Oktoberfest is almost upon us, time to start brewing!

Oktoberfest is almost here, time to start brewing! – Images from Pinterest

I know that it may not feel like it with how hot most of the country has been this summer, but October is just around the corner. If you are like me and like to celebrate Oktoberfest or appreciate a good German lager during that time of the year, you are probably going to want to heat up the kettle, cool down the fermenter and get your brew on because you do not have that much time left!

For those of you who have not brewed beer at home before, I would recommend that you start with an extract home brewing kit before you attempt to tackle all grain home brewing. There are several inexpensive home brewing starter kits available that will allow you to try your hand at it and see if you enjoy the hobby as much as myself and a growing number of other home brewers do.  You can click on the home brewing starter kits image below for a list of available homebrewing equipment kits that will help you brew your first batch!

Home Beer Brewing Starter Kits

Once you have your home beer brewing kit picked out, you are going to want to select a great beer recipe kit to brew for Oktoberfest!  This will really depend on your personal beer preferences but I will give you a couple of suggestions to consider.  First off, you will want to keep in mind how much time that you have before your batch of beer has to be ready to serve.  This is important because a lager may take 6 to 8 weeks to ferment and condition and opposed to certain ales which may be ready to drink in 3 weeks or even 2 weeks if you are really pressed for time.  Another thing to consider is that if you are having an all day or night event, you may want to opt for a lower alcohol beer so that your friends can put back a few with out getting too tipsy!

Here is a great listing of home brewing recipe kits that would go well with any Oktoberfest party.  I personally like to brew up a Munich lager and an American Hefeweizen so that there is a little variety available but you really can not go wrong with any of these home beer brewing recipe kits.  All of these beer ingredient kits are available in both extract and all grain versions.

Home Beer Brewing Ingredient Kits

Oktoberfest Lager Beer Kit – Estimated ABV 5.6%

Munich Helles Lager Home Brewing Ingredient Kit – Estimated ABV 5%

Dopplebock Oktoberfest Home Beer Brewing Kit –  Estimated ABV 9.1%

Vienna Lager Oktoberfest Beer Kit – Estimated ABV 5%

German Oktoberfest Hefeweizen – Estimated ABV 4.5%

American Hefeweizen Oktoberfest Home Beer Making Kit – Estimated ABV 3.8%

All of the above listed Oktoberfest home beer making kits are fantastic and should fit the occasion well. Just let me know if you have any questions on any of them.  Happy brewing!