MEATPACKING DISTRICT — The Standard Biergarten will have its very own lager for Oktoberfest this year.
The beer, called Brauhaus Licher Oktoberfest, was created for the Meatpacking District beer garden by Germany's Bitburger Brewery Group. It is "a heart-warming, autumnal beer," said Rainlove Lampariello, The Standard's beverage director.
"It's got everything that you love about fall. It’s a little nutty. It’s got a little touch of spices," he said. "It’s beautiful, golden. It’s a little heavier than your typical lager and it has a lot more flavor."
The hotel's beer garden functions like a classic German one, with a single “brauhaus” in Germany — in this case, Bitburger — providing all of its beers.
The Standard first experimented with creating a customized beer with Bitburger several months ago, a pale ale "sort of modeled after an IPA," Lampariello said.
"IPA is very popular right now, and Germany didn't really make one," Lampariello said. "One of the only times Germany ever produced an ale is for this."
Lampariello said The Standard and Bitburger consider various factors when thinking about how to make a new beer, including "what kind of flavors go with what we're serving." (The beer garden has a limited food menu including sausages and pretzels.)
“We thought, ‘How cool would it be to have a beer we made ourselves with our brewers?’” Lampariello said.
That custom ale sold out in about a month, much faster than The Standard planned.
The Oktoberfest lager is priced at $8 and will be served until the end of November, unless it is all sold before then.
“Right now it’s the No. 2 seller for us, so it may run out quicker than we anticipated,” Lampariello said.
