German beers are preferred at most Oktoberfest celebrations across America, but getting the best Bavarian booze is not always easy, with American-made taste-alikes becoming more and more in vogue.

The darker, stronger German beers are deep bronze to amber in color and malt accented. They are descendants of the 1840s Marzen beers brewed in March in Munich, but enjoyed in autumn.

Real German beers are lightly hopped and don't always travel well, sometimes becoming slightly oxidized, ruining the flavor, before they hit American shelves.

American breweries for several years have worked to try to capture this Marzenbier flavor and body.

German beers shipped to America often have to lie around in the steamy holds of transport ships and warehouses, not reaching American stores until weeks or months after their departure from Bavaria. Thus, the problems of oxidization and flavor loss.

This has left the door open for American microbreweries to supply Oktoberfest sites across America with a heartier deep amber celebratory beer of about 5 per cent alcohol content.

Joe Owades, director of the Center for Brewing Studies in San Francisco, said many microbreweries are taking advantage of this opportunity to fill the Oktoberfest gap, in many cases doubling and tripling their fall production. For some, he said, the fall Oktoberfest season constitutes 50 per cent or more of microbreweries annual business.

``Major brewers can't afford to make the fall beer for one month or two. By the time they get the beer in the pipelines the season would be over,'' he said.

The problem of heat and oxidization is not new for German brews. Until the world obtained the ability to provide refrigeration, it was an ongoing headache for Bavarians. Breweries just could not brew beer during the hot summer months because of the oxidization and bacterial contamination, despite often storing their brew in 52-degree caves.

Thus, centuries ago German brewing ended in the spring with the brewing of the more-potent Marzens (March beers), leaving brewing equipment lying dormant until the fall brewing season.

The bready malt aroma Marzenbiers served Bavarians through the summers and then there was a big party to polish off the remaining Marzens in the fall -- thus, an Oktoberfest of sorts was born of necessity in the 1800s.

Germany's first large brewery was the Spaten Brewery, opened in 1397 and still the granddaddy centerpiece for the official opening of the Munich Oktoberfest. The festival opens when the Munich mayor strolls into the Spaten tent at high noon, pounds a tap into a keg and shouts, ``O'zapft ist!'' (The keg is tapped!).

Famous German Oktoberfest beers also include products from
Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Gordon Biersch MHrzen, Widmer Brothers, etc.

Marzenbier still reigns today as the king of Oktoberfest brews in Germany. It generally has very little hop character and leaves both a sweetness and a spiciness on the palate, contrasting the crisp, dry pilsner beers.

But Yankee palates are learning to accept the Marzenbier substitutes.

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Some Oktoberfest recipes:

Apple Strudel (makes 2 strudels; serves 10 to 16)

Note: Thaw the frozen package of phyllo overnight in the refrigerator for best results. . 1/2 of a (16-oz.) pkg. of phyllo sheets - 1/2 c. bread crumbs - 1 1/2 c. sugar, divided - 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter - 3 lb. apples, peeled and thinly sliced - Grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon - 3 1/2 oz. (about 1 1/4 c.) sliced almonds - 1/3 c. raisins - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon . Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the stack of phyllo sheets so the longest dimension fits on your largest baking sheet with edges (in case strudel leaks). Cover with a barely damp towel. Combine bread crumbs and 1/2 cup sugar. In a saucepan, melt butter. On a clean large tablecloth on the counter, lay out a sheet of phyllo. (Keep remaining filo sheets covered with the towel.) Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Cover with another sheet of phyllo, brushing with butter and sprinkling with crumbs. Repeat until a quarter of the box of phyllo is used. Combine apples, lemon rind and juice, almonds, raisins, 1 cup sugar and cinnamon; spread half the mixture onto the top sheet of phyllo, from edge to edge lengthwise but leaving a few inches clear along both of the long edges and an inch slong the short edges. Roll starting from a long edge, (lift the tablecloth to help roll the dough); brush with butter, crimp ends and place carefully on a large greased baking sheet (one with edges, in case of leaks). Repeat with remaining quarter-package of phyllo, butter and apple mixture. Bake 45 minutes or until light brown. . .

Spaetzle (serves 4)


1 large egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir the flour to remove any lumps. Combine the egg, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; mix well.
Blend to make a smooth batter. Let the batter rest until bubbles slowly rise to the surface. Pour batter through a spaetzle maker or food mill equipped with a large-holed plate into a large pot of boiling, salted water. Simmer until done, about 2 minutes. Remove and rinse in cold water to remove excess starch; drain well.
Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet and sauté the spaetzle until browned.

German Potato Salad (makes 8 servings)

2 lb. red potatoes - 1 c. diced bacon - 1/2 c. chicken stock - 1 c. diced onions - 1/4 c. chopped parsley - 1/2 c. cider vinegar - 2 tsp. salt - 1 tsp. pepper . Boil potatoes, remove skins, then slice into a large bowl. In a skillet, fry diced bacon and put both the bacon and bacon fat into the potatoes. Heat chicken stock in same pan the bacon was fried in, then pour over potatoes. Add diced onions, parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper; mix. The potato salad can be served warm or cold.

German Red Cabbage (serves 6)

1 medium head red cabbage, cored and shredded - 1 medium onion, diced - 1 c. applesauce - 1/2 c. cider vinegar - 1/4 c. sugar - 1 tsp. ground cloves - 1 bay leaf - Salt and pepper to taste . Combine red cabbage, onion, applesauce, vinegar, sugar, cloves, bay leaf and salt and pepper in large saucepan. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cabbage is cooked, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning.

Kielbasa with sauerkraut and apples (serves 6)

1/3 cup chopped onion, 2 slices bacon (cut up), 1 cup beer, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons coarse-grain brown mustard, 2 tablespoons molasses, 2 teaspoons caraway seed, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 large rutabaga (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes), 1 pound fully cooked kielbasa (Polish sausage, bias-sliced into 2- to 2-1/2-inch pieces), 2 medium cooking apples (cored and cut into 8 wedges each), 1 16-ounce can sauerkraut (drained and rinsed). In a Dutch oven or large pot, cook onion and bacon until onion is tender but not brown; drain fat. Stir in beer. In a 2-cup glass measure combine the water, cornstarch, brown mustard, molasses, caraway seed, allspice, and pepper; stir into bacon mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Add rutabaga; cover and cook 15 minutes. Stir in the kielbasa, apple wedges, and sauerkraut. Cook, covered, 15 to 20 minutes more or till apples are tender.

This story was published on 15 May 2002.