Saranac Octoberfest

I've been a fan of Saranac for years; I mean, years. Drinking Saranac, a good Saranac, makes me realize how long I've been at this. I was enjoying Saranac back in...1985? Wow. And I watched Saranac grow and develop: Saranac Amber, Saranac Golden (a delicious crisp pilsner), Black Forest, Black & Tan, Stout, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, and for God's sake, Russian Imperial Stout that kicked ass.

I got a 12-pack of samples just before I left on vacation, didn't get a chance to even open it, but yesterday I tore them open: Saranac Octoberfest and Pumpkin Ale. I stuck three Ofests in the freezer as I was quickly putting the last touches on dinner, and when the spuds and pork and onions were ready, I poured two of them into a half-liter willbecker and hit the trough.

This is one damned fine beer. I'm kind of picky about Ofests -- hope I don't have to judge them at GABF -- because the malt character's so crucial, but they've done a great job here. It's solidly medium-bodied -- not too light, not too heavy -- dryly malty, and not glopped up with caramel. It was so good I had the third one, and it didn't mess me all up: 5.4%, a good strength for a beer you want to dive into a bit. I've got three freebies left, but I believe I'm going to have to get more of this.

Oktoberfest in Bucks County? I'm there!

Don Russell -- "Joe Sixpack" to his friends -- is hosting a "Fall Beer Expo" at the United German Hungarian Club in Trevose on September 25th -- hell, it's right over the hill from my house! There are 1 and 4 PM sessions that Sunday afternoon, tickets are on sale now (right here) for $35 ($5 savings over buying them at the door). Beer, food (add'l cost for that, but it's delicious and available), German music and dancing... Come on! Oompah!

Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer!

An announcement like this from America's Oldest Brewery deserves to be published in full at a Pennsylvania-based beer blog! Yuengling continues to deliver -- slowly -- on long-made promises of more beers.

Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer, and Festival, Coming This Fall
Live polka and dance music, delicious German cuisine, plenty of family fun, and a new Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer highlight the first-ever Oktoberfest Presented by Yuengling September 29 - October 2 and October 6 - 9 at the new SteelStacks arts and cultural campus in Bethlehem, PA.

The Yuengling Brewery has partnered with ArtsQuest, a non-profit organization dedicated to music, the arts, and cultural experiences, to produce an authentic festival to pay tribute to Yuengling’s German heritage. Highlighting the event is the 130-foot by 260-foot Yuengling Festhalle tent, featuring waitresses dressed in dirndl outfits, Bavarian-style food, over 40 live performances, and plenty of Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer.

“Anticipation has been high for our new Oktoberfest Beer, and we’re particularly excited about creating an authentic Oktoberfest atmosphere at the festival for all to enjoy,” commented Lou Romano, Marketing Manager.

Copper in color, Yuengling Oktoberfest is a medium bodied beer with a perfect blend of roasted malts to capture a true representation of the style. Yuengling fans that can not make it to the Oktoberfest event can enjoy the product at their local taverns, as Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer will be available seasonally, in ¼ and ½ Barrels in all markets where Yuengling is sold, beginning in late August.

"With the successful creation of Musikfest and the SteelStacks campus in the Lehigh Valley, we at the Yuengling Brewery felt it appropriate to show our support for Jeff Parks and all of the people at ArtsQuest who contribute to making arts and culture flourish in our community," said Dick Yuengling. "At Oktoberfest, there will be plenty of opportunities to hear live music, have some family fun and share some company under the big tent. Plus great beer and food too."

Oktoberfest presented by Yuengling tickets are now on sale at www.artsquest.org and 610-332-3378. Festival hours are 6 p.m.-midnight on Thursdays, noon-midnight on Fridays-Saturdays, and noon-9 p.m. Sundays. Single-day admission tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate. Single-day admission tickets for children ages 6-12 are $3 in advance and $5 at the gate, while ages under 6 are admitted free. A Weekend Pass, good for one entire weekend, is $20 in advance and $25 at the gate.

20 years of Harpoon Octoberfest celebration

Ah.... 'PoonFest.

Back in the early days of our marriage, Cathy and I lived in Waterbury, Connecticut. We were young(er) and in love, and we took pleasure in simple things. We had to, they were all we could afford. At the time, one of the cheap simple things was gasoline, and we traveled around New England as much as we could. Which is how we wound up in Boston for what was, apparently, the first Harpoon Octoberfest. Who knew?

