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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Oktoberfest O’zapft is!

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Today is the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, one of the world’s most famous beer festivals, though the German consider it a folk festival. I confess I’ve never gone and while I’d like to go at least once in my lifetime, I suspect it’s one of those experiences where once will be enough. As has been the tradition since 1950, today the Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, tapped the first keg signaling the start of the festivities. In German, this tradition is called “O’zapft is!” meaning “it is tapped.” The first liter of beer poured was consumed by German premier Edmund Stoiber.

The festival will last sixteen days, ending, as it does each year, on the first Sunday in October. Since 1990, a modification has been introduced into the schedule so that is the first Sunday is either October 1st or 2nd then the festival will end on October 3rd, which is a holiday, German Unity Day, celebrating Germany’s reunification. This year, Oktoberfest ends on October 7. Unlike most beer festivals, it’s all day affair, with beer first served during weekdays at 10:00 am with last call not until 10:30 pm, and on the weekends things get started an hour earlier at 9:00 am.

There are over 100,000 seats in fourteen tents on just over 100 acres. About 72% attending are from locals from Bavaria with about 15% from outside Germany. Many of these aren’t used to handling a lot of alcohol and some pass out as a result of over-indulging. Locals call those who pass out “Bierleichen” (or if female, “Bierleiche”), which means “beercorpse.” Over the sixteen days of the festival last year the more than six and a half-million people attending Oktoberfest consumed an astounding:

  • Beer: 6.9 million litres (1.82 million gallons, or over 14.5 million pints)
  • Roasted steers: 102
  • Sausages: 144,635 pairs
  • Roast chickens: 494,135
  • Knuckles of pork: 43,492

Undoubtedly even more will be enjoyed this year.

 

One of the many Oktoberfest waitresses in the traditional “dirndl” dress (from the BBC’s Oktoberfest in Pictures) though the steins of beer are covering her bow. According to an AAP account, “[t]he dirndl has in any case become a fashion item this year. The knot in the bow reveals key information to potential suitors – on the right means the woman has a partner; on the left indicates she is available.”
 

Though the first Oktoberfest took place in 1810, it didn’t become an annual event until 1850. Here’s a history of the event, from the official website:

The Royal Wedding

Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12th October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event. The fields have been named Theresienwiese (“Theresa’s fields”) in honor of the Crown Princess ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the “Wies’n”.

Horse races in the presence of the Royal Family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.

The Oktoberfest continues in 1811

In 1811 an added feature to the horse races was the first Agricultural Show, designed to boost Bavarian agriculture.
The horse races, which were the oldest and – at one time – the most popular event of the festival are no longer held today. But the Agricultural Show is still held every three years during the Oktoberfest on the southern part of the festival grounds.

In the first few decades the choice of amusements was sparse. The first carousel and two swings were set up in 1818. Visitors were able to quench their thirst at small beer stands which grew rapidly in number. In 1896 the beer stands were replaced by the first beer tents and halls set up by enterprising landlords with the backing of the breweries.

The remainder of the festival site was taken up by a fun-fair. The range of carousels etc. on offer was already increasing rapidly in the 1870s as the fairground trade continued to grow and develop in Germany.

174th Oktoberfest 2007

Today, the Oktoberfest is the largest festival in the world, with an international flavor characteristic of the 21th century: some 6 million visitors from all around the world converge on the Oktoberfest each year.

And since the Oktoberfest is still held on the Theresienwiese, the locals still refer to the event simply as the “Wies’n”. So “welcome to the Wies’n” means nothing other than “welcome to the Oktoberfest”!

 

 

Jeremiah Was a Beerfest

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Sunday was the second day of the 4th annual Brews on the Bay, sponsored by the San Francisco Brewers Guild. Each year it’s been held on the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, a World War II era Liberty Ship docked at Pier 45 at Fisherman’s Wharf.

The S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien, with Alcatraz in the background.

21st Amendment owner/brewer Shaun O’Sullivan with Marty, one of the Jeremiah O’Brien volunteers.

 

For more photos from this year’s Brews on the Bay, visit the photo gallery.
 

