Collections Corner: Making Maerzen

By Kimberly Totten, Collections Manager

Maerzen (or sometimes spelled Märzen) is originally from Bavaria, traditionally served during Oktoberfest, which despite its name, typically occurs in September until the beginning of October. If you're a fan of Senate beer, the Heurich House Museum's historic beer revival, then you probably know Senate is not the only beer the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co. brewed.  Other labels included Old Georgetown, Heurich Lager, and Bock.  For the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co, Maerzen was distinguished from its other labels as an all malt beer.

When I first learned we were going to revive another historic beer, this time Heurich’s Maerzen, I started by gathering all the Maerzen-related items we had in our Breweriana collection. Thanks to a large acquisition in 2019 when our breweriana collection expanded to more than 1,000 objects related to the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co., I was able to gather various bottle labels, advertisements, and other marketing materials.

The museum contracted with Lost Lagers to be our partners for researching and recipe development of Maerzen (fans of Senate Beer will recognize Peter Jones of Lost Lagers as the historian who found the recipe in the National Archives). I discussed with them what from the museum’s collections we could provide that might help them research Maerzen. Clues could be anywhere in the collections. Blueprints might have clues about the Brewery's brewing procedures. Bottle labels might have keywords that clue us into the taste of this 'malty' and 'dark' beer. Advertisements might give away how long it was brewed or what type of ingredients were used.

Flier for Maerzen beer, challenging readers to prove that Maerzen is not "strictly all malt"

In 2013, the Museum connected with the granddaughter of Paul Kaiser, the brewmaster at the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co. in the 1930s. She loaned us several journals, newspaper clippings, and photographs of Paul Kaiser, which we kept records of in our collections. In this collection, Lost Lagers was able to find a page in the Brewmaster's journal titled "Märzen 1933" which jump started the Maerzen beer revival. Prohibition was repealed in December of 1933 and the Chr. Heurich Brewing Co. was preparing to brew beer for the first time since 1917, which aligns with Paul Kaiser's 1933 notebook entry.  

Paul Kaiser's journal, loaned to the Heurich House Museum the granddaughter of Paul Kaiser

Maerzen was produced and advertised in Washington, DC newspapers from 1880 to 1944. 80 years later, we’re excited to be working again with Right Proper Brewing Co. to brew Maerzen beer. The historic Maerzen was advertised as dark amber with a malty taste, and the modern Maerzen is brewed with Cluster, Saaz, & Tettnang hops and Munich & Melanoidin black malt. Celebrate Maerzen for the on Wednesday, September 18th at our Release Party. You can also taste Maerzen at Right Proper Brewing Co. local, or at our biergarten, 1921.