Pilsner

The town of Plzeň in Bohemia is the home of the style of beer that we now know as pilsner. Moving away from the traditional methods of brewing using top-fermenting yeasts, brewers in Plzeň began to experiment using the Bavarian method of fermentation with bottom fermenting yeasts and lagering. 

Since most beers, both lagers and ales, of that time tended to be dark brown in hue, the appearance of a pale, clear beer was quite unique. The golden color was in large part due to a new method of heating the malt - indirect heat, which prevented a darkening  and smokiness of the brew that direct heat caused. The water was unusually mineral-free (soft) which contributed to the clarity of the beer. The brewers in Plzeň and surrounding areas also were very free with hops, giving the new style a bitter edge. This style became so popular that many of the brewers who eventually emigrated to America specialized in it once they set up their own breweries in The States. The Plzen style, or Pilsner became the dominant style of the major brewers and was what most Americans thought of as "beer" through most of the 1900's, although the mass producers eventually modified their beers to be less hoppy and added adjuncts (grains other than barley) to produce a more consistant product.

Märzen (Oktoberfest) & Vienna Lager

The term Märzen derives from the German word for the month of March. Before refrigeration it was difficult to brew beer in the summer months, so beer would be brewed over the winter and stored in caves (lagers)to keep it fresh. (For more detail on this, see the blog post on lagers).

Some of the lagered beer, brewed in March, would be saved until the harvest festivals in October, maturing and fermenting over the summer and into the early autumn. This märzenbier became an important feature of the Oktoberfest held in Munich each year. Originally the Oktoberfestbier was a dark lager, but over the last 150 years have tended to lighter hues. The predominant Oktoberfestbier has been a Vienna lager style (think Sam Adams, Dos Equis or Yuengling) for many years. Since at least 1990, Oktoberfestbiers in Germany have been golden, while American versions tend to have an amber-red cast, similar to an Irish Red. Märzens tend to be low in hop character, with a slightly sweet maltiness. 

A Vienna lager is a style that is very similar to a Märzen, having originated in the city of Vienna in Austria, south of Munich in Bavaria. They tend to be reddish in color and malty sweet, with a low IBU (hoppiness) count. many Mexican beers like Dos Equis and Negra Modelo are Vienna-style lagers, in large part due to immigration from Austria in the 1800's. 

Bock

Bock beer is another type of lager, that is considered a Spring seasonal, but unfortunately, you don't see too much of these days. As lagers, bocks use bottom, or cold, fermenting yeasts, and are lagered, or allowed to mature in a cool environment. Traditionally these were the first beers brewed in the Spring, and were used as a celebratory beer at the end of Lent, but there are also traditions which speak of monks drining bocks during fasts as sources of nourishment. In general, a bock is stronger than average (6.5 - 7% ABV) and tends to be darker than most lagers. Hop profile is low, usually around 20-25 IBU and has a sweet malty character. Other versions of the bock include the maibock, brewed in May. Maibocks tend to be lighter and hoppier. A dopplebock, or double bock can be up to 10-12% ABV. Right now bocks for some reason are not very popular, so they're not being brewed in great numbers; that and the fact that lagering ties up a small craft brewery's equipment longer than does an ale is also a factor.