Bock & Seek Beer Co. bring back their Festbier
South Park beer bar's second-annual Bocktoberfest to feature modern wiesn-style lager brewed in collaboration with North Park brewery
Seek Beer Co. and Bock are bringing back their collaborative Festbier for the second annual Bocktoberfest in South Park. Following its debut at Bock’s inaugural celebration in 2025, the modern Wiesn-style lager returns this year in a larger batch, with the original recipe unchanged.
“Seek brewed the Festbier for our first Bocktoberfest last year, and we loved it so much that bringing it back was an easy decision,” said Bock owner Brian Jensen. “It had the balance we were looking for: flavorful and traditional, but light enough to enjoy by the stein. We want it to become a recurring part of Bocktoberfest.”
Festbier evolved from the darker, richer Märzen lagers historically associated with Oktoberfest into the lighter, more drinkable golden lagers served at the festival in Munich today. Seek founder Dave Ohmer believes that evolution makes the style particularly well suited to San Diego.
“The modern festival beers enjoyed in Munich today have evolved into lighter and more quaffable lagers than those of the past,” said Ohmer. “Our Festbier has followed that same evolution into the bright, dry beer we produce today, a style that fits San Diego’s warm fall climate better than ever.”
Seek’s recipe begins with German Pilsner and Vienna malts. A single-decoction mash, in which a portion of the mash is removed, boiled and returned to the main mash, adds depth and complexity to the malt character. The beer is then fermented under low pressure and lagered cold for an extended period to create a clean, rounded finish. The finished beer opens with delicate notes of wildflower honey and toasted biscuit. Crisp carbonation brings forward a clean hop bite with spicy, woody aromas before finishing dry. Seek increased production this year to meet the expected demand while leaving the recipe untouched.
“We saw no reason to tweak a beer we loved so much last year, so our focus was pure execution and consistency,” said Ohmer. “Festbier is one of my favorite beers to brew and drink because it combines effortless quaffability with subtle complexity.”
The beer is brewed specifically for Bocktoberfest, Bock’s annual celebration of German beer-hall culture and San Diego craft beer. This year’s celebration runs from September 18 through October 4 at Bock in South Park. The Festbier will be poured on draft at Bock. Cans will be available individually and in four-packs at sister business Bottlecraft‘s locations Little Italy, North Park, Long Beach and Liberty Station.
“Getting to team up with the crews at Bock and Bottlecraft again is a blast,” said Ohmer. “Given their deep beer knowledge and incredible curation, having them want to collaborate on this release again is a huge compliment to the beer.”