On Friday, September 15th, we release the next installment of our Black Barn Program – No. 44 Festbier

For this recipe, we wanted the consumer to be able to appreciate the subtle and gentle qualities that the “Festbier'' style has to offer. In contrast to the other most popular style of Oktoberfest beer, the “Marzen,” Festbiers provide balanced and complex characteristics without one overly dominant trait. Marzens are amber in color, more full-bodied, sweeter, and more rich, with a strong malty bouquet. When compared to the paler, more drinkable yet still nuanced counterpart, the Marzen didn’t fit with our idea of an ideal beer to drink during Maine Beer Company’s Oktoberfest. It was important for us to develop our golden lager recipe that retained maltiness and distinction without sacrificing drinkability and experience.

Although the base pilsner malt wasn’t local, all the other specialty malts are– which we feel adds complexity and sets it apart from similarly produced Festbiers utilizing imported German malts. Due to the Munich malt blend and Vienna malts from Blue Ox Malthouse, this beer imparts notes of honey, hay, bread crust, cracker, and light red fruits like berry and apple from the small addition of noble hops near the end of the boil.

Our Black Barn Program is about being creative, learning, and challenging our team to brew the highest quality beer. Our beer goes through extensive lab testing and our robust sensory program in order to comply with our belief in quality over quantity. Black Barn is brewed on our 15BBL brewhouse and is available in bottles and on draft exclusively in our tap room.