Introducing Festbier, the 19th release under our limited run 174 Taproom Series.

This is a fresh take on a beer we rolled out in 2015 under the name Chromato; originally brewed in collaboration between @carleton_u Mass Spectrometry Centre and our co-founder Josh Larocque (graduate of Carleton’s Aerospace Engineering program) as part of a comprehensive study using chromatograms, focused on identifying the molecular fingerprint of beer.

Festbier is another term for Oktoberfestbier (aka Oktoberfest), the latter being reserved exclusively for breweries within Munich’s city limits (think Champagne vs sparkling wine). It gained its reference through its ties to the biggest beer festival in the world, dating back to 1810. Back in the day, Märzen was the liquid of choice but, over time, festival goers expressed demand for a beer that was lighter in body and more sessionable while still reasonably malty, which lead to Oktoberfest becoming the official modern day style.

Pouring brilliant deep yellow with a fine white head, our version offers rich aromas and flavours of bread and dough, and a slight sweetness derived from a bill of German Munich, Vienna and Pilsner malts. This medium bodied malt forward lager is balanced by a light hop character, delivering a soft warming alcohol effect and a crisp finish. Pairs perfectly with traditional German fare and socially distanced celebrations. Prost!