Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Dear Replicator,
My favorite beer style is Märzen, often called an Oktoberfest. A unique take on this style comes from California brewer Firestone Walker who adds its own character to its Märzen by lagering the beer in oak barrels. I’d like to replicate this recipe if you can help me out. Cheers!
Bradley Walker
Cartersville, Georgia
Märzen is the German word for March, the month that this unique beer style was traditionally brewed to be served that following fall season. Brewed originally for the marriage of King Ludwig and thereafter for the annual Oktoberfest celebration, the terms Märzen, Oktoberfest, and festbier are often interchangeable. Taking a cue from Old World brewing tradition, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., of Paso Robles, California, began brewing a festbier of their own around the turn of the 21st century to satisfy patrons at their own autumnal celebrations.
Building with wood
What separated Firestone Walker from most breweries very early on was their unique method of fermenting their signature Double Barrel Ale. Instead of using traditional stainless steel vessels, Firestone Walker employed wood barrels for fermentation — an idea called the Burton Union, adapted from an English brewery using the same practice.
Firestone Walker would go on to employ the use of wood in many facets of the brewing program, including its world-class barrel aging program, producing the award-winning industry standards such as Parabola, Stickee Monkee, Helldorado, and Sucaba, among others.
The always adventurous Brewmaster Matt Brynildson took the use of wood, specifically oak, to a new level when the brewery first brewed its own take on a German classic — a festbier.
Oaktoberfest is brewed and fermented traditionally, then barrel lagered in oak barrels resulting in a mellow and Old-World lagering profile. The goal is not to add a lot of wood character, but just enough to boost the complexity of the beer. Not just any wood barrel will do, Brynildson and his team look for a very specific quality to impart the essence they seek.
“Early on, when we first started brewing our ode to Oktoberfest, we decided to put a Firestone twist on the brew and incorporated oak into the process,” said Brynildson. “This was very natural for us and we first used Firestone Union oak barrels to lager and serve our beer at our first Oktoberfest celebrations on the Central Coast.”
“After trying a number of different barrel types we settled on two- and three-year-old French oak wine barrels sourced from a very detail-oriented winery that treats the barrels as a brewer would,” said Brynildson.
Oaktoberfest has been part of the Firestone Walker lineup for about 20 years, but was originally a small volume beer brewed for Oktoberfest celebrations in and around the Paso brewery. The beer’s popularity has grown over the years and is now the brewery’s autumn seasonal offering.
Brewing Oaktoberfest
Drinkability is key when it comes to Oktoberfest and festbier styles. The style has more malt character and flavor compared to typical helles, but is built for sessionability. The goal is to be flavorful and malty, but well attenuated. Festbier shouldn’t be sweet or caramel-malt focused nor should it be hop-forward in bitterness or aromatics. A subtle, round, toasty malt character is balanced by a restrained hopping program focused on German aroma varieties resulting in a very subtle noble hop character.
“It’s a special occasion beer that should have wide appeal,” said Brynildson. “I also believe that it doesn’t need to be overly strong in ABV. I prefer these beers to be on the lower side of the style, again for drinkability.”
A cornerstone of Oaktoberfest is Vienna malt. It’s about 38% of the malt bill, creating the magic in terms of malt flavor and the beautiful color of the beer. German Tradition is the preferred hop choice for its subtle aromatic and flavor notes. Cara-type malts are kept to a minimum, with most of the color and flavor coming from Vienna or Munich malt.
When brewing Oaktoberfest at home, don’t over hop these beers, keep the hops on the hot side and don’t use flashy, fruity American hops. Make sure to keep it clean and well lagered. Drinkability is key.
“Once we get through primary fermentation and have cooled the beer down to lagering temperature, we transfer it to the oak barrels and store them in our coldest cooler space (37 °F
/3 °C) for two weeks, then carefully transfer the beer back to a well-purged stainless lagering vessel,” Brynildson said. “The time of lagering in oak is determined by taste. We do a portion of the beer in oak and leave some beer to lager in stainless.”
If you don’t happen to have a French oak barrel laying around, add French oak chips during the last few days of lagering so you can impart subtle oak character without it becoming overwhelming.
