The following version of our magazine’s popular Last Call section is from a special digital Oktoberfest issue we published in early September. Check it out here.

The question: What’s your favorite Oktoberfest or fall beer?

Every Oktoberfest beer is a good beer! The ones I make sure to grab every year are Lager Town from Half Acre Beer Co. and the Oktoberfest from Great Lakes out of Cleveland. Both just always hit the spot with me.

— Dave Zalatoris, host of the Beer in Front podcast

Lunar Brewing Company‘s Oktoberfest lager holds a very special place in my heart. It was great long before I ever worked there and was my first professionally brewed lager when I did. It’s on the darker end as far as Märzens go and has intense smooth caramel and biscuit notes. And it comes in a liter!

— Kevin Hopkins, Fox Republic Brewing in Yorkville

Ayinger’s festbier is my favorite. Because they’re not located in Munich, they couldn’t use Oktoberfest in the name of the beer, so they call it Oktoberfest-Festbier. And we do the same here at Double Clutch to honor them. I’ve always felt it’s a very clean, relatively low ABV for the style and it’s so drinkable. I find a lot of their beers to be fantastic. A pretty inspirational brewery if you ask me.

— Scott Frank, head brewer at Double Clutch Brewing in Evanston

Imperial Oak Brewing

OMG! This is a real “Sophie’s Choice” question for me. Everyone that knows me or enjoys the Crafty Brewers podcast knows that fall is my favorite part of the beer calendar. I count the days until the malty beers like festbiers and Marzens arrive. Some, but certainly not all of the offerings I look forward to, are Das Boot from Imperial Oak, Fruhauf from Pollyanna Brewing Company, Waddle from Off Color, Oktoberfest from Buckledown Brewing and the OG… Revolution’s Oktoberfest. If I left out your brewery, please know that I love you, but space is limited and if I listed all my faves, they’d cut this answer all together.

I’m going to give you the one I look forward to the most, but you have to go to the taproom to get it. Das Nuts is a special release at Imperial Oak. It’s only available at the Willow Springs taproom during their Oak-Toberfest weekend. I get there early, and on that day, it’s all I drink. If you see me there, feel free to feed my obsession.

— Brian Noonan, host of the Crafty Brewers podcast

Some, but certainly not all of the offerings I look forward to, are Das Boot from Imperial Oak, Fruhauf from Pollyanna Brewing Company, Waddle from Off Color and the Oktoberfest from Buckledown Brewing.

The Oktoberfest beer style is one of my favorites — full bodied, lightly hopped with a bready or toasty taste. Chicago is the home of several of the best Oktoberfest beers in the country. The best of the best for me are 3 Floyds’ Munsterfest and Haymarket’s festbier. Both have that toasty malt with caramel sweetness, with a refreshing finish that has a subtle lemon flavor. Haymarket has slightly more caramel sweetness, which I think is more of the classic flavor of Oktoberfest. You can drink a lot of these.

— Dan Taylor, author of the Chicago Craft Beer Hunters blog

Oktoberfest beers are great, but when it comes to fall and winter beers, I am obsessed with Revolution Brewing‘s Deep Woods series. Not content to wait for the weather to cool down, I already picked up several barrel-aged stouts and barleywines from their July 2025 release (because I don’t really need to wait for the weather to cool down to enjoy a heavier beer), and I am very much looking forward to what they have in store for the rest of this season’s releases coming up in October, November and January.

As the weather gets even colder, I also look forward to Begyle Brewing’s barrel-aged Imperial Pajamas and, of course, Goose Island’s Bourbon County stout variants, which I had the privilege of describing to our audience when they were announced in July. I honestly don’t think there’s a better city for beer than Chicago from October through December.

— Cody Gough, producer of the Crafty Brewers podcast

Oktoberfest beers are great, but when it comes to fall and winter beers, I am obsessed with Revolution Brewing’s Deep Woods series. … I also look forward to Begyle Brewing’s barrel-aged Imperial Pajamas.

New Glarus’ Staghorn is by far my favorite Oktoberfest. It’s still in the glass bottle and makes the whole experience so much better. There’s something about the having to drive to Wisconsin for it that makes for a fun adventure.

— Amanda Steinbraker, Church Street Brewing in Itasca

More Brewing’s Oktoberfest is just the perfect balance of malt sweetness, enabling one to crush multiple cans in a sitting, while perfectly warming the body right when the weather starts to break.

— Aaron Keefner

Off Color Brewing’s Waddle

Off Color Brewing’s Waddle is my favorite Oktoberfest beer. It checks all the boxes of malty, smooth and a little nutty, all while maintaining its drinkablity even at a higher ABV. And the can art is top notch!

