Your Annual Guide to Oktoberfest in NYC
Festbier season is upon us, and I savor a really good beer day
Every now and then, I have an absolutely perfect day that I’ll look back on for years to come. Last Friday was one of those. It was a partly sunny, coolish day in Brighton, England, and after some breakfast and a long walk along taking in the sea air wafting over the English Channel, I stopped by The Hole in the Wall, a gem of a pub that’s tucked away a block off of the beach. This cozy spot had such warm, friendly vibes, down to the fellow patrons I ended up sipping pints of Neptune Wooden Ships Pale Ale and Left Handed Giant Dark Mild with over chats about life in New York and our respective strange vocabularies.
Next, I took off to Lewes, a quaint town about ten miles away, where I first visited Abyss Brewing, where their sunny patio was buzzing with folks drinking delicious hazy pale ales and eating burritos from their on-site Mexican kitchen. I happily joined them and left satisfied. Walking south through town, I meandered through narrow lanes until a street turned into a path surrounded by open spaces and white cliffs, until coming across a seemingly out-of-place industrial park that’s home to Beak Brewery, a spot that had been on my to-do list for several years based on word of mouth and Lily Waite’s Good Beer Hunting profile of the brewery back in February. I walked in and immediately saw they had Statues, a Finback collab on tap — naturally, it had to be the first thing I ordered (against my better judgement, of course; it was a 10% Triple IPA). Several stunningly good beers were had, conversations with other customers and the staff were had, and I enjoyed every second there. As the night drew to a close, the street food vendor offered me a free slice of their deep-fried lasagna, and a customer I had been talking to offered me a ride back to Brighton. Everything just fell perfectly into place.
Every stressful workday, every mundane moment dealing with the daily grind, every morning spent sweating it out on a stuffy subway platform, every evening that I sit bored on my couch at home — all of those are worth it for a day like this. Savor the good days… I hope you can have one even half as enjoyable as this one soon.
Your Annual NYC Guide to Celebrating Oktoberfest
You might not be able to tell from how it feels outside this week, but it’s that time of the year again — time to celebrate the seasonal tradition of drinking copious amounts of German-style beer to coincide with next week’s start of Oktoberfest in Munich.
For a little history: Oktoberfest began in 1810 as a celebration of the wedding of King Ludwig I to his bride Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The celebration grew as time went on, and has been held 187 times, with occasional cancellations due to war and disease — in fact, this is the first edition since 2019 due to Covid-19. It has grown into a two and a half week party that brings over six million people to Munich each year.
But wait, it’s September. Why do they call it Oktoberfest? Well, it was originally celebrated in October, but the Germans were practical about things: the weather in better in September, and their beer — usually brewed in July and August — is fresher, too.
So, from September 16th to October 3rd in Munich, millions of gallons of beer will be consumed in seventeen huge tents dedicated to the mainstays of German brewing: Spaten, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Hacker-Pschorr each have several tents, where they serve up a Maß, a one-liter glass of their beer, for around $15 US. Only beer brewed in Munich can be served at the event, and it’s mostly Märzen and its paler cousin Festbier that you’d be drinking there.
Anyway, if you can’t make it to Munich this year, there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate Oktoberfest here at home in New York. So, here’s a rundown of some of the ways our local bars and breweries are observing the event:
Bronx Brewery gets into the Oktoberfest spirit early this year with a celebration this Sunday in their backyard in Port Morris starting at noon, with beats from DJ Nique and a live performance from the Street Beat Brass Band. Oh — and plenty of beer, too — $20 gets you a stein and a 16-ounce pour of the Das Bronx, and they’ll have $25 pitcher specials, too.
Loreley, a longtime German beer stalwart on the Lower East Side, will host their Oktoberfest celebration every day from September 14th through October 31st. Food and drink specials, steins of beer, Saturday keg tappings, and Sunday pig roasts are all part of the lineup, and there’s no cover to get into the fun.
