What's In the Fridge?

OKTOBERFEST!!!

So it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to contribute to the True Story, but with good reason…Oktoberfest! Well, not the real Oktoberfest…I was in Florida, and it was in Disney World. With the kids in tow, the family and I spent a week touring the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Hollywood Studios, and of course the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow…EPCOT. Cheesy-futuristic music aside, the World Showcase’s shining jewel is Germany and its year-round Oktoberfest.

Beer, food, and Bavarian music in any combination equal a good time. And when that beer arrives at your table in a liter-sized mug, that good time increases exponentially. Luckily enough, September marks the beginning of Oktoberfest; so on tap at EPCOT was Spaten’s Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest beers are amber to deep copper in color and with a minimal amount of hops are mild on the palate (perfect pairing for all that cured-meat and spaetzle). With subtle roasted malt flavors, Oktoberfest lagers don’t overpower your taste buds, and at 5-6% ABV, you’re meant to have more than one without falling to the floor. Around the northeast Sam Adam’s Oktoberfest is probably the most available, however is sweeter than the Oktoberfest brews that are from German brewers such as Spaten, Erdinger, and Ayinger. Long Trail’s Harvest Ale, not a lager like the traditional Oktoberfest beers, even pulls off the malty full-bodied flavor of the autumn season.

Although this is “What’s in the Fridge,” Oktoberfest beer should be imbibed with the foods that also characterize the festival. If you want, cook all the schnitzel, brats, kraut, and red cabbage you want to go with your beer, just be sure to keep the windows open. Or, find a German restaurant and go! It’s only the beginning of October, so you still have a couple of weeks to join in on the good time!

And yeah, that is a Steam-Boat Willy Hat…that’s just how we do…

As always, have a cold one,

Bill