Oktoberfest!!

​Summer is Ending and Autumn is Beginning—Celebrate with Civil Life’s Oktoberfest!
 
Huzzah! Let’s hear it for the Civil Life’s number one selling seasonal release, Oktoberfest. The annual Oktoberfest celebration in Munich Germany traces its origins back to 1810, but many places around the world now celebrate Oktoberfest. During early celebrations, Dünkel was the main beer drunk. By the mid-1800s, Vienna Lagers and Märzens were the beers of choice. These closely related styles soon began to be called Oktoberfest. Later on, the lighter Helles overshadowed the beers named for this great celebration, but the style lives on.
 
The history of the style predates the Oktoberfest celebration by hundreds of years. In the 1500s in southern Germany, uneven quality and spoiled beers led to a decree that beer could no longer be brewed between April and September. In March (März), brewers made strong, hoppier beers that could age for a few months and improve. Then, at the end of September and beginning of October, citizens were invited to drink up these tasty brews, emptying the barrels for the next year’s brewing. They were happy to do so.
 
Back in those days, the beers were pretty much brown. The lighter colored beers came about with advanced kilning techniques in the mid-nineteenth century. The first German beers to benefit from these advances would come to be known later as Oktoberfestbiers.
 
Our Oktoberfest is a traditional example of a great style, using only German ingredients. The grain bill is mostly pilsner and Vienna malts, with some cara-aroma for color and roasty depth. We use hallertau saphir hops, which are spicy with a hint of tangerine. The final product is a beautiful copper color with deep toasted malt character and a clean dry finish.
 
Celebrate autumn’s return with this delicious, authentic German lager. Help us empty all those kegs so we can fill them up again. Prost!