In writing 101 or whatever school-related cliche you prefer, you learn to hook your reader in the first sentence, by introducing your topic and piquing their curiosity. I’m not going to do that (obviously, at this point). I could put together something about “the best Oktoberfest outside Munich” etc, but I think, instead, I’ll let the master hook you. Ladies and Gentlemen, Walter Ostenak:
In drinking culture, there are two times that most people use as an excuse to drink a lot of beer. For me, it’s AM and PM, but we’ll leave that. For most other people, it’s St Patrick’s Day, and Oktoberfest. The bulk of people who imbibe around these iconic days are mostly not Irish or German, yet they happily don Irish football/rugby shirts (St Pat’s), lederhosen (Oktoberfest) or silly hats (both) and enjoy many fine pints of ale. Because of this, just about anybody will throw themed events at the appropriate time of year, in whatever environment they are in, with whatever product they prefer to sell. Count yourself lucky you don’t get the mountain of press releases I do. I bet you didn’t know about the highly authentic Irish cocktail made with lime juice (green) and everybody’s favourite rum from Jamaica…… So suffice to say, I’m always a bit skeptical of events around these dates.
That being said, I was excited when I first heard about Beau’s hosting an Oktoberfest event. If you follow along, you’ll know that I am a big fan of Beau’s. Their beers are great, their staff excellent, their events fun-filled and well executed. I didn’t manage to get to their Oktoberfest weekend last year, but this year my loving beer-widow wife gave me the green light. The whole long (long long long) drive to Vankleek Hill I was super excited.
I had no idea just how amazing this event was actually going to be.
The Venue
Vankleek Hill is a fairly small town. Beau’s brewery is just outside of the “core” (where the stop lights are), and is a good sized place that hosts events, but nowhere near big enough for this party. No, for this, Beau’s needs to use the fairgrounds. All of them. Between multiple beer gardens (6? I didn’t count), a kids area, the food tents, retail/service (tokens etc), the two stages, space for feats of strength (seriously) and camping area, not to mention parking and logistics space, this party is measured in acres. The Vankleek Hill fairgrounds are what you would expect: farm style wooden fences, some country buildings (barns, horse ring, etc) and lots of space. When I arrived around 4pm on Saturday, the space was at least 3/4 full, but was still quite comfortable and easy to move around in.
The Beer
There was plenty. Every garden featured a few different Beau’s beers, from flagship brands — their fall seasonal Night Marzen in particular — to cool one-offs (Boom Gose The Dynamite wins for both best name and best specialty brew from the hosts). There was one garden given over wholly to Ralph Moranna and the crew from Volo, who host a pre-Cask Days event. It was a bigger cask festival than the first full Cask Days in 2005 (thanks to Jordan St John for cooking the numbers). I’ve forgotten the exact measurements, but I feel like a token got you a 12oz cup of beer, and tokens were 3 for $10. In the Cask Days garden a token got you two 4oz samples. I will gladly accept corrections/clarifications on this matter. Regardless, for not a whole heap of money, I drank a whole heap of beer. As mentioned, Boom Gose The Dynamite by Beau’s was a top pick of mine. A traditional German style wheat beer that is a bit sour and salty (as it has salt added to it), it’s definitely not for everybody, but I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. I also spent a decent amount of time in the Cask Days garden, where I can proudly say I had a glass of everything on the list that I was unfamiliar with. There, my favourite was Le Trou du Diable “Mactavish in Memoriam” American Pale Ale; I made a pretty serious dent in that cask. Like the full Cask Days event in Toronto, there were a variety of solid cask beers, some really eccentric and creative one-offs, and plenty of unknowns, even for a fairly experienced beer geek. If you are not familiar with Cask Days, check out http://caskdays.com/ and get your tickets; the best beer festival in Toronto happens this weekend.
Night Marzen
Funny enough, the first time I had Beau’s fall seasonal beer, it was at Cask Days. I was amazed at how lovely it was, not having had access to many high-quality German-style beers in Ontario. Marzen is one of the classic Oktoberfest styles of beers (along with Helles lager and Weissebeir), and Night Marzen is a lovely example of the style, albeit on the low side for alcohol. All beers sold at Oktoberfest in Munich must be made to German law, within the city of Munich and have an abv of at least 6%. It is sold only by the Maß (mass, one litre stein). Night Marzen at 5.5% in a 600ml bottle is a reasonable Canadian take on the classic.
Beau’s All Natural Night Marzen
From a distinctive Beau’s 600ml bottle (that comes in their hand 4-pack), Night Marzen pours a dark amber with hints of red in the centre. A dense 1″ foamy head drops slightly then stays around until it has all been transferred to your upper lip. Aroma is malty and rich. Generous yeast comes through giving a bread dough quality, and hints of herbal German hops are present too. Taste is more balanced, as big caramel sweet malts (I’m assuming there’s a good bit of Munich malt in here) on the front of your palate get checked by a crisp herbal hop bitterness on the finish. Not lingering, nicely dry and quick, as you would expect from a well-made German-style lager. This is a classic session-beer, equally drinkable from bottles, kegs or casks. A perfect festival beer, to be sure.
