It’s the most wonderful time of the year. On an annual basis, I wait with anticipation for the dates to be announced. The minute tickets go on sale, I buy them, knowing full well they’ll sell out. It’s like a second Christmas to me, but with more beer.
I’m talking about Beau’s Oktoberfest, of course. Christmas for beer geeks. I’ve been to a decent amount of beer festivals, and this one is by far the best. There are just so many things that are done right, from the location to the drool-inducing food, and—of course—the beer.
My eyes glaze over a bit thinking about the special, one-off beers made just for this occasion. Beau’s produces beers specifically for this event, available only during Oktoberfest. They only featured a couple the first year I went, but now they’ve extended it to five special beers. Naturally, I set out to try as many of them as I could.
This year was my third year at Beau’s Oktoberfest. Thankfully, this year I was blessed with nice weather—a stark contrast to last year’s rainy, muddy affair.
Once we arrived at the Vankleek Hill fairground, we set our sights on the beers we wanted to try. I decided to try “One Ping Only,” Beau’s attempt at a Baltic porter. It was smooth and malty, though just a tad cold, so the subtler tones of caramel and raisins didn’t come through.
We headed to the Craft Haus next, which had a variety of breweries showcasing their Oktober-best. I tried “Country Bumpkin” by Oast House Brewers, which was essentially a pumpkin spice latte in beer form.
For my next beer, I was on a mission. Last year, Oktoberfest had a beer called “Haters Gonna Hate.” Awesome name aside, I wanted to try the beer simply because the artwork was hilarious. There was a cartoonish depiction of a cat-headed man clad in a suit walking a little dog on the bottle. It sounds weird, but look it up—it’s wonderful.
I had the misfortune of “Haters Gonna Hate” running out last year before I tried it, so when they brought it back this year I had to have redemption. I was not disappointed. The beer was bitter, but refreshingly so, and tasted faintly like apples as it warmed up.
We took an interlude to enjoy the German-style dancing complete with lederhosen and dirndls. As evening set in, we took in the lovely country skyline with the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Pascale’s All Natural Ice Cream was the creamiest, and most deliciously chocolatey hot chocolate complete with a shot of Beau’s Tom Green Milk Stout.
For dinner, I set my sights on a schnitzel sandwich from North and Navy. The schnitzel was crisp with lots of lemon and on a homemade bun.
I capped off my Oktoberfest with Rumtopf, a take on a German dessert made with seasonal fruit and aged rum. The beer was a tad sweet for my tastes, but still interesting.
With the temperatures dropping well under 10 degrees and the sun long gone, we boarded the bus back to Ottawa. I may or may not have fell asleep with my mouth open. Das good Oktoberfest.
