest
- Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen
- Augustiner Oktoberfest
- Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
Additionally, even though they aren’t exactly the same stuff that’s brewed for the beer tents, you can still find a few “festbiers” like Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn. This is also sometimes called Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier and is indeed different from Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen.
Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen comes in a beige-colored box with beer maids (for lack of a better term) and a stamp that reads “Original Oktoberfest recipe.” (pictured above) Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier or Wiesn is more of a festbier style and comes in a blue box with a picture of full beer mugs on it. (Like the cans pictured lower in this post.)
Also, you can easily find Paulaner Hefeweizen year-round, another popular beer at Oktoberfest in Munich.
Other Munich beer options
It shouldn’t be too hard to find some Munich Oktoberfest beers for your party if you know where to look (more on that in the next section). But if that is the case, here are some tips.
If you can’t find any of these breweries’ Oktoberfests, consider sticking with the same breweries but trying their other styles. For instance, these are typically easy to find and available year-round:
- Spaten lager
- Spaten Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss
- Hofbräu Original
- Paulaner Original Munich Lager
- Augustiner Brau Edelstoff
- Note: I’ve never been able to find any Löwenbräu beers in the U.S.
To me, celebrating Oktoberfest is more about celebrating Bavarian culture than it is about what’s on the beer label. That’s why I prefer to stick with Bavarian beers instead of just the “Oktoberfest” distinction. Anyone can pick up a Sam Adams Octoberfest from August onward; but cracking open a true Munich lager is something incredibly special.
Other German beer options
That being said, if you want to stick with some good German/Bavarian beers but can’t seem to locate any from Munich’s Big 6, some other options would be:
Weihenstephaner
Weihenstephaner is said to be the world’s oldest brewery and is located just about 40 minutes from downtown Munich. They do offer a Festbier, but their Original, Dunkel, Hefe Weißbier, and Hefeweißbier Dunkel (dark wheat beer) are all popular and easy-to-find options. (Though my favorite is the Weihenstephaner Kristall.)
Ayinger
Another popular German export is Ayinger, located about 17 miles south of Munich. Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen, Ayinger Brau-Weisse, and Ayinger Bavarian Pils are some great options.
Erdinger
Erdinger is another brewery just north of Munich and claims to be the world’s largest brewer of wheat beer. They have an interesting Oktoberfest offering: Erdinger Oktoberfest Weissbier
Warsteiner
Another popular and readily available German beer is Warsteiner out of north-central Germany. Warsteiner Oktoberfest and Warsteiner Premium Pilsener are two imported options.
Also check out this post on popular Oktoberfest games for which these Oktoberfest party beers often play a major part. (But play them at your own risk!)
Oktoberfest beers in the U.S.
If nooooone of those float your bierfest boat or you just really want the word Oktoberfest on your beer label, there’s always a plethora of Oktoberfest beer options from breweries here in the United States. Some popular American Oktoberfest beer options are:
- Sam Adams Octoberfest (I live in Boston—this is huge.)
- Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest
- Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest (At least it has a German name?)
- Yuengling Oktoberfest
- Von Trapp Oktoberfest, from the Von Trapp family. After they fled Nazi-occupied Europe the Von Trapps settled in Vermont and opened a brewery and mountain lodge. Their beers are some of my favorite American beers. They even host their own Oktoberfest celebration!
What part of the country you live in will determine the Oktoberfest beer options available to you as many local craft breweries produce their own version of “Oktoberfest” as well.
Yet another idea: A popular beer option at Munich’s Oktoberfest is a radler—½ festbier and ½ lemon soda. This actually quite popular in Munich and I always start my long Oktoberfest days with one.
Where to find Oktoberfest party beer?
Five of the six Munich breweries are easily found in the US (Löwenbräu, not so easy.) And the bigger your beer store, the better your chance of finding what you need.
Here in Massachusetts (and when I lived in Florida) I shop at a beer/liquor/wine mega-store called Total Wine. (They have 240+ stores in 27 states.) There hasn’t been a single time I’ve gone in there and not found all my favorite German beers. They sell all the beers mentioned in this post. At least, at my location they do. You can even shop online to see what they have available where you live.
Though smaller, hole-in-the-wall type beer stores won’t have such a varied selection, you should still be able to find Spaten Lager at the very least. They might also have the ability to special order what you’re looking for. (Do not be afraid to ask! This is a totally accepted practice.)
Another way to find Oktoberfest party beers near you is through beermenus.com. You can input the beer you’re looking for along with your zip code to find which stores sell what. From my experience it’s pretty accurate. Just pay attention under the name of each establishment to whether it says “Beer Store” or “Restaurant.”
Get an Oktoberfest keg
If you’re hosting an at-home Oktoberfest party on a larger scale, you can absolutely pick up your Oktoberfest party beer in keg form! Actually, I encourage this. The more (beer) the merrier! Plus, the quality is so much better. (keg > imported green bottles that have been stored too long)
Not only am I a spokesperson for having a keg at your Oktoberfest party, I’m also a client.
The year I had to skip Oktoberfest I was still able to pick up a keg of Paulaner Festbier from my local liquor store. (I have a kegerator at my house plus I was throwing a party for 40 people—it only made sense!)
