Störtebeker Braumanufaktur - Baltik-Lager

Stralsund, Germany

Style: Märzen

ABV: 5.5%, IBU: 22

Taste: malty, sweet, smooth

My rating: 3.5/5

#beerstr

WHAT IS A MÄRZEN?

Märzen is a German amber lager – dark copper to reddish brown in color, crisp but also smooth, with sweet toasted bread aroma and faint hints of spice. It is sweetish but with a noticeable Noble hops bite and a dry finish. The typical ABV is 5-6%.

The style as we know it today was introduced by the Spaten brewery in 1841 and was then further tweaked and developed. Its origins go farther than that however, possibly back to 1553 when summer brewing was prohibited in Germany.

The name Märzen means “March beer”. It applies to beers brewed in March and left to lager (condition) in cold cellars over the course of the summer, to be tapped in early fall. Summer brewing was for a long time prohibited in Germany in order to ensure good beer quality and prevent spoilage in high temperatures.

These March beers were brewed with higher gravity (alcohol content) than regular lagers in order to have the longer shelf life needed to make it to the harvest festivals. They were much darker than today and only became amber in color after the Spaten brewery experimented with lighter malts and developed the style we are familiar with today, often referred to as modern Märzen.