Craft Lagerfest Winners

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Although in its fifth year, the Craft Lager Fest is a festival I have not had the opportunity to attend. But I like the idea of it, being another niche festival that highlights a particular style of beer, in this case lagers broadly. But since the majority of craft beer is undoubtedly ales, shining a spotlight on lager styles is a great idea. In fact, I have an article coming out in the next issue of American Brewer on this very subject, the rise of the small, niche festival.

The Craft Lager Festival takes place in a small town in Colorado, Manitou Springs, which is near Pikes Peak. This year they got 30 breweries from Hawaii to Boston participating. The winning breweries are listed below.
 

2007 Winners List

PILSENER

  1. Blue Paddle (New Belgium)
  2. La Plata Pilsener (Carver Brewing)
  3. Polestar Pilsener (Lefthand Brewing)

EXPORT/HELLES:

  1. Light Lager (Rock Bottom Colorado Springs)
  2. Longboard Island Lager (Kona Brewing)
  3. Session Beer (Full Sail Brewing)

BOCK:

  1. Ltd. #2 (Full Sail Brewing.)
  2. Rye Bock Lager (Lefthand Brewing)
  3. Butthead Bock (Tommyknockers)

STRONG LAGER:

  1. No 1st Place Awarded
  2. Warning Sign Eis Bock (Good Ol’ Boys Brewing COOP)
  3. Dutch (Rockyard American Grill & Brewery)

OKTOBERFEST/VIENNA/MARZEN:

  1. No 1st Place Awarded
  2. Steam Engine Lager (Steamworks Brewing)
  3. Ornery Amber (Tommyknockers)

OTHER SPECIALTY LAGER:

  1. Spring Tonic Elixir (Carver Brewing)
  2. Cerbeza Real (Carver Brewing)
  3. Hop Goblin (Il Vicino Albuquerque)

 

A Mammoth Time In Mammoth Lakes

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Earlier this month, the family and I drove the five plus hours to Mammoth Lakes, California, which is on the other side of the Sierras, near Mono Lake. It’s a bit of a trek to get there, especially with unruly toddlers in the back seat, but, in the end, well worth the trouble. If you’re a rock freak like I am, the place is just beautiful with all sort of alien landscapes with gorgeous views and places to explore. But the real reason we were in town was for the 12th annual Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza. This was my first time to this festival, but it’s won’t be my last. If you can manage to get yourself to this remote location in the seductive resort town of Mammoth Lakes, by all means go. This year there were over fifty craft brewers in attendance. But as great as the music is and as great as the beer festival is, be sure to save yourself some time to see the natural wonders that surround this wilderness area. There are parks galore with countless hiking trails, natural hot springs, volcanic remnants and, of course, Mono Lake. Beer, blues and Mother Nature. What more could you ask for of a weekend?

Arne Johnson and Shane Aldrich, both from Marin Brewing.

Brewer Chuck Silva from Green Flash Brewing.

“Crazy Dave” Heist from Hoptown Brewing.

For more photos from this year’s Mammoth Lakes Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza, visit the photo gallery.
 

Back to Portland

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With the roller coaster I’ve been on lately, I never had a chance to finish posting photos from this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival at the end of July.

So without further ado, here’s three — count ’em, three — days of fun at the Oregon Brewers Festival that even includes singing watermelons, sort of.

To see the photos from this year’s Oregon Brewer’s Festival, visit the photo gallery.
 

Bistro IPA Festival 2007

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The 10th annual IPA Festival at the Bistro in Hayward took place on Saturday, August 11, 2007. There were 54 different IPAs at the festival. The weather was perfect and because of the Toronado anniversary there were a number of beer people from around the country in town who also came over to Hayward.

Outside the festival with Publican Judy Ashworth, Former San Andreas Brewing owner Bill Millar, Stone Brewery’s brewmaster Mitch Steele and Bistro owner Vic Krajl.

A lot of beer people — brewers, publicans, salesmen, etc. — were in attendance at the festival.
 

For more photos from this year’s Bistro IPA Festival, visit the photo gallery.
 

Bistro’s IPA Festival Award Winners

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21st Amendment’s IPA was chosen best in show at the 10th annual IPA Festival yesterday at the Bistro in Hayward, California. The full list of winners is below.

