Von Trapp & Narragansett Festbier Hoppy Wiesn Lager

Review Date 10/6/2023 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Oktoberfest   Brewery: Von Trapp   Country: USA   State: Vermont   $ Per OZ: $.19 (B)   ABV: 5.8%

Collab time! And what a collab it is! Two of my favorite breweries, Narragansett of Rhode Island and Von Trapp of Vermont have come together to brew a beer in the latter brewery’s Stowe Style series of beers: Von Trapp & Narragansett Festbier Hoppy Wiesen Lager. I got all excited about this beer when I heard tell of it from a few Virginia beer friends of mine, one of whom had bought some recently at Von Trapp in Vermont.

I didn’t really expect to find this beer, but I did repeatedly search Half Time Beverage for it and one day, low and behold, they had it! I added it to my cart along with some other fine brews, and four days later it arrived at my front door. I was elated! I enjoyed my first can the first chance I got and was not disappointed. A second can (I bought a 4-pack) followed a few days later while watching the Patriots play the Cowboys. Again, the beer did not disappoint, although the game certainly did.

Festbier, also known as Wiesen lager, is a new style that emerged in Germany in the 90s. A hoppy variant on the Munich Helles style, it is lighter in color and body than the original Märzen lagers served at Oktoberfest since the first one in 1810. It can be more hoppy than Märzen, however. The “Wiesen” moniker comes from the German word for meadow, Wiesen, and refers to the Theresienwiese in Munich, or Theresa’s meadow, where Oktoberfest is held every year. It in turn is named for Therese von Saxe-Hildburghause married Crown Prince Ludwig I.

Von Trapp & Narragansett Festbier Hoppy Wiesen Lager has an alcohol content of 5.8% alcohol by volume with 35 IBUs. I paid $18.99 for my 4-pack of pint cans, but my friend reported it going for $11.99 at a local store. My cans had no freshness dating.

Von Trapp & Narragansett Festbier Hoppy Wiesen Lager pours to a brilliant golden color with a thick head of creamy white foam and a nose of fresh bready malt and zesty hops. Taking a sip, the beer is crisp and refreshing up front, biscuity/bready malty and light to medium in body, just right for the style. It’s infused with an earthy, slightly lemony herbal hop character and finishes with a robust bitterness.

This beer is absolutely delicious and I wish I had bought another 4-pack. As it is, I’m happy I got what I did, and if it is ever brewed up again by these two brewing greats, you know I will be all over it.

Glad I tried it?  T