Beer Styles

What is a Märzen, and what defines the Innviertel version? Märzen is a robust, bottom-fermented beer with a golden to copper color, tasting of bread, caramel, and mild hops. The name traces back to the brewing regulations of 1553, which only permitted brewing between Michaelmas and St. George's Day: anyone still brewing in March laid the beer down in the cellar for summer.

In Austria, Märzen is often a shade lighter and lighter-bodied than what beer judges describe under the style. In the Innviertel, Märzen from Ried and Baumgartner are standard beers in the local inns, comparable to Helles in Bavaria. Precisely because they're the house standard, people usually just order 'a Märzen' without specifying brand or type. The Zwickl that Baumgartner offers alongside it is a naturally cloudy cellar beer.

The difference between Märzen and wheat beer: Märzen is bottom-fermented, malty, and clear; wheat beer is top-fermented, made from wheat and barley, hazy with yeast, and fruity. Wheat beer has its roots in the region's Bavarian heritage, while Märzen comes from the brewing tradition of the months between Michaelmas and St. George's Day. Both styles are brewed in Ried im Innkreis, in Schärding, and in Altheim. For more on how the styles relate, see the comparison of Lager and Ale.

The Innviertel's ties to Bavaria also show up in its bock beer. Brauerei Ried lists a Weißbier bock in its range, while Baumgartner offers a Christmas bock. Under German beer regulations, a bock must have at least 16% original gravity, though Austria doesn't apply the same rule in the same way, so it's worth checking the label.