— Ben Ault

If I had to pick a couple favorites, I would go back to Revolution Brewing’s Oktoberfest as well as the Spaten Oktoberfest called Ur-Marzen. Another quality fall option is the Bufflehead Brown Ale from Kishwaukee Brewing in Woodstock. Such a great, subtle toffee-caramel flavor.

I like a lot of different Marzens and festbiers and have even preaching to any brewery that will listen that it is definitely a style that deserves to be on draft year round. No question. Having said that, if I had to pick a couple favorites, I would still go back to Revolution Brewing’s Oktoberfest as well as the Spaten Oktoberfest called Ur-Marzen. Another quality fall option is the Bufflehead Brown Ale from Kishwaukee Brewing in Woodstock. Such a great, subtle toffee-caramel flavor.

— T.D.

The Hofbrauhaus festbier is my favorite. Fresh and crisp. Reminds me of my partner and I launching Navigator Taproom in Chicago back in the fall of 2017.

— Tim Enarson, owner of Navigator Taproom in Chicago

Goldfinger Brewing Company

I dig Goldfinger Brewing Company as well as anything really from Art History Brewing this time of year. The Phase Three P3 helles lager is another of my faves, and the Kayak Pils from Riverlands Brewing is dynamite. I’m also good with anybody that adds a little smoked malt to any helles. Oh, and did you say brats? Yes please, but throw mine on the grill and make sure there’s some giardiniera on them. Can you tell I was born in the city?

— Romeo from Romeo & Brewliet on Instagram

To this day, T.R.E.A.T. from Midnight Sun Brewing in Alaska is my favorite pumpkin beer, and one I haven’t came across since I first had it in at a beer bar in Brooklyn at least 10 years ago. I’ve never been the biggest pumpkin beer fan, but having a porter base, T.R.E.A.T. is decadently rich with chocolate notes and a thicker body.

— Nader Kardush, owner of The Beer Bazaar in Grayslake, IL

I dig anything from Art History Brewing this time of year. The Phase Three P3 helles lager is another of my faves, and the Kayak Pils from Riverlands Brewing is dynamite.

With Oktoberfest offerings seemingly arriving earlier and earlier each year, I tend to share the same mix of emotions as so many other beer lovers — Is summer really close to being over? I haven’t attended nearly enough baseball games for the fall season to be knocking. My fridge is still stocked with Relief Peacher IPA! But I do love Marzens, and an Oktoberfest celebration does sound fun. I always look forward to Mark’s festbier here at Haymarket, as it signals the impending transition from summer sun to cool weather evenings by the fire pit. My favorite time of the year. Also, the beer is delicious with notes of toasted malts and cherries with a spicy dry finish.

— Mike Gemma, Haymarket Brewing in Chicago and Bridgman, MI

Solemn Oath’s beer garden in Naperville

If you want to experience some true-to-form and delicious traditional German beer, I’d suggest Goldfinger Brewing Company for their dunkel and an Oktoberfest called Ur-Marzen. I’d also strongly suggest checking out Solemn Oath Brewery, which passes the vibe check for Oktoberfest with brews like Oktoberface and Foederface.

— Brewliet from Romeo & Brewliet on Instagram

Is it just me, or does the release of Oktoberfest beers start earlier every year? In this case, not a bad thing at all, as the traditional American style of Octoberfest, known as a Marzen, is a great beer. My go-to standard for this style is the very consistent offering from Revolution Brewing. It has a great golden-red color with hints of apple and caramel on the nose. The balance is good, with a light bitter toffee start followed by a sweet-to-bitter finish. It’s a great standard for the style and reference for the ever-expanding range of Oktoberfest beers.

— Geoff Hutchins

Urban Chestnut out of St. Louis does a really good job with traditional styles that don’t seem overly complex but are still incredibly solid. … They seemed like a shoe-in for breweries that might nail an Oktoberfest, and we were right.

Urban Chestnut out of St. Louis does a really good job with traditional styles of beers that don’t seem overly complex but are still incredibly solid. Their O-Katz Oktoberfest lager has been moving pretty good for us at the restaurant. They’re a tried-and-tested brewery for us. They seemed like a shoe-in for breweries that might nail an Oktoberfest, and we were right.

— Dan Boland, owner of Daniel’s Charcuterie in Park Ridge

My favorite Oktoberfest beer is, well actually, I have a few. One is our very own Kick, Push, Prost here at Mikerphone. It hits the perfect balance of malt and hops, and really brings you into the end of summer/let’s kick off fall vibes. I have also always loved New Glarus‘ Staghorn, but you gotta go up north to get it. And finally, I was in Germany last year for Oktoberfest in Munich, and after drinking several beers at several different breweries, there was something super special and everlasting about Augustiner‘s Oktoberfestbier. So good!

— Mike Pallen, Mikerphone Brewing