Marzen

Märzen(bier). (mehr’-tsen[-beegh])

    1. In Germany, before the advent of artificial refrigeration, beer was brewed in winter and the last batch was brewed in March. Märzen was made especially strong to survive the many months of maturation before it was drunk at the end of summer. 2. The name given by Josef Sedlmayr, owner of the Zum Franziskanerkeller, to a Vienna-style bottom-fermented blonde beer he invented in 1871 in contrast to the brown beers then popular in Bavaria. The first batch was brewed in March 1872, hence the name March beer, and was served for the first time at the Oktoberfest of the same year. Today’s Märzenbiers, still a favorite of the Oktoberfest, contain about 4.5 percent alcohol by weight (as opposed to 3.5–3.9 percent for ordinary pale beers called helles) and are fermented at an original wort gravity of 12.5–13 °B. 3. Because of similarities, the Vienna and Märzen beer styes are sometimes synonymous.