märzen
Syllables: mär·zen/ˈmɛɚt.sən/US/ˈmɑɹt.sən/
märzen noun: a lager originating in Bavaria, which has a medium to full body and may vary in color from pale through amber to dark brown and is traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest.
Noun
märzen (countable and uncountable, plural märzens)
- A lager originating in Bavaria, which has a medium to full body and may vary in color from pale through amber to dark brown and is traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest.
- For all of the Oktoberfests to be found around the land, there is still precious little märzen being brewed in North America’s microbreweries. This paucity of märzen is a shame, too, because it is the ideal beer style for the season and is especially appropriate for Oktoberfest celebrations.1995, Stephen Beaumont, A Taste for Beer, page 76
- Hazy on the eye and full of fruity esters, much of kellerbier’s colour (similar to a märzen) and body comes from caramelised malt, while a healthy hopping gives the beer its quenching crisp dryness and sprightly aromatics.2009, World’s Best Beers: 1000 Unmissable Brews from Portland to Prague, Jacqui Small
- Synonyms:
- märzenbier
Synonyms of märzen
Forms of märzen
| plural | märzens |
|---|
Origin of märzen
From German Märzen(bier) (literally “March beer”). A decree issued in 1553 by Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, forbid all brewing between 23 April and 29 September, preventing brewing during the warm season, when, unbeknown to medievals, ambient bacteria would often infect the Bavarians’ beers and quickly spoil them. Brewers, therefore, worked overtime in March to make enough beer, which was usually brewed slightly stronger than regular beer and stored cool, i.e., lagered, so it would keep better, to last until fall.
Questions about märzen
- What does märzen mean?
- Märzen means a lager originating in Bavaria, which has a medium to full body and may vary in color from pale through amber to dark brown and is traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest.
- What part of speech is märzen?
- Märzen is a noun.
- How do you pronounce märzen?
- Märzen is pronounced /ˈmɑɹt.sən/ (US).
- What is the plural of märzen?
- The plural of märzen is märzens.
Words near märzen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: märzen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “märzen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/m%C3%A4rzen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.