We had a great, great time, drinking, whooping it up, and grinning like idiots at having found a beer event that was bigger than three brewers standing at tables talking to 50 people. Needless to say, Harpoon Octoberfest has grown to be quite a bit more than that...they expect 14,000 people this year. Well, you know, Harpoon just keeps growing!

Here's what they've got:

Two massive tents will be erected at Harpoon, transforming the brewery’s parking lot into a Bavarian-style beer garden. A wide selection of Harpoon beers will be poured on draft featuring the brewery’s Marzen-style fall seasonal offering, Harpoon Octoberfest Beer. Live oompah bands will entertain with traditional waltzes and lead the crowd in the beloved chicken dance. Sauerkraut-stuffed bratwurst and knockwurst will be served alongside mustard-covered pretzels.

20 years of Harpoon Octoberfest this weekend, October 2 and 3. Get to the website for details.

Killmeyer's: That's a lot of beer

There's a great place on Staten Island that I don't talk about enough, considering how I've probably been there more often than any other bar in NYC, with the possible exception of d.b.a. It's Killmeyer's Old Bavarian Inn, a great German joint that I've been enjoying for years, including one really nasty night of snow on Long Island when I holed up there to get my nerve and spirits back online before heading home. It's a place that resonates with me (mind you, parking can be a bitch), even though I've never been to any of their great-sounding events. Like, for instance, the one they're having this Sunday, which just sounds fantastic:

Our 10th ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST BEER TASTING-PIG ROAST will be held this Sunday afternoon at 2:00 sharp. Latecomers, even with reservations, might not get seats for this event. You can’t walk into the middle of this; it is a full program. Only pre-purchased reservations are guaranteed seats. This year we will taste approximately 30 seasonal brews. $35 includes beer and pig dinner.

$35? Thirty beers and a pig dinner? But wait, that's not all! You also get music!

THE HAPPY TONES, the Original Octogenarians of Oktoberfest, will be here not only every Sunday afternoon but also every Saturday afternoon during Oktoberfest. This Sunday, they are joined by JERRY COYNE and the HEIMATT-GRUPPER DANCERS.

Crap. And I'm already scheduled. One of these days...

Oktoberfest at One Guy gets permission to "oompah"

Just got a note from Guy Hagner at One Guy Brewing in Berwick; the brewpub has been cleared for live music by the borough of Berwick's zoning panel. The vote was unanimous, and as soon as Hagner and partner Tom Clark can get an amusement permit from the PLCB, the music will play. One Guy's Oktoberfest is planned for the weekends of October 8-11 and 15-18 (both of which I will probably miss, dammit).

Another little titbit:

"Also, One Guy Brewing might change its name, Hagner said. When he opened the business 19 months ago, he ran everything by himself. Now, he has a business partner, Tom Clark, and several employees."

Jeebus Christmas, now that would be a dumb move. One Guy is a name that stands out, it's quirky in a real good way, and it captures the smallness that so many people find appealing about craft beer. And there's still only one Guy! Hope they think long and hard about this!

Iron Hill does some pretty damned good German

Hey, I forgot about this, but it's been a damned busy month. Iron Hill has a great prix fixe German dinner on this month for Oktoberfest, two courses of wicked tasty meat. First course is a sausage salad: grilled bratwurst and knockwurst on braised lentils, with a big healthy helping of watercress, drizzled all over with thinned stone ground mustard. Not enough meat fer ya? The second course is roasted pork tenderloin with beer-braised red cabbage, house made apple sauce (which was wicked delish), and mashed potatoes with gingersnap gravy.

Let me tell you...Good eating. Cathy and I had this a few weeks ago at North Wales, and while I was tempted by Vienna, pilsner, and Ofest, I tried the dark lager first...and just stuck to that. Damned good beer. (If they've got the apple pie when you're there, well, it goes with that, too!)

Tasting with the Times: Oktoberfest!

One last post for September: I was lucky enough to get invited to participate in another New York Times beer tasting panel, and the story's out in tomorrow's paper...which you can read today. Until it's tomorrow, at which time you'll be reading it, um, today. Then. Tomorrow. Go read it now.

I don't talk much about these sessions: that's Eric Asimov's job, and he does it well. We tasted 24 beers, blind, and then talked them out. I will say that there were a larger number of "in-style" beers than usual, which I found interesting: have American brewers picked up the torch and decided to keep this "more traditional" than the Germans? Maybe. Meanwhile, get those liter mugs: Pros't, baby!