Enjoying Oaktoberfest
Oaktoberfest pairs well with typical Bavarian fare such as schweinshaxe, bratwurst, chicken roasted on the spit, kartoffelkloesse, sauerkraut, and, of course, large German-style pretzels. A one-liter stein is the perfect festival serving vessel for your festbier.
While today you don’t have to brew a Märzen in March, extended lagering time can help your beer develop the rich character and drinkability of the original German classics.
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.’s Oaktoberfest clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.008
IBU = 20 SRM = 7 ABV = 5.2%
An homage to a classic festbier utilizing all German ingredients with a Firestone Walker twist, lagering in oak barrels.
Ingredients
3.8 lbs. (1.7 kg) Pilsner malt
3.8 lbs. (1.7 kg) Vienna malt
1.6 lbs. (0.73 kg) Munich malt
0.45 lb. (204 g) CaraHell® malt
0.45 lb. (204 g) CaraRed® malt
2.5 AAU German Tradition hops (80 min.) (0.4 oz/11 g at 6.3% alpha acids)
1.9 AAU Spalter Select hops (30 min.) (0.45 oz./13 g at 4.2% alpha acids)
1.3 AAU Spalter Select hops (15 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 4.2% alpha acids)
0.3 oz. (9 g) German Tradition hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) medium-toast French oak chips
SafLager W-34/70, Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager), or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill grains and mash at 145 °F (63 °C) for 60 minutes. If possible, ramp to 152 °F (67 °C) for an additional 30 minutes. Take an iodine test to confirm conversion. Mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Vorlauf until runnings are clear, then collect into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of wort — or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 80 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule.
After the boil, chill the wort to 48 °F (9 °C). Aerate wort thoroughly and pitch yeast. Top up with water if below 5.25 gallons (20 L). Ferment at 52 °F (11 °C). Increase fermentation temperature to 55 °F (13 °C) two-thirds of the way through fermentation for a diacetyl rest. Cold crash once fermentation is complete and diacetyl is clear.
When cold, or after a period of lagering in the primary vessel, transfer to another vessel and lager in a barrel, on oak chips, or oak spirals. When finished lagering, carbonate to 2.75 v/v and enjoy. Note: Duration in barrel or on wood chips/spirals depends on the strength of the wood, since you just want subtle wood character, not a full on barrel-aged beer. Taste regularly.
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.’s Oaktoberfest clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.008
IBU = 20 SRM = 7 ABV = 5.2%
Ingredients
3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich dried malt extract
0.45 lb. (204 g) CaraHell® malt
0.45 lb. (204 g) CaraRed® malt
2.5 AAU German Tradition hops (80 min.) (0.4 oz/11 g at 6.3% alpha acids)
1.9 AAU Spalter Select hops (30 min.) (0.45 oz./13 g at 4.2% alpha acids)
1.3 AAU Spalter Select hops (15 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 4.2% alpha acids)
0.3 oz. (9 g) German Tradition hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) medium-toast French oak chips
SafLager W-34/70, Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager), or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Raise 3 gallons (11 L) water to around 152 °F (67 °C) to steep caramel grains. Exact temperature isn’t important since you are not mashing anything, just steeping. Place the CaraHell® and CaraRed® in a muslin bag and steep for ten minutes. Remove grain, letting liquid drain back into the kettle without squeezing bag to avoid extracting tannins.
Meanwhile, pre-boil and chill 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of water to use for topping up later.
Raise the temperature of your pot to near, but not quite, boiling. Add half of your total extract. (Add half now, half later to keep hop extraction in check.) It doesn’t matter how you divide the extract as long as it’s half of the total extract volume. Pour in extract and stir continuously to avoid clumping. Boil for 80 minutes, adding hops as indicated. With ten minutes remaining in the boil, take the pot off the heat source and slowly stir in the remaining malt extract, being careful to avoid boilover.
After the boil follow the steps found in the all-grain recipes for fermentation and packaging.
Tips For Success:
Use caution and a light hand when it comes to the amount of time aging on oak. Second-use oak is preferred if it is clean of microbes. Sanitize with hot water if second-use. Oak character should be subtle. Avoid over aging and extraction of tannins.
Weyermann is a great source for the base malt, but other maltsters can deliver a fine version of the beer. Any variation/manufacturer of the classic Weihenstephan lager yeast strain will work great.