Food
There was a lot. I am somewhat guilty in admitting this, but I ate almost nothing at the event, other than soft pretzels with mustard. Most of the food was meat-heavy, and ranged from German-style sausage dishes, to BBQ to deli sandwiches and beyond. There were vegetarian options as well, but, alas, I didn’t try any. Around dinner time, line-ups did get a bit long, but the crowds were friendly and the staff efficient, meaning the wait time was not terrible.
People
Here is where things went from great to magical. You see, as I mentioned, this type of event can be a “dude” magnet. Replete with NFL shirts, fist-bumping, heavy use of the word “bro” and an undignified level of alcohol consumption. Not so at Beau’s.
No fists were bumped in the making of this image.
The crowd ranged from beer geeks in from Toronto, to young families there with kids (who cleared out before dark), to young folks who just wanted to enjoy beer, to hardcore Oktoberfest-ers, to locals who just wanted to come out for a fun festival. And everybody seemed to be cool with just being there, eating and drinking, and enjoying themselves. I bumped into a guy in one of the gardens (literally) and we both spilled a lot of beer. So we both apologized. We then discussed what we had drank and enjoyed (he was a macro-drinker moving into craft and was really digging Night Marzen. I told him he had to try some of the Cask Days beers). Crazy, right? Civility at an Oktoberfest party. Sunday morning saw a shift in the balance towards 50s+, I’m assuming because they have more experience recovering from a long day’s drinking than most of the young folk. I chatted for 10 minutes to a couple who were in from Nova Scotia, visiting friends, and they came to the festival on a lark. They were in the Cask Days garden (I told you I spent a lot of my time there) and were trying out a wide range of beers. Throughout Saturday evening and Sunday, I hung out with friends from the city, friends from Beau’s, and random people from all over. I didn’t see a single fight. I don’t even recall hearing raised voices. Just 6000 or so happy people having a great time.
Entertainment
Wait, what? Great beer, good food and happy people aren’t enough for you? In this modern age of constant stimulation you need more? Well, okey-dokey.
What country festival is complete without a dunk tank? As is often the case, it was all for charity. This year’s beneficiaries were Ottawa-based food system advocates Justfood (www.justfood.ca); Ottawa’s homeless youth charity Operation Come Home (www.operationcomehome.ca); and the Vankleek Hill Agricultural Society. As fundraising thresholds were reached, increasingly important Beau’s staff were dunked in the tank. I think Bartle went for a sawbuck. Steve was the top prize. I don’t know if he ended up in there, but as it was filled with their Beaver River I.P.eh, I wouldn’t be surprised if he jumped in, regardless. In addition to the dunk tank, there was the keg toss (hosted by legit highland games competitors; if you want to safely throw a keg 10 metres into the air, you want these guys to be lending support), the beer stein holding contest (full, of course) and the wife-carrying race (winner scored his wife’s weight in beer). I know you know I mentioned a stage, it was there, and in addition to Walter Ostenak it was graced by Hollerado, Plants and Animals, and The Hawk, Ronnie Hawkins. For real. The dude who gave The Band their first job. Just amazing. There was also a number of talks given on all things craft beer, to help educate the various folks from various stages who had come out. There was probably more, but I was too busy drinking beer and hanging out.
Accommodation
A key to this type of event is good access to places to sleep. While Vankleek Hill isn’t long on beds to let, Beau’s runs a shuttle bus to Ottawa where there is a variety of options in a variety of price ranges. Better though, they provided ample space for camping/RVs. This is where I slept, and quite happily too, in the back of my station wagon with the seats down. I know one of the Beau’s reps from Toronto rented an RV with his wife as they were there for the better part of a week. There were elaborate RVs with people who set up little spaces out front with seats, coolers and BBQs. There were VW Westafalias with their tops popped up. Stacks of tents, ranging from fairly cheap Canadian Tire models to highly technical 4-season expedition shelters. Me in my Jetta. Absolutely the way to go, when you’re making your plans for next year. Free, and within walking distance to the festival, to the brewery (though there is a shuttle too) and to the after-party.
To summarize 1500 words
Just an amazing event. Well planned and executed, by people who take their parties as seriously as they take making beer. Highlights for me were entirely people-related: Seeing a variety of different people all drinking and enjoying excellent craft beer, particularly in the Cask Days garden; seeing that many people just out having a wonderful time. Mind you, the beer was pretty awesome too. I have no doubt I will go back next year; I’m hoping to make it for all three days.
Prost to Beau’s for a job really really well done. This was, no doubt, the best Oktoberfest outside Munich. See you guys at Cask Days!