Blue & Gray Oktoberfest

A bit out of my local area, but a fun event at a chronically overlooked brewery:

Blue & Gray Brewing in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is having their 6th annual Oktoberfest this weekend. We've been to this in the past, and it's a great time: oompah, sausage, beer, the whole thing, and believe me, the beer is excellent. Check the schedule at the link above, but it's very reasonable (and yes, they're doing it rain or shine; the rain should have passed through by Saturday afternoon). Stop by and see these phenomenally friendly bunch of folks, and enjoy a little Virginia-style gemütlichkeit!

Fall is here, and lots of events

It's officially fall beer season, now that Fall's officially begun and the Munich Oktoberfest is under way. So here's some of the stuff going on around the greater Philadelphia area.

This weekend, as I mentioned here, is the Philly Oktoberfest. I also have two book signings with Mark Haynie for New Jersey Breweries: the first, the fun, the big one at the Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill, Friday night 5-7. Talked to Casey Hughes last night, and he's talking about breaking out some Puckerfish and maybe some other fun stuff. The other signing is at the Borders in Marlton, NJ, Saturday afternoon, 1-3. Can't promise you beer, but we'll tell you all kinds of stories about what we went through to get the book done. And as Uncle Jack mentions, this weekend is also the Victory Fallfest on Saturday and the venerable Sippin' By The River on Sunday (a worthy benefit for IBD and Crohn's Disease research).

Now, the following weekend is a big one. The Lion hosts their 4th annual Oktoberfest, and the event and the beer just keep getting better (Friday and Saturday, Oct 3-4). The 4th is the justly famed Kennett Square Brewfest, and if I weren't speaking at the World Beer Festival in Durham, I guarantee you I'd be in Kennett. And the Grey Lodge has 10-4 Good Buddy, a celebration of small plates and small beers, which should be fun too.

The next weekend, well, there's some stuff going on, but I'll be in San Francisco for WhiskyFest, and most of the brewers will be in Denver for GABF, so you're on your own. You might want to check out the River Horse Oktoberfest in Lambertville -- they've been doing some excellent beers lately; Double White, anyone? -- which is no admission, pay as you go, with live music, both days 12-5.

But the following weekend is big. There's the Stoudt's Micro Fest on Saturday (two sessions), the Newtown Brewfest on Saturday (long sold out; I couldn't even get a ticket), World Cafe Live will have another one of their neat little indoor beerfests with thirty German brewers (including folks like Weltenburger, Schneider, Flensburger, and and Weihenstephaner, along with the usual suspects), and a little farther off, the 5th Annual Chesapeake Bay Real Ale Festival in Baltimore, at the Wharf Rat (27 firkins!). Then Sunday, October 19, join me at the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Oktoberfest in Newark! From 1-5, you can get all the best from NJ's award-winning brewers and get your copy of New Jersey Breweries signed; what more could you ask?

Well, maybe one more thing. I got a nice little e-mail from Chick's Cafe, where, yes, Katie Loeb is still PhillyMag's most innovative cocktail creator of the year. They have received their license for sidewalk drinking, so enjoy the mellow evenings of autumn. Might have to do a little of that myself.

Busy, busy, busy

I've got a lot to do today and tomorrow before leaving for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival on Thursday, so I'm going to shove a lot into this post and get back to work.

Let's see...last Friday I got a call from Dean Browne, the big Canadian fella (who, concidentally, I spent some quality time with sipping whiskey at last year's Kentucky Bourbon Festival) who does brewing and all-round stuff at Philadelphia Brewing Co. (while working as a...software wallah of some kind, I'm not clear on that). His third job is brewing for Porterhouse Pub out in Lahaska, which is why he called. Dean has four lagers on at the Pub now, and he asked me if I wanted to come out and taste them. So I did.

Dean lined up four lagers for me: Phightin' Philsner, Left Field, North, and Peacekeeper. All four were clean, well-brewed, and drinkable; a little detail is in order, because I think they maybe need some small tweaks. The Philsner was good -- hoppy, drinkable -- but needed to be crisper; it had a bit too much body for a pils. Left Field was a Vienna style, and I pretty much liked it the way it was, and it was the beer I went for a pint of; could maybe use a bit deeper color, but that's quibbling. North was a dry-hopped deep amber; good, but if you're going to dry-hop, I'd go a bit bigger on that. Peacekeeper is a Baltic porter (named in honor of the Canadian Armed Forces and their usual mission) that was pretty damned good for a 6% Baltic (before any of you go off, there are Baltics in that range); I'd maybe like to see some more attenuation here...but you want some beef to a Baltic, so maybe I'm just being picky. Wouldn't hurt to go a bit bigger and pick up beef that way. Anyway, four good lagers (plus PBC beers like Walt Wit and Kenzinger) makes a good reason to visit Porterhouse (as if the excellent food and sweet ambiance weren't enough). Nice job, Dean; and I only pick cuz you asked.

