Octoberfest is a 200 year old tradition that is celebrated well, in October, or is it? Technically it is a sixteen day festival originated in Germany that begins in late September and runs through the first Sunday in October. A tad bit misleading, since the rest of October is hung out to dry, but easily forgotten when you have a perfectly crafted Marzen/Octoberfest beer in your hands.
Marzen began as a brewing tradition, where brewers were only allowed to brew between late September and late April. The reason was that summer months were too hot for intense brewing, risking fire to communities and infection to the beer. Thus, these "March" beers had to be stored. With a little ingenuity, brewers used caves or crafted cellars, sometimes placing blocks of ice from nearby frozen ponds or lakes. What they had was basically a walk in cooler that kept temperatures cool enough during lagering. Whenever they needed to restock, they just simply had to remove a few large boulders or unearth the door. When summer ceased (late September), the remaining beer was recovered and properly consumed....heavily. Marzen itself is a heavier beer, either with alcohol content or hop content to aide in its survival of storage.
Octoberfest-like celebrations certainly have existed for centuries, but the official "Octoberfest" popularized by Germany, as stated above, is only dated back to 1812, where a festival of sorts to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen of Bavaria. The celebration was so popular, residents decided to repeat the tradition every year, and so, tradition began. Here in Michigan there are several events occuring at local breweries and brewpubs for you to enjoy, some are listed below.
Fort Street Brewery - Harvest Festival 9/23 - 27, new beers are being tapped every day in this celebration
Rochester MIll - Occurring this weekend outdoors complete with special beer, music, dancing, German foods (with a sauerkraut eating contest), children's activities, games, zoo, and more. $6 entry fee benefits the Make a Wish Foundation and YMCA North Oakland Swim Club. Inside tap room and restaurant has no cover.
Uptoberfest 10/10, Sponsored by the Michigan Brewers Guild, Upp-ers wont have to travel far to have a festival in their own backyard which will be held in Escanaba. 17 breweries are already attending, from all over the world.
Kuhnhenn Brewery Octoberfest 10/17
Michigan Brewers Guild Harvest Brewers Festival - 10/24, This is also a first for the MBG, in an expansion of events beyond the popular Summer and Winter Festivals, this event will be held at the historic Eastern Market in Detroit.
Dakota inn - Events throughout October.
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