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.
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