Märzen persisted as Germany's official Oktoberfest brew for over 100 years, and it's the standard Oktoberfest beer in the U.S. But this season, why not don your lederhosen, smash your steins, and harken back to the beer the first Oktoberfest-goers drank — a dunkel? The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810 when the Bavarian monarchy hosted a festival to celebrate a royal wedding and invited common citizens.
Arriving clad in Bavarian folkwear and bringing gifts to honor the wedded couple, the commoners loved the five-day affair, uniting the nation and sparking an annual celebration that would become Oktoberfest. In the early 1800s, brewing methods were still archaic, relying on fire to heat the malt, which resulted in a dark and heavy beer called dunkel. However, at the time, it's possible the Germans referred to it as märzen.
Today's märzen emerged toward the middle of the 19th century when a German and an Austrian traveled to England and discovered a new method that used hot air rather than fire to toast the malt. This method resulted in a lighter color and less of a smoky flavor. Because of its more palatable, easy-to-drink qualities, the modern-day märzen took off.
The Germans at the original Oktoberfest celebrations may have called their beer märzen because of a law requiring that the last of each year's beer had to be brewed by the end of March — Märzen is German for March. This law was enacted because the summer's heat heightened the risk of bacterial gro.