Thursday, Oct. 01, 2009
achtung baby: oktoberfest is here
Thanks to pop culture, most Americans know three German words: 1. From U2's album, "Achtung, baby!"
2. From Volkswagon's old ad campaign, farfegnuegen.
3. From a bumper sticker: fukengruven.
Oddly enough, two of those don't appear in my Harper Collins German Dictionary.
So when I organized and detailed the list of beers that will be available at Valor Park at The Market Common's second annual Oktoberfest on Saturday, I realized I would have to add a glossary at the end. (You can find the list with glossary elsewhere in this special section.)
The beer styles were going to require a little more knowledge of the German language than what we've picked up casually in the United States.
That's because our local Oktoberfest - sponsored by the Surge, Festival Promotions, and The Market Common - will have approximately 24 German or German-inspired beers.
Most of the beers are time-honored German brews, like märzens (October brews), doppelbocks (double-dark beers), and hefeweizens (wheat beers).
In other words, it's an Oktoberfest with some German weight to it, not just an autumnal festival with a few beers thrown in.
How it started
The original Oktoberfests, ages ago, resulted from practical concerns about brewing, which had to wrap up in March before the advent of refrigeration, according to BeerAdvocate.com. Brewing in warmer weather presented some challenges, so some beers were brewed in March - or Märzen - before the summer heat kicked in, then aged in cold storage (or brewed at higher gravity) until September or October. So a märzen was ready in September or October - a worthy occasion for a festival. Brewing of other beers would resume in the cooler autumn months.
Our local, present-day Oktoberfest resulted from different practical concerns. This, the second annual Oktorberfest for The Market Common, was scheduled for a day when marketing manager Hatton Gravely had to be out of town. She asked Mike Shank of Festival Promotions for help. When the inaugural Myrtle Beach Beer Fest - held March 28 at Valor Park, with the same core sponsors - drew good crowds on a cloudy and somewhat wet day, Gravely and Shank decided they could make beer a bigger part of this year's Oktoberfest.
Shank worked with Southern Wine and Spirits, Yahnis, Better Brands, Advintage, and Carolina Craft distributing companies to select a group of autumnal, German-style beers.
Kulturleben!
Yet it's not just about the beer. Saturday's Oktoberfest will be one of the better cultural events in the Myrtle Beach area this year. The fest features authentic German music by The Rheingold Band and German food from Roy & Sid's and nearby Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery. It's family-friendly, too, with several activities for kids, and a couple of wines available for Mom if she isn't into beer.
There's one big difference between this Oktoberfest and the Myrtle Beach Beer Fest back in March. Instead of paying an admission price for unlimited samples, beers will be sold individually by the bottle or cup, with a price range of $3-$5. The wines will be $5 per glass.
Two previews
I recently bought a bottle each of two beers that will be part of the Oktoberfest. World Market in Seaboard Commons sells single bottles of beer for $1.89, so I picked up Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles and Victory's Festbier. Here's a preview.
Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles: This amber ale has hops that smell as strong as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The folks at Magic Hat were definitely thinking autumn when they brewed this one, because even with the toasty flavor in the malt, it finishes like a crisp breeze.
Victory's Festbier: The malt flavor reminded me of roasted pine nuts, while the richness might seem a little like toffee. Even with the roasted flavors, it seems more sweet than bitter.
Try these and more at the Oktoberfest. I'll see you there.
Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com.