#spaten

9/30/25: Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen

We've reached the end of Oktoberfest season. Tomorrow, we turn to a new page on the calendar, one that's darker, spookier, pumpkinier. But, for now, the sun's shining, the grass is browning, and insects and birds are making music. It's still September and still prime time for an Oktoberfest beer. To honor the closure of this season of the blog, we're doing a beer from Germany, as is tradition. Spaten is one of the "Big Six" Oktoberfest breweries because they're one of the original Munich breweries that offers their lager at the official celebration. Today, we're drinking Spaten's Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen. Prost ! Spaten (full name Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu) is one of those illustrious breweries whose history goes back centuries. According to "The Spaten Story," the brewery traces its lineage back to 1397 (nearly six-hundred years before the Salem Witch Trials), when a Munich tax document listed a brewer as the owner of the place where Spaten would operate. Through the coming ages, Spa