12x12 Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen

Beers Included:  Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen

Purchase Date: 10 October 2025

Purchase Price: $16.99

Only way to drink a Marzen

Initial Impressions

Like many Americans, my first exposure to the Oktoberfest, or more accurately the Marzen style of beer was domestic craft-brewed examples such as Samuel Adams. It wasn't until the early 2010s when a store I frequented brought in imported examples that I was able to try the beers that are actually servied at Octoberfest. Paulaner was my first favorite. I remembered Paulaner being lighter than the marzens I was used to drinking, and having a very slight twang similar to Heineken. Over time Ayinger became my favorite German marzen, but when at 12-pack of Paulaner showed up on our porch one day a smile emerged instantly. 

Bought for a recipe, I chilled the bottles down, cracked four bottles to fill a maß krug, and grilled up some brats from our local butcher. 

Perfect fall day. 

Best by date: February 2026

Aroma: Bready malt with undercurrent of toast. No hop aroma. Fermentation very clean. 

Appearance: Copper, brilliantly clear. Foamy white head with decent retention.

Flavor: Similar to the aroma, bready and slightly toasty. 

Mouthfeel: Medium body and carbonation. Very smooth and finish just crisp enough. Moderate hop bitterness and really nice low herbal and floral hop flavor. 

Overall: Lighter-bodied than Ayinger and certainly less caramelly than Sam Adams. I am quite impressed with how fresh this tastes. I remember this beer having a tiny bit of a Heineken-like skunky note, but this is super clean. I drank half of the maß like it was nothing. It reminds me of a nights drinking liters of lager at biergartens in Houston and Sacramento when I still worked in the beer industry. 

The lighter festbier style has taken over Oktoberfest in Germany, and is becoming increasingly popular in America, but I still love a bold, flavorful and crushable marzen. This ticks all the boxes. I could drink this beer all day. 

Going through my brew log, I have brewed the style a few times but they have been wierdly experimental like this all grain batch, an extract batch and an attempts ferment with a kolsch yeast. I need to start with a clean slate and dial in a house recipe.