Yesterday Cathy and I were invited to Iron Hill North Wales to sample their new Oktoberfest two-course Oktoberfest dinner...and hang out with brewer Larry Horwitz on his birthday, since his new wife, Whitney, had to work late. I had a glass of Dunkel, which was delicious: clean, malty, just a hint of chocolate. Two courses: a sausage 'salad' of grilled bratwurst and knockwurst arranged on a nicely done warm lentil salad, with mustard and some kind of watercress-like greens; and roasted pork loin (Iron Hill chefs are pig-meat geniuses) with gingersnap gravy, chunky mashed potatoes, and baby carrots. A very nice meal, quite German (except for those greens!), and perfect with another glass of Dunkel. I had coffee with a piece of apple-raspberry pie we split three ways; also very good, with a sweet streusel topping. Whew. Gonna have to hit the bike trail mid-day.

Later this week, as I said, I'm headed for Kentucky. Dinner with Maker's Mark Man Bill Samuels, the Bourbon Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the Bourbonian Taster of the Year competition, and, of course, The Gala: a full schedule, and I will definitely attempt to blog more of it this year. (Honestly, Sam, the real issue is finding wi-fi in Bardstown!) I'll also be hitting the liquor stores to find only-in-Kentucky bottlings...because I don't have enough bourbon...

And then the following weekend, September 27, Mark and I will be signing New Jersey Breweries at the Borders in Marlton, from 1 to 3 in the afternoon (and you might find me picking up a pizza for dinner at Pietro's, after). Come on out and see us!

Of course...if you do, that means that you, like us, will be missing the Philly Oktoberfest '08, a big gala of German and German-type beers put on at the 23rd Street Armory: food, music, and BEER. Tickets are $45, there's also a $75 VIP ticket, and it runs from 1 to 5 PM (VIP session starts at noon). Get all the info here. Believe me, if I weren't at the booksigning, I'd be there.

Sly Fox Oktoberfest

I stopped by Sly Fox Royersford and picked up a quarter of Oktoberfest for Labor Day weekend with Cathy's family in upstate NY. We like Oktoberfest beers. So I get there with the kids, we have a good lunch (with, unfortunately, some sub-par service...which, unfortunately, has generally been our lot at Royersford, which is why we usually go to the original Sly Fox in Phoenixville), and get hold of brewer Brian O'Reilly to hook up with the keg.

After I wrote him a check for the beer and deposit ($30 deposit, not bad, these days), he starts hauling out bottles of beer he wants me to have. (Larry Horwitz, brewer at Iron Hill North Wales, tells me O'Reilly's always like this: "He gives me beer," Larry wails, "like I need more beer!"). Two of the bottles were 22 oz. Oktoberfest. But Brian, I said, I'm buying a whole 1/4 keg of Ofest! "Take 'em," he says, "you can drink them at home."

So today I am, at least one of them. And it's bringing back the pleasure of Labor Day weekend. This is a solid festbier, with that beautiful copper color, big malty aroma, solid hefty body, a great finish. Extremely drinkable, too, as I found out on the holiday (note: when you have a keg back at the house, do not ride your bike over to the local beer bar, meet with your bros-in-law, knock back three pints of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale...and then go back and tap the keg).

Anyway, the only small complaints I'd have is that it maybe drinks a bit boozy (it's only 5.8%, according the SF website) for its weight -- there are bigger beers that don't taste this strong -- and might be a bit over-carbonated: there's some perceived bitterness that seems a bit much for festbier. I suspect it is carbonation, because it's mellowed as it sits in my mug.

Minor issues. Good with a lunch of spaghetti bolognese (left over from two nights ago; I bought round steak and ground it at home, deliciously fresh), good after lunch is over, and just great over Labor Day. I love this time of year. Bring on the Autumn!

Oktoberfest is coming...

...which makes this too cool not to share. A Google map of the beer gardens of Munich (with a couple little bonus bits). I may have to get a color printer after all.