My goodness… Cartridge Brewing Company is not pulling any punches with this, their first Oktoberfest celebration. They’re letting loose on two different Oktoberfest beers (we’ll get to that), some great food (we’ll get to that too) and some fun Oktoberfest style fun (yeah… we’ll get to that also).
These guys respect the heritage that traditional German beers play into this whole “game”, as well as the bigger picture of Cincinnati beer and its history.
We’re All German In Cincy
We love our beer here in Cincy – I don’t need to tell you that. The way we hold dear to our hearts the heritage of our German roots is pretty special, though – and we use a couple distinct times of year to celebrate that.
Cartridge Brewing Company? They definitely celebrate this heritage year round – in fact, completely aside from their Oktoberfest beers (we’re getting there, I promise) they currently have six other German-centric beers on tap:
- Covert – Schwarzbier
- Checkpoint – Hefeweizen
- Prost – Munich Style Dunkel
- Decoy – Dunkelweizen
- Sip Trip – Kölsch
- Up The Hill – Munich Style Helles
Like I said… they don’t just embrace Cincinnati’s German history, and the German history of our beer – they breathe it in and let it become who they are.
Cartridge Oktoberfest Time
Ok, sorry… I promise we’re getting to it. To celebrate this year’s Oktoberfest, Cartridge crafted two new beers, with two very distinct personalities. It’s easy to just classify them as a lighter one, and a darker one – but there’s much more to it than that…
Panzer
Panzer is the “lighter” of the two beers that they are releasing, a Festbier to be exact. They are calling this a “super helles” which is an amazing way to describe it. It’s a showcase of modern malt – lighter and easy drinking. It comes in at 5.7% ABV and 28 IBUs – this is the beer you drink if you want to drink it all day long.
Sherman
I am dying to get my hands on this one. They are telling us that this is an aggressive version of a traditional Oktoberfest… and head brewer Adam Mills even goes as far to say that it’s rolling over into the Bock range. 6.5% ABV and 30 IBUs, it’s not like it’s going to kick your butt if you drink a couple – but it’s bigger, hoppier and bolder than their Festbier.
The Food
If you know Oktoberfest (and hopefully you know Oktoberfest if you live here in Cincy…) You know that it’s not just about the beer. The food plays a huge part in this whole thing, too. This is especially true when we talk about a brewery like Cartridge. (If you want to understand Cartridge a little deeper, make sure you’re following them on social media, here, or reading more about them on my website, here)
They’ve prepped a full menu of Bavarian flavors coming out of their scratch-kitchen, and a little advance warning, these are gonna make you immediately hungry – you’ve been warned.
Beer-Braised bratwurst with house made beer cheese? Check.
Pan-fried traditional pork schnitzel with garlic-dill red potatoes and curry aioli? Yep.
A burger topped with crispy gotta and Swiss cheese? Uh huh…
Of course, there’s gonna be a healthy topping of beer-braised sauerkraut with each of these, because – Oktoberfest.
Festivities and A Stein
If you wanna go a step farther, too – Oktoberfest requires just a little flair, right on top to take it to the final level. Cartridge is doing that with these new, sweet Rastal steins. These 1 liter ceramic beauties are collectible, and score you $10 refills through 10/10.
Another fun thing? Each purchase of a stein holds a spot for you in their stein holding contests. There are two sessions set to take place, one on 10/3 and one on 10/10, both at 3pm. Each winner claims a bunch of sweet prizes and maybe more importantly – Bragging rights.
The point of all of this is multifaceted. Yes… it’s Oktoberfest, a season that I’m in love with. We do it better in Cincinnati than anywhere else, and because of that – It brings a real happiness to my heart.
But when we take a step back, and we look at the world at large, the past year, and the things that we’ve missed – Oktoberfest just means a little bit more this year. It’s all a little more special now than it used to be.