Moe's microbrewery

Gushing gourd

If a barrel is 31 gallons, and a firkin 11, then how much is a pumpkin?

From the looks of the one Iron Hill brewer Chris LaPierre tapped, about 2 gallons (or so) of nicely spiced, harvest season ale.

Chris ushered in the pumpkin ale era with the Wednesday evening tapping. That's the visage of Groucho Marx on the pumpkin below, by the way.

"We started with the grain bill for an amber ale and took 250 pounds of long neck pie pumpkins, roasted them in the convection oven until they were golden brown – I had to show up at 5 o'clock in the morning because I had to be out of the kitchen before the kitchen staff came in and got ready to cook ..." Chris says.

The roasted pumpkin went into the mash. Spices – cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove and vanilla bean – were added at the end of the boil instead of finishing hops. The result is a great pumpkin ale at 5.7% ABV.

But wait, there's more.

"The imperial pumpkin ale is coming out in a couple of weeks. It's much bigger – more pumpkins, more malt ... we also added four gallons of molasses," Chris says.

That brew will be a little over 9% ABV, "a little bit darker, bigger and a lot stronger," Chris notes.

Ramstein in France

If you know anything about High Point Brewing, it's that a thread of Old World Europe runs through the Butler brewery's signature beers.

Owner Greg Zaccardi trained to be a pro brewer in southern Germany, and his Ramstein brand is all about wheat beers and lagers made in that Old World tradition, a taste of Europe made in America.

This weekend, High Point will come practically full circle with its Classic and Blonde wheat beers being served to Europeans in Strasbourg, France, at the three-day Mondial de la Biere, the widely known world beer festival that's held annually in Montreal, and now has a continental reach.

At the Oct 16-18 event, Greg will give a presentation, The History and Evolution of American Microbreweries, and participate in a panel discussion on the what the future holds for brewers. (The junket is an invitation-only affair, and Greg's trip was coordinated through the Ale Street News.)

American brewers, Greg says, dedicate themselves to making beers that weren't available to US consumers a quarter century ago. And though if you play your cards right, you can make a living as a brewer, but it's passion for the product and putting it in the hands of a receptive public that drives the US craft brewer.

"People can taste the difference and are willing to spend for the difference," he says.

With regard to the to roundtable topic, Greg says the brewing industry has become quite automated, with computer-controlled processes from mash tun to fermenter to packaging. "In a large-scale production brewery, the role of brewer will be played by the IT guy."

And while we're on the topic of High Point, it's worth noting that the brewery's 2009 Oktoberfest beer was rated tops on Beeradvocate. That's the good news; the bad news is the beer is nearly all gone. You might find it at some of High Point's draft accounts, but folks armed with growlers hoping to get them filled with the märzen at the brewery will be disappointed.

And speaking of Oktoberfest, PubScout Kurt Epps has a wrap-up and photos from Pizzeria Uno's celebration held on Monday. And on Sunday, Long Valley weighs in with its annual Oktoberfest.

But hang on, there's one more event: Iron Hill's got the gourd. At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 15), they'll be tapping a pumpkin filled with this year's rendition of pumpkin ale to hail the release of that beer.

Planes, grains & automobiles (lighthouses & boats, too)

A four-day road trip with Cape Lookout, North Carolina, as the destination ...

How do you get New Jersey beer out of that? By trawling for beer along the Outer Banks.

Briefly ...
Many miles south of Kill Devil Hills, Cape Lookout's sesquicentennial was observed Saturday (Oct. 10) with, as honored guests, the descendants of the lighthouse keepers and members of the US Life-Saving Service (which eventually became the US Coast Guard) who served at Lookout.

Our lineage goes back to 1859, when light thrown from the current beacon's whale oil-burning wick first swept the surrounding waters of Cape Lookout. Hence, we set out for the southern shores of North Carolina, where you can still find wild horses and a lighthouse done up in diamonds of black and white.

Plenty of 19th and 20th century maritime history, lots of East Carolina cuisine (i.e. pork barbecue), but not much craft beer at hand, save for a sixpack of Highland Brewing's Kashmir IPA and a couple of liters of Weeping Radish picked up in Jarvisburg, North Carolina, on the way down (the Radish was a destination for beer friends of ours in the mid- to late-1990s, when it was in Manteo on the Outer Banks; that location is now closed).

