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Styles · Märzen

Beer style · BJCP 2021 6A

Märzen

Amber Malty European Lager

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.054–1.060
Final gravity
1.010–1.014
Bitterness
18–24 IBU
Color
8–17 SRM (16–33 EBC)
Alcohol
5.6–6.3 % ABV

What it is

The malt-forward amber lager that used to be the Oktoberfest beer: Munich malt bread crust and toast, no caramel sweetness, and a dry lager finish. Hops appear only as balance. The aim is a big malt aroma over a beer that still finishes clean enough to drink by the liter.

Flavor

What a Märzen should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Room for floral, herbal or spice.

Malt

Bready/biscuit, toasty and grainy, with room for sweet/honey or caramel.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Märzen has classically been brewed with.

Also right on character

Varieties whose loudest notes all sit on this style’s hop wheel, best fit first. How much to use is the recipe’s question; these are the ones that taste right.

And 2 more hops whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

And 25 more yeasts whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.