Oktoberfest is hosted in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, but you’re currently in New York. NO SWEAT, THOUGH. You can still celebrate Oktoberfest Bestfest, Edible’s compilation of five Oktoberfest-themed events.
How Not To Celebrate Oktoberfest Bestfest: Racquetball. A debate on Obamacare. The purchase of a 25-pack of Pilates sessions, instructed by Danny Aiello.
How To Celebrate Bestfest Oktoberfest: See below.
1) Oktoberfest Beer Dinner
Where: The Riverhead Project, Riverhead
When: Wednesday, October 2 at 7 p.m.
Why: In August, Dennis McDermott’s restaurant launched theBEERPROJECT, a weekly every-Wednesday series, featuring communal dinners, keggers and classes. This dinner, hosted by Terrence Daly, consultant for theBEERPROJECT, pours four Weihenstephan beers: Hefeweissbier, Hefeweissbier Dark, Pilsner and Vitus.
2) Launch of New Beer Hall
Where: Plattduetsche Park Restaurant, Franklin Square
When: Friday, October 4 at 6 p.m.
Why: Plattduetsche Park Restaurant’s new beer hall features “exposed wood beams, stone and other natural materials to preserve the authenticity of our Biergarten,” says Matthew Buck, manager. The building seats 700-plus and opens with seven beers, including Plattduetsche Kölsch, a house-only kölsch brewed by Riverhead’s Long Ireland Beer Company. Edward P. Mangano, county executive of Nassau County, provides the inaugural draft-tap.
3) The No Joke Franconian Gravity Cask Octoberfest Blow-Out Bonanza
Where: Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn
When: October 5 and 6 at noon
Why: Spuyten Duyvil’s two-day celebration features 16 Franconian gravity casks (unfiltered, unpasteurised and still-conditioning cask beer created in Franconia, a region of northern Bavaria), including Mahr’s Ungespundet, Weissenohe Bonator Dopplebock, Mönchsambacher Lagerbier and Bayer Theinheim Landbier.
4) Hofbräuhaus Traunstein Festbier … and Oompah
Where: Zum Schneider, New York and Montauk
When: Until October 13
Why: Zum Schneider is the exclusive New York pourer of Hofbräuhaus Traunstein and, subsequently, the sole establishment pouring Hofbräuhaus Traunstein Festbier for Oktoberfest. Sylvester Schneider, owner of Zum Schneider, is also frontman of Mösl Franzi and the JaJaJa’s, an oompah band that performs on select dates.
5) First Annual East End Oktoberfest
Where: Garden of Eve Organic Farm & Market, Riverhead
When: October 19 and 20 at 10 a.m.
Why: The inaugural event on Chris and Eve Kaplan Walbrecht’s 50-acre farm features Port Jeff Brewing Company, Blind Bat Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing Company and Rocky Point Artisan Brewers. The latter has used Garden of Eve-grown barley in “everything we’ve brewed since the end of August,” says Donavan Hall, co-owner. This includes a batch of Pilsner with Santiam, Perle, Tettnang and Hallertau hops grown by Hall and Mike Voigt, another co-owner.
Niko Krommydas lives in Brooklyn, New York. He regularly contributes to several Edible magazines, including Buffalo, East End, Long Island, Hudson Valley and Nutmeg.