(A quick call to Charlie Schroeder at Trap Rock in Berkeley Heights put the inadvertently overlooked Outer Banks Brewing Station on the return trip itinerary. Charlie vacationed at the Outer Banks last summer. After a four-hour drive up from Morehead City on Sunday, there was good beer to be had.)

Jersey Connection
Outer Banks Brewing is ensconced in a wind-powered white building trimmed in red, its shape a fresh architectural take on Life-Saving Stations found along the coast at the turn of the 20th century. Located along the southbound lanes of busy Route 158, the brewery's so close to where the Wright brothers revolutionized travel that you could get hit by a prop blade. (The pub brews an alt called Altimeter.)

The beer's good – pub food, too – and the brewery's wind-generated electricity isn't a curiosity but a philosophy (a tenth of the pub's power needs come from wind-generated electricity).

Twenty-five minutes into our pint of chocolate stout, beer traveler Randy Boyles made a pit stop en route home to Advance, North Carolina, settling in for a lunch and grabbing a half liter of Outer Banks Moondog ESB and two-liter growler of the pub's brown ale to go.

And here's the Jersey connection: Randy races yachts, his vessel being a 30-footer called the Rocket J (as in Rocket J. Squirrel, better known as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, whose image graces the side of the boat).

One of the Rocket J's six crew members for those regattas on the Pamlico River and Pamlico Sound is Tom Hughes, father of Flying Fish brewer Casey Hughes.

So you can imagine that Randy has an appreciation for Flying Fish.

While traveling to Philadelphia recently on business, Randy, who confesses to the kind of beer snobbery that makes a lot us craft beer enthusiasts, met up with Casey for a stop at Monks Cafe in Philly, and got to try FF's Exit 4 Tripel and Exit 11 Wheat Ale.

Flying Fish was still on his mind when he pulled into Outer Banks.

"I was here because enough people come down from the North, I thought there was an outside chance I might find Flying Fish down here. But I haven't yet. I haven't found it in North Carolina. I don't think it's come this far south," Randy says.

Yet.

Basil T's, the Oktoberfest in Toms River

Aside from the brewpub's name change, the news out of this year's Basil T's Oktoberfest observance in Toms River (held Oct. 2nd) is the return of Tom Paffrath, the guy who made the beer before Dave Hoffmann took over as brewer. (Tom is the guy hoisting the mug.)

Tom's tenure followed that of Gretchen Schmidhausler, who as we all, know tends the kettles and fermenters at the original Basil's in Red Bank.

Tom handed the brewing duties over to Dave several years ago, after his parents' deteriorating health meant he needed to spend more time with them. Now, Tom's coming back to lend a hand, since Dave also owns Climax Brewing in Roselle Park, and sometimes it gets a little tough to be in two places at once. (Case in point, toward the end of September, Dave was shuttling between both locations in a week that saw him get virtually no time off.)

Besides Toms River, you may encounter Tom at J.J. Bittings in Woodbridge, where he'll also help out, now that brewer August Lightfoot has opted to step away from the grind of a one-man brewing operation.

Meanwhile, if you went to this year's Oktoberfest, then you took part in the last fall festival under the Basil T's-Toms River banner (and enjoyed emcee Kurt Epps' wit, and the charm of the Dirndl Mädchens). Come the start of 2010, the original Red Bank location will have the Basil's name all to itself.

Artisan Brewery & Italian Restaurant will be the new name in Toms River, something that's worth having a big bash for. And that's not a swipe at Red Bank, either.

It's just that the folks in Toms River, the brothers Gregorakis, have worked hard to establish their own identity, relying in part on Dave's beer and Steve Farley's kitchen know-how, all while sharing the Basil's handle with another restaurant that has different ownership and no connection at all (as in the two are not a corporate franchises).

That's not necessarily an easy thing to pull off, when you consider maybe only the beer geeks and diehard patrons were the folks armed with the knowledge to parse the two Basil backstories.

In any case, the Gregorakis brothers are excited about the change, and we hope they kick the new chapter off in style.

And, if you missed this year's Oktoberfest, well there is always next year's ... at Artisan.

See more photos from the night here.

Live blogging from Basil T Oktoberfest

Dirndl madchens are milling about, and the Fire House Polka Band is setting up.