 

 

 

First Tastes of the Fest

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After the parade on Thursday was the annual media tasting led by Noel Blake. In years past it was conducted before the festival began, but because of the parade this was no longer possible. But that also meant we were crowded around all of the other early festival-goers, which happily turned out not to be as bad as I thought it might be. Noel Blake has been our host of this event as long as I can remember, and he does a great job picking out several representative beers for everyone to sample and also explains what led to his choosing those particular beers.

Noel Blake using a bullhorn so he could be heard telling us about the beer in our glass.
 

Some of the beers we sampled were the following:

Bourbon Barrel Abbey Dubbel. The original goal of OBF was to showcase beers from around the country to educate and expose local consumers to craft beer. So while most of the beer at the festival is either from Oregon or nearby states like Washington and California, there are a few from farther afield. Probably the farthest perennial exhibitor is New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery, which has been sending beer to the festival for countless years. This year it was their abbey dubbel aged in a bourbon barrel. Malty and nutty, with some fruity esters and only a hint of the bourbon’s alchemy it was decent lighter dubbel.
 

Not quite open yet, Hopworks Urban Brewery is the brainchild of former Laurelwood brewer Christian Ettinger. They were pouring their Organic IPA, which was made with Amarillo, Centennial and Ahtanum hops. It’s a big hop monster, thick with flowery and citrusy hop aromas and flavors that stick to the roof of your mouth. I also had a chance to visit the brewery, which is still under construction. Look for a later post with photos from the new place.
 

Laurelwood Public House was pouring their PNW Pils, a pilsner with not only traditional Saaz hops but also Brewer’s Gold. It’s so well-hopped that it may as well be a big northwest hop because it’s only reminiscent of a pilsner. Really, it was more of a pilsner on steroids.

 

The TG Triple from Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, Oregon was one of my highlights for the festival. I’m not exactly sure how to describe it, because there’s no jumping off place to begin since it’s so far from what I think of when handed something called a “triple.” Strong, but not too strong (at 8.5% abv), rich, but not too rich, light, but not too light. It certainly tastes mild for a triple, but that’s not to say it isn’t full of flavor all its own. But really, who cares what it is, what’s important is that it’s a great beer.

 

At the media tasting: Rick Sellers, from Pacific Brew News, Merideth and Chris Nelson, The Beer Geek, and Meagan Flynn (at right) with her assistant, publisher of a new magazine — Beer NW — that will debut in October covering the beer scene in the Pacific Northwest.

Tom Dalldorf, publisher of the Celebrator, Fred Eckhardt, legendary Portland beer scribe, Meagan Flynn and our host, Noel Blake.

 

Mayor Leads Parade to Open Oregon Brewers Festival

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On Thursday, the 20th annual Oregon Brewers Festival began with a brunch at the Rogue Public House on NW Flanders in Portland. Afterwards, Portland’s mayor, Tom Potter, led a parade through the streets of town to the festival grounds at Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River.

Mayor Tom Potter with Chris Crabb as the parade begins.

Eventually, after winding through the streets of Portland, everyone massed across the street from the grounds and crossed the street to enter the festival.

The mayor tapped the ceremonial keg and shared the first pint with festival director Art Larrance, and the festival was declared officially open.

For more photos from this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival Parade, visit the photo gallery.
 

Brestfest ’07

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Saturday was the 7th annual Micro Breweries Battling Breast Cancer Brewfest (a.k.a. “Breastfest“) in the courtyard behind Marin Brewing in Larkspur, California. It’s a festival near and dear to my heart because I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was only 21 (and she was 42). It’s a small, crowded place — especially since it’s become so popular — but it’s worthy cause, as far as I’m concerned. There was a lot of good beer and friends in attendance, plus food, music and some pretty wonderful weather. All in all, a great event.

“Gabby” looking fetching in her pink hat, pouring 21st Amendment’s Watermelon Wheat.

Ken and a colleague, both sporting pink hair, from North Coast Brewing.

For more photos from this year’s Micro Breweries Battling Breast Cancer Brewfest, visit the photo gallery.