For me, there’s a medium-sized beer/liquor/wine store near my house that takes special orders for kegs. They actually have a whole keg menu to order from and the kegs typically arrive about a week later. If you’re throwing an Oktoberfest-themed party, call around to a few of the stores near you to see if they take keg orders on imported beers.
Alternatively, Total Wine also sells kegs! If you’re lucky enough to live near one of their locations, you can get kegs of your preferred Oktoberfest beer. For instance, a quick search through Total Wine shows they sell kegs of:
- Paulaner Oktoberfest
- Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier
- Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
- Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen
- Hofbräu Oktoberfest
- Erdinger Oktoberfest Weissbier
- As well as Sam Adams, Yuengling, Sierra Nevada, and Warsteiner Oktoberfests
Selection varies by location but do know it’s entirely possible to get a keg of Oktoberfest party beer for your very own home.
What size keg to get?
What size keg you get for your Oktoberfest party will depend on two things:
- How many people you’re serving
- What’s available
You can typically find kegs of Oktoberfest beers in the following sizes:
Half Barrel
A half barrel (or ½ keg) is actually the standard size you think of when you picture “a keg.” It’s what you find stacked up in alleyways behind bars and floating in trash cans at frat houses.
A half barrel holds 15.5 gallons of beer and serves 165 12oz pours. It also weighs a ton so be sure you have help lifting it into whatever vessel it’s going into.
Quarter barrel
A quarter barrel (or ¼ keg) is also known as a Pony keg. It has the same footprint as a half barrel, but is half as tall. A quarter keg holds 7.75 gallons of beer and serves 82 12oz pours.
Sixth barrel
Sometimes called a “mini” keg, sixth barrels are typically used in homebrewing and are totally liftable. Sixth kegs hold just over 5 gallons of beer and serve 55 12oz pours.
Keg deposits
When you purchase a keg of beer, it’s yours to keep (if you choose). However, most places have you pay an extra “keg deposit” on top of the purchase price. You get that money back when you return the keg to the place you bought it.
This is just another way for them to encourage you to return it so it can be reused. An eco-friendly Oktoberfest! Otherwise, the keg is yours to keep to use in, say, future keg bowling matches?
How to set up a keg
If you don’t have a kegerator at your house (I see a fun purchase in your future!), you can still enjoy a keg at your Oktoberfest party the old-fashioned way. “Old-fashioned” meaning trash can and ice of keg parties of Yore. (You’ll probably want either a 20 or 32 gallon trash can.)
If you don’t already own the necessary parts to get a keg up and running, the store that sells you the keg should be able to rent you the pump as well. (But always ask first.)
For how to set up your Oktoberfest party keg, check out this helpful video:
P.S. They’re totally using an empty keg in this video for the purpose of instruction. Few people can lift a full keg that effortlessly. (They weigh 162 pounds.)
German keg parts
German kegs have a different style of coupler than domestic kegs. (The coupler being the lip part of the keg where you attach the pump.) The keg in the video above is domestic. Keg pumps attach to German kegs by sliding onto the coupler rather than twisting into them like in the video. Make sure to get matching parts otherwise there will be no way to get the beer out of the keg!
Other Oktoberfest options (non beer)
It’s true – there’s a chance not everyone at your Oktoberfest party will be into drinking beer. So, what should you serve instead?
The obvious answer would be: whatever they like. But if you still want to stick to the Oktoberfest theme, you can offer:
Wine options
Even at real Oktoberfest you can drink red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, wine spritzers, and all other forms of alcoholic grape juice. If you want to stick to German styles, look for styles like Gewürztraminer and Riesling.
Non-alcoholic options
- Fizzy lemonade or lemon soda
- Sparkling grape juice
- Non-alcoholic radlers (my personal recommendation)
- Your typical sodas, seltzers, etc.
Radlers are popular drinks at Oktoberfest, so why not try a non-alcoholic version: half non-alcoholic beer + half fizzy lemon soda.
Clausthaler is a popular non-alcoholic German beer that’s widely available throughout the year. Other German brands like Becks and St. Pauli also offer non-alcoholic versions that are widely distributed. Beyond the usual, the popularity of non-alcoholic beer has skyrocketed in Germany so you might be able to find some other fantastic options.
Also, you MUST check out my guide to Oktoberfest for non-beer drinkers. It’s got all the popular non-alcoholic options they serve at Oktoberfest in Munich like the Coke/orange soda drink, apple juice spritzers, and so much more.
How to drink beer at your Oktoberfest party
Of course there are proper ways to drink the beer at your Oktoberfest party. Beer-drinking etiquette, brought to you by the same folks responsible for beer purity laws. You’re welcome.
For smaller Oktoberfests, glass liter mugs are ideal. These mugs, called maß (or mass, pronounced moss), are the Oktoberfest way. They hold one liter of beer. If you didn’t bring one home from your last trip to Munich, have no fear, you can pick some up here.
Otherwise, anything from half-liter glass mugs to elaborate steins works perfectly.
For larger parties, blue solo cups will do just fine. (Not red, stick with Bavarian blue)
I also recommend picking up some Ein Prosit can koozies if you end up going the canned beer route. These are double-sided with the lyrics to Oktoberfest’s most popular song and available exclusively in the Wanderlusty Shop!
Like this post? Have questions about beers to serve at your Oktoberfest party? Let me know in the comments below! Prost!
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