It's a little more than an hour before festivities will start and a good time to have a warmup pint of fest beer.

5:59 p.m. ... Just talked to emcee Kurt Epps of PubScout fame, brewer Dave Hoffmann, his dad, Kurt, and Roger Freitag, who supplies oak barrels for Oktoberfest events.

6:51 p.m. ... Talking to Kurt Hoffmann ... Kurt's fest hat sports a plume from a chamois he shot himself 9,500 feet up a mountain in Austria.

7:43 p.m. ... It should be noted at this point that 2009 is final the Oktoberfest in Toms River under the name Basil T's ... Hello Artisan, a name that touches on the great things served here, beer and food from, the hands of artisans.

7:54 p.m. ... Quote of the night: In all fairness, the bus boys should be wearing lederhosen. Said in respose to the servers wearing dirndls.

8:10 p.m. ... Several choruses of "Ein Prosit," an excellent shrimp cocktail and a hefeweizen ... The night is going quite well.

9:20 p.m. ... The best wurst has been served and the Oktoberfest beer is being poured, while the Fire House Polka Band -- oompah tuba, accordian and guitar -- runs through the "Roll Out The Barrel" and the crowd merrily sways with mugs in hand (schunkeling as it is called).

10:05 p.m. ... A survey of the crowd ... The Pauls -- Paul Unkert, the well-respected luthier who made Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstrat " guitars during the 1980s, and Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine. By the by, Paul Unkert now makes guitars in Toms River under the brand name "Unk."

9:40 p.m. ... The main course arrives: a fork-tender sauerbraten from chef Steve Farley, complemented by spatzle, potato pancakes and applesauce, and red cabbage, of course. Another chorus of "Ein Prosit," and all is well.

Roundup

Reminder
Basil T's in Toms River, soon to be known under the moniker Artisan, holds its Oktoberfest dinner on Friday evening (starts at 7 p.m.). It's a multi-course dinner by chef Steve Farley, paired with several beers from brewer Dave Hoffmann. PubScout Kurt Epps keeps the event on pace as emcee.

Upcoming
The Garden State Chapter of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America holds its fall show on Sunday (Oct. 4) at the Polish Cultural Center in Clark.

It starts at 10 a.m., and speaking of Dave Hoffmann, you'll find his Climax beers being poured there.

River Horse
River Horse's annual nod to fall will be held the weekend of Oct. 10-11, noon to 5 p.m. both days. As usual, it's pay as you go with the lineup of RH flagship beers; proceeds benefit Twin Rivertown Project.

Missing from this year's Oktoberfest beer lineup is Dunkel Fester, the dark larger RH did last year as a fall seasonal. Co-owner Glenn Bernabeo says the brewery had to sacrifice the seasonal to keep up with demand for RH's mainstay beers.

For instance, for 2009 the brewery nearly doubled last year's 7-barrel production of Summer Blonde.

The brewery also slipped a special project into its production, brewing the winning beer for a homebrew contest connected to the Office chain of restaurants. Glenn says the brewery hopes to boost capacity soon by adding additional tanks.

Given all of that, if you were a fan of last year's oatmeal milk stout, fret not. It's due back in Novermber, while RH's Belgian Freeze comes out this month.

Recap
If you made it to last weekend's cask ale event at Pizzeria Uno, then you saw a great model for scaling down beer fests: a low-key, pay-as-you-go affair with access to good food. Some of the bigger festivals (like Atlantic City) have become drunkfests, while the beer festival idea in general has become overplayed. It makes sense to rein things in a little, downsize and bring some focus.

Speaking of the Uno event, a shoutout goes to Kai Todd of Somerset County, who took the time to talk to us about the beers he was sampling, and Jersey beer in general. (Kai say he's considering adding his voice to the beer scene discussion with a Web site. There's always room for another perspective.)

Constructive criticism
We won't pound this too hard, since we couldn't make it up to the Woodbridge event held in mid-September. But a lot of folks told us about the long lines at the gate and beer staind, and the event running out of beer. Sounds like the Central Jersey Best Fest hit a growing pain, one that limiting ticket sales and boosting the $20 admission price to $35 could solve. (Thirty-five bucks is a common price, and quite frankly, 40 is not out of the realm of reason.)

