Oktober Blessed: Our historically Germanic region has a bounty of beery celebrations
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Like a hurricane spewing German beer and soft pretzels in its wake, Oktoberfest blows hard into Pittsburgh this and next weekend.
Tomorrow through Sunday, and next Friday through Sunday, too, there are Oktoberfest blowouts not only at Penn Brewery on the North Side, but also at Hofbrauhaus at SouthSide Works.
And that's not all of it: There are other Oktoberfests brewing both weekends, including a big one that fires up Friday night at the Church Brew Works in Lawrenceville, and a community one that takes over downtown Canonsburg this Friday through Sunday (see the accompanying story about other Oktoberfests).
But Penn Brewery and Hofbrauhaus are Pittsburgh's destinations for Germanic food and bier, and so this traditional celebration -- it started with the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on Oct. 17, 1810 in Munich -- has the makings of however you say "smackdown" in German.
Penn Brewery is the old-timer, having held two decades' worth of celebrations, but its restaurant was closed at this time last year and it didn't hold a fest. It didn't even brew its own Oktoberfest beer last year, but rather had contracted to have it brewed in Wilkes-Barre. Then, this past December, Penn started brewing again, including, this summer, the Oktoberfest, and reopened the restaurant in May.
Hofbrauhaus opened in May 2009 -- as Pittsburgh's biggest restaurant, with a million-dollar brewing line -- and held a big Oktoberfest in the nearby Sidney Street parking lot over the first two weekends of last October.
Each place is keenly aware of the other, especially right now, when they're vying to attract revelers on the same days.
These weekends just happen to be when Oktoberfest happens in Munich, starting at noon Saturday with the tapping of the keg by its mayor and the firing of 12 shots.
Penn's head brewer, Andrew Rich, an 11-year veteran of that brewery's outdoor Oktoberfests, is pumped to party, and obviously proud of the tradition at the base of Troy Hill. This year is especially important -- a coming out of sorts, to remind patrons that Penn is open and brewing and bottling up a storm.
First Published September 16, 2010 12:00 am
