The Fall Festival and Autumn Extravaganza

Well,

The fall festival came and went with nary a hitch. The weather was spectacularly good for November 1st, and that lent itself to a nice turn out and a nice evening. The patio heater was not the star this year, an honor taken by the newly built fire pit. Smore's were roasted. Beer was consumed.

Lot's of beer actually. We killed a full 1/2 Barrel of Paulaner Oktoberfestbier. Man is that stuff good. I got really lucky when I called Total Wine, they had one solitary keg of Paulaner Oktoberfest left, and I was all over it.

A brief explanation of 'festbier. Oktoberfestbier is a true seasonal beer. They slow ferment the beer over the summer, in preparation for Oktoberfest and when its gone, they don't make any more until the next year. There are six major producers of true Oktoberfestbier, which is served in the major beer tents in Munich in the annual party to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810. Generally the beers are a style called Märzen, which is a lager style of beer, typically dark gold to amber in color with a fairly complex malt flavor and fairly minimal hops. Oh yeah, they usually have a slightly higher alcohol content than the typical lager as well. Personally, I find 'festbeir to be really drinkable and extremely tasty. It's a fairly simple beer that most people can relate to, while at the same time extremely high quality. The standards and the ingredients are absolutely the best the german producers can get, yielding a very good beer for a fall party!!

So at the Fall Festival this year, a lot of our friends got introduced to the wonders of a proper seasonal lager. Hopefully next year, we can do it again!

Thanks
- J