Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen Beer Review

Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen

Review Date 2/20/2022 By John Staradumsky

For Christmas of 2015, my wife bought me a really cool present: BeerAdvent Calendar 2015 from Kalea. In truth, my wife got me a lot of nice presents (she’s the best wife ever), but the nice thing about the Beer Advent Calendar is you get it early. You have to, since it’s comprised of 24 different imported German beers in a box with little doors that you open, one per day from December 1^st through December 24^th. All of the beers are listed on the side of the carton, however, so be careful not to look and spoil the daily surprises!

I love German beer more than beer from any other country on Earth, so this was definitely right up my alley. My one criticism of the calendar is there are not enough bocks and doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it’s just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I’ve never seen before. I get mine at Costco here in Georgia and pay on average $59.95 for the box. That might sound steep, but when you distribute that price over 24 different half liter cans, it only works out to $2.50 per can. Not a bad deal at all looked at that way.

Last year was a difficult year indeed, as Covid ravaged the world and it was not a sure thing that the Kalea Advent calendars would reach our shores. I braved Costco every week in September, masked with an N95, and finally scored my prize. For 2021, challenges of a different kind arose. Inflation and supply chain woes, thanks again to the persistence of Covid and the way it turned the global economy upside down in 2020, threatened once again to disrupt calendar distibution. On their Facebook page, however, Kalea promised that the calendars would arrive, and arrive they did. I found one at Costco in the second week of September, bought an extra for my future son in law, and stored mone safely away until December. The calendars sold for the same $59.95 they almost always have. Perhaps this was true in other years and I simply did not notice, but this year there were two box styles. One shows all of the included beers on the side, and the other does not, in case you want a true surprise each and every day.

On December 9th, opening the Day 9 door revealed a can of Teisnacher Festmärzen from Ettl Brau of Bavaria. This is my first beer form Ettl Brau, but if I have my way, it will not be my last. This may well be one of the best beers in the 2021 Kalea Beer Advent calendar so far. If you hop on over to the Ettl Brau website they tell you:

Beer with history - Since the year 1543 is already being used here in Teisnach, in the Bavarian Forest.

Ettl Brau can trace their family brewing history back to the year 1543-hence the name of the beer I am here to tell you about. About this beer in particular they say:

A malt-accentuated, naturally cloudy speciality, roundly drinkable with a slight sweetness of harmonious aroma and beautiful amber color. Original gravity: 13%, alcohol content 5.4 % vol. Goes well with fried fish, roasts and sweet desserts.

Teisnacher Festmärzen has an alcohol content of 5.4% by volume. Ingredients on the can are listed as water, barley malt, rye malt, and hops. My can is stamped EXP 2023/05. The first eight beers in the calendar have been a Hefeweizen, four Helles, two Festbiers, a bock, and a Kellerbier. I think again this year we are heavy on the Helles style as so far we are at 50% Helles. Just for fun, I decided to go back and look at the 2016 calendar in my last review from this calendar, and added to the tabulation of the 2015. They were heavy on Helles, too, but after tallying to my surprise there were actually more beers in the Oktobefest/Märzen/Festbier category, though granted that is really two styles. Adding the 2017 calendar beers we now have the following mix:

Dortmunder	6	7%
Munich Helles	16	20%
Oktoberfest	19	23%
Munich Dunkles	8	10%
Hefeweizen	6	7%
Dunkelweizen	6	7%
Zwickl/Kellerbier	4	5%
Kristalweizen	1	1%
Pilsner	5	6%
Bock	1	1%
IPA	2	2%
Doppelbock	2	2%
Maibock	2	2%
Pale Ale	2	2%
Rauchbier	1	1%

Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen pours to a hazy orange color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of caramel and fresh bready malt. Taking a sip, the beer is firm bodied and toasty nutty with hints of caramel and a balancing bitter finish. I am really enjoying the toasty nutty notes here, like chewing a fresh handful of Munich malt. An excellent beer indeed, and one I hope to enjoy again in future calendars-with perhaps more beers from Ettl Brau.

I’m greatly enjoying my 7th annual Beer Advent Calendar with the day 9 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 15, and another assortment of 24 in 2022. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco, and following the beers on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2021 Beer Advent Calendar:

Day 1 Herrngiersdorf Grantler Hell

Day 2 Hoamat Weissbier

Day 3 Egerer Alms Hell

Day 4 Rheder Husarentrunk

Day 5 Kraftbierwerkstat Der Schwarze Bock

Day 6 Herrnbrau Zwickl Kellerbier

Day 7 Kurpfalz Bräu Helles

Day 8 Egerer Wiener Lager

Day 9 Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen

Day 10 Käuzle German Pilsner Style

Day 11 Marie Hausbrendel Hell