Strong Rope Brewery’s Strongtoberfest returns next Friday, September 15th. Starting at 2pm and lasting well into the evening, their Red Hook location will celebrate the arrival of fall with live music, traditional food, a stein hoisting contest, and Oktoberfest beers from Strong Rope and eight more local breweries. It’s a free, pay-as-you-go event.
Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg hosts three consecutive Saturday celebrations on September 16th, 23rd and 30th, offering loads of German beer, a live brass band, mug holding competitions, and a ceremonial keg tapping each Saturday.
Saturday the 16th is the first-ever Wild East Brewing Oktoberfest at their taproom in Gowanus. Starting at 2pm, they’ll throw a party with German-style food, the release of their new Festbier, guest taps of German-style beer, a stein-hoisting competition, and much more!
Both locations of Black Forest Brooklyn will celebrate Oktoberfest starting September 16th and running every weekend through October 21st. It’s the tenth year of their party, which includes proper German decor, an oompah band, food and drink specials, a mug-holding competition, and a costume contest (don your best lederhosen). Tickets for both their Cobble Hill and Fort Greene locations are $15, and there’s an add-on package for three hours of unlimited beer.
Longtime East Village German spot Zum Schneider still lives on in spirit each year with their Oktoberfest celebration, Munich in Brooklyn in East Williamsburg, which is back at 3 Dollar Bill for a second year. Drink beer under the tent, with tickets available from September 29th through October 8th. It’s arguably one of the most traditional celebrations in the city, with traditional music, beer in liter steins, German food, and a boisterous atmosphere under the tent. Tickets are required and can be purchased in advance.
TALEA is hosting an Oktoberfest party at both their Williamsburg and Cobble Hill locations all day on Saturday, September 30th. A ticket gets you a stein and unlimited fills of their beers for a two and a half hour session. They’ll be food specials at both locations and plenty of games to keep things as light and airy as their taprooms themselves.
The Grand Delancey will be hosting their Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, October 7th with a wide array of both American and German-brewed German-style beers from the likes of Bierstadt, Fox Farm, Fraugruber, and Traunstein. All German-style drafts will be available in half-liter and full liter mugs along with two-liter boots. They’ll have food specials and lots of cheersing from noon to close.
And while there probably won’t be as much lederhosen being donned at the NYC Brewers Guild’s Blocktoberfest, it’s worth mentioning it’s happening on September 30th from 1-5pm. The fall celebration of New York City beer (and fundraiser for the guild) happens in Industry City’s Courtyard 1&2 this year, featuring pours from many of the city’s best brewers. Tickets are on sale now.
The Weekly Reader
A New York-based brewer is making batches with unmalted barley, saving water and CO2 [Don Tse, Forbes]
European-Style Lager is practically made for the Gulf Coast [Owen Racer, Good Beer Hunting]
On the heels of Labor Day, staff at an AB-owned brewery in Seattle announced they unionized [Harry Cheadle, Eater Seattle]
The story of the Honey Deuce, a Flushing Meadows tradition since 2006 [Hannah Staab, Vinepair]
One Last Thing
If you’ve been a longtime New York beer drinker, you might remember Sixpoint playing host to Beer for Beasts, a fundraiser to benefit the New York Humane Society (for several years, it was co-hosted with Beer Advocate and held at The Bell House). After a long hiatus, Sixpoint is bringing the event back, next Saturday, September 16th from noon-5pm at Industry City’s Courtyard 1&2. The event is free and all-ages, and will feature a lineup of Sixpoint beers, including one exclusive to Beer for Beasts. You can buy a $25 ticket in advance that includes two beers and a Beer for Beasts t-shirt. Proceeds, as is tradition, will benefit the New York Humane Society.
Cheers,
Chris
Blocktoberfest is Saturday September 30th friend!
might be off to London next March for a few days, and if so, may just pop on over to Brighton. definitely saving your perfect Friday from last week for reference.