Granted the Woodbridge festival is a charity event, so if organizers (J.J. Bitting brewpub is the main one) are worried that capping ticket sales will limit the amount raised for the dedicated charity, that can be addressed by having an informational booth to explain where the proceeds are going and to solicit donations. The festival's been a sensible fall addition, and the park where it's held is a great location. Some fine-tuning should help.

Gold Fish

From judging at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver ...

Flying Fish's Exit 4 American Trippel, the inaugural beer in the Cherry Hill brewery's bomber bottle-sized specialty brews, picked up a gold medal at the biggest beer party in the US this weekend.

Maybe now the folks at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority will graciously accept the fact that New Jersey gets some accolades, not just sarcasm and standup comic punchlines, thanks to FF's Exit Series beers, which are a nod to the Turnpike's place in state and pop culture.

The brew that is Exit 4, as we all remember, is a fusion of Belgian and American tastes, and it won top honors in the category of that interpretation. (Belgian beer styles have been good to Flying Fish. The brewery's Abbey Dubbel went silver last year.)

Also, Flying Fish's IPA, Hopfish, won a bronze in the classic English Pale Ale category.

Meanwhile, Long Valley Pub & Brewery's Lazy Jake Porter took home a silver for brown porter. Lazy Jake has been in the winner's circle before, bringing home GABF gold nine years ago.

Triumph Brewing (which wraps up its two-day Oktoberfest blast in New Hope on Sunday) won a pair of gold medals with its Pennsylvania locations (hefeweizen from New Hope and kinderpils from Philly). Alas, no medal for Triumph's Princeton brewpub.

Similarly, Iron Hill, which opened an eighth location in Maple Shade last summer, won gold and silver with brews from its Delaware properties (schwarzbier and raspberry torte).

Congrats to all.

Benefit at Firewaters Atlantic City

A calendar item coming by way of beer writer Mark Haynie, the New Jersey correspondent for Mid-Atlantic Brewing News ...

From 2-7 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 27), Firewaters bar in the Tropicana casino is holding a benefit to help cover medical expenses for one of their bartenders, Jackie, who has a rare digestive disorder that causes her to reject foods of almost any type.

Jackie's 26, and unfortunately as is the case with a growing portion of the country's population, she's without medical insurance. She's had surgery to treat her condition, and that's left her with some big bills.

There's a $20 cover charge with food and drink specials, plus a Chinese auction and prizes. Brewer Tim Kelly from the nearby Tun Tavern is sending over a pin of dry-hopped red ale, and Mark is kicking in some offerings from his impressive beer collection. If you're an Eagles/Giants/Jets fan (everyone's playing 1 o'clock games), fret not, there's a TV or two.

For the uninitiated, Firewaters specializes in casting a wide net for beer, bottle and draft. In Atlantic City, Firewaters and the Tun Tavern stand alone as the places for good beer.

An FYI: Firewaters isn't located in The Quarter side of the Tropicana. It's probably a little easier to hit from the casino's boardwalk entrance.

AOL dumbs down homebrewing

This is from AOL, which comes to the statistical conclusion you can save money on beer by making your own. The premise isn't inaccurate, but the presentation is so naive as to be misleading. (Obviously, it's mainstream Internet content, a lot of which you shouldn't take too serious, or serious at all for that matter).

As we know, most dedicated homebrewers aren't looking to shave 30 cents off the cost per bottle. As we know again, most seasoned homebrewers are more sophisticately equipped than our video hosts here, who, judging from their processes, are on their way to make some funky, undrinkable beer.

On the one hand, this could draw some people into homebrewing and better beer. On the other, there's no getting around it, making good beer at home (and doing it consistently) is much more involved, quite a bit of work. Coming at it from the Hints from Heloise angle of saving three dimes per serving is just dumb.

One more real thing

It's in the comments portion of yesterday's post, but just so it gets noticed here's the update from the kind folks at Hunterdon Distributors about Saturday's cask ale event at Pizzeria Uno.

Says Hunterdon: In addition to the Nugget Nectar, Troegs is sending their new seasonal, Javahead Stout. Smuttynose should have their Big A IPA and Pumpkin Ale ... doesn't look like Yards is going to make this one.

What's old is new?

Another nod to PubScout Kurt Epps, who points out the Star-Ledger is recycling features, only this time using a video camera to do it.

The Ledger descended upon The Brewer's Apprentice in Freehold to pick some low-hanging fruit. Kurt points out he did this story 11 years ago, and the Asbury Park Press (our alma mater) did it back in the 1990s, too.

What's different now? YouTube's ascension, from 2005 forward.

Some folks fancy calling this new media, which is accurate enough if you're in the industry or academics and need a term to wrap your mind around. But you can also take it as a euphemism for how the Internet has upended newspapers and eaten their lunch.

The Ledger and some others have inanely called it video journalism. Accurate again. But we can't help but remember that at the time of JFK's assassination 46 years ago, folks in television news were witnessing their slice of the broadcast journalism pie grow exponentially. (You can almost hear the broadcast veterans grinding their teeth at the phrase video journalism; what were they making from Dallas, slides? Animations? Cave paintings? Never mind the news reel footage shown in movie theaters back during World War II and before.)

Whatever. The nomenclature evolved because of short memories and tunnel vision. We're taking a swipe at the Ledger for a few other reasons, too.

One, Kurt's right. And two, the Ledger's production (and it must be stressed, we're not picking on Brewer's Apprentice) is just gathering apples from the ground, no ladder in the tree. All it does is talk about going to make beer outside the traditional brewery setting, i.e. homebrewing by proxy. There are plenty of homebrew clubs – folks who actually brew at home – in New Jersey with some seriously talented and innovative brewers, including one who was a national finalist in the 2007 Samuel Adams LongShot homebrew contest (something we pointed out, to no avail, to an editor at the Ledger back then).

Also, making beer – whether at home or in Butler, Roselle Park, Cherry Hill or Lambertville – is no mystery. There are boatloads of how-brewing-is-done videos on YouTube, and some are from New Jersey. If the Ledger were looking to do some real video journalism, it could have focused on the fact that New Jersey requires homebrewers to get an onerous annual permit, which practically no one does (except Brewer's Apprentice won't make your beer without it), and which practically no other state requires (according to the American Homebrewers Association in Boulder, Colorado). The permit is 15 bucks; it used to be 3, and requires your homebrew to not leave your home, something else that doesn't happen.

Sigh.

But we're not just griping for gripe's sake. We've shot plenty of newsy video about New Jersey beer. So here's where we blow our own horn:

• A look at how hop prices spiked.
• New Jersey's first brewery/brewpub in 10 years.
• And Big Brew 2008.

The real thing

Cask ale was the real thing long before Coca-Cola ever thought about it as a marketing slogan.

And the real thing will start pouring at Pizzeria Uno (Metuchen) on Friday evening as a warm-up to Uno's third edition of its cask ale event, which is officially timed to start at noon on Saturday (Sept. 26th).

It's pay as you go, priced by the pint, and there's Uno's pub fare menu you can order from. As far as the beer goes, there are a some gems on the lineup (this is from the Beeradvocate posting):

Jersey brews

• Climax ESB
• Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel
• River Horse Hopalotamus Double IPA
• Cricket Hill's American Pale Ale
• and a brace of brews from the host's playbook: Station House Red and Oktoberfest.

Keystone State brews

• Troeg's Nugget Nectar
• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA and Imperial Pumpkin Ale
• and some offerings from the ever-respectable Philly brewer, Yards.

Brews from afar

• More flying wildlife: A duo from Colorado brewer, Flying Dog (Gonzo Imperial Porter and Snake Dog IPA).

Cask ale is a real treat, lots of flavors come rolling out when the carbonation is natural and dialed to the gentle setting. Not to mention the great aromas that really emerge.

Uno is on Route 1 (on the southside of the highway), and easy to find. Just point your car toward the Menlo Park and Woodbridge Center malls.

Beer in Woodbridge

PubScout Kurt Epps has a report on the 2009 Central Jersey BeerFest.

We didn't make it up to Woodbridge this year, owing to a prior commitment. Looks like the festival at Parker Press Park is building on its momentum from the past two years.

The news from Kurt's post is August Lightfoot will be leaving as brewer at J.J. Bittings brewpub.

Speaking of brewpubs, Basil T's south will be changing its name. The restaurant and brewery in Toms River will soon be known as Artisan.

