greggwiggins

Optimator is a doppelbock beer. There are similarities in that the sweetness of malt is the predominant flavor note of both Oktoberfest and doppelbock beers; the malt is more lightly roasted for an O'fest than for a doppelbock but either can have an amber to dark red color and low hop bitterness. The most notable difference between the two styles, especially when you try to stand up, is alcohol content.

A doppelbock will have appreciably more alcohol than the typical Oktoberfest. A Maerzen beer will generally range from 4.5% to 6% alcohol, while doppelbocks start at around 7% and can go up to 13% alcohol. While "doppel" is German for "double", these rarely have exactly twice the alcohol content of a brewery's bock beer.

First developed in medieval abbeys to provide nourishment to fasting monks (you KNEW there was a reason Friar Tuck is so jolly in those Robin Hood tales, right?) bocks and doppelbocks are sometimes known as "liquid bread" for that reason. The German tradition is for the names of doppelbocks to end in "...ator", like Optimator, Ayinger's Celebrator, and Paulaner's Salvator. Many brewers in other countries honor that tradition as well, so a beer with a name ending in ...ator is likely to be a doppelbock.

Some Maerzen-style beers are known as Oktoberfest beers from being served at the festival in Munich but the name Maerzen comes from these being beers brewed in March, before warmer weather made brewing impossible, and stored in cool caves or cellars for drinking during the summer until cooler autumn weather made brewing possible once again.

There you go, Starwood Lurker, and, as you requested, your answer is in approximately 265 words.