The new moniker will be good for the establishment. It allows for genuine separation from its similarly named progenitor in Red Bank. (A lot of folks who have been around the craft beer culture in New Jersey for some time already knew about the two Basils, the history and the eventual different ownership. But there are new recruits to the beer culture ranks practically every day. So you could say the shared name was a bit confusing.)

Plus, Basils in Toms River ably moved beyond its founding roots long time ago, and gained in brewer Dave Hoffmann, who, as many know, also owns Climax Brewing in Roselle Park, a cornerstone on which to help build the new identity. It's been awhile since that happened.

(And if you've been in the brewpub latley, you know it has been undergoing some remodeling. The work should be done by the start of October.)

The future is bright. Like a fresh pint of beer.

Aw-shucks

Lew Bryson had a note about it on Monday, and the brewery tweeted on it, too. But we were emailing owner Gene Muller about it today: The next Exit Series bomber-bottled beer from Flying Fish is an oyster stout, due out in November.

The folks at the brewery are still shuttling between Cherry Hill and the Delaware bayshore of Cumberland County to get oysters from Bivalve Packing, a small seafood wholesaler in Port Norris.

By the numbers, this beer will be Exit 1 (Carneys Point, land settlers bought from the Lenni Lenape tribe for 80 gallons of rum and some cutlery). By the map, we're talking deep, deep in South Jersey, where you'll find not just oysters but Bivalve also, a locality within Commercial Township (the township in which Port Norris is also located) and Shell Pile, which is what you get after shucking a Meerwald load of oysters.

New Jersey's oyster industry in Cumberland County crashed in the late 1950s, virtually wiped out by disease. But it has since been revived. Like Springsteen sang: ... Maybe everything that dies someday comes back.

Or gets saluted with beer.

Märzen across the Delaware

Philadelphia's Oktoberfest 2009 is Saturday, the same day Oktoberfest in Munich begins.

Unlike Bavaria, where the Märzens will pour over several days (Sept. 19-Oct. 4), you have only one day for the eins, zwei, drei g'suffa! in Philly.

Here's the link for the Philly nod to Ludwig and Therese's nuptials. Flying Fish is the lone Jersey brewer among the beer lineup, which also features the deutschers of Spaten, Ayinger, Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner, plus enough pumpkin ale to float your gourd.

Meanwhile, New York City's Craft Beer Week wraps up on Sunday, which makes New Jersey – sans a beer week of its own – again that barrel tapped at both ends, as Benjamin Franklin is said to have described the Garden State. Only now, you can apply that notion to New York City and Philadelphia's drawing upon New Jersey's craft beer patrons, pretty much undercutting our beer identity.

Is New Jersey Beer Week the answer to burnishing our beer profile? The idea's worth some consideration.

Scenes from Ramstein Oktoberfest 2009

From last Saturday's debut of Ramstein Munich Amber Lager (Oktoberfest) at High Point Brewery in Butler. A strong turnout for a great beer. By the by, High Point's Oktoberfest brew will be poured at the Crystal Springs Resort Oktoberfest event on Saturday (Sept. 19).

Fest Radar: Woodbridge this weekend

The third Central Jersey Beer Fest is this Saturday (Sept. 19) in Woodbridge.

Like the two previous incarnations, this year's event will be held from 1-5 p.m. at Parker Press Park, a bottle cap's toss from the taps of the festival's organizer, J.J. Bitting brewpub.

Amonng the Jersey breweries, contract brewers and brewpubs attending will be the Tun Tavern (Atlantic City), Harvest Moon (New Brunswick), Pizzeria Uno (Metuchen), River Horse Brewing (Lambertville), Cricket Hill Brewing (Fairfield), and Boak's Beverage (Pompton Lakes). Last year also featured out-of-state breweries represented by Hunterdon Distributors. And speaking of Boak's, owner Brian Boak says Kohler Beer Distributors will be handling his beers in the seven northern counties of the state. Brian has self-distributed and largely focused on Pennsylvania as a market for his brew lineup, which he has contract-brewed at High Point Brewing in Butler. Kohler now helps him devote some attention to his home state.

Admission is 20 bucks and there's unlimited sampling, plus and plenty of food vendors to sate your appetite. Proceeds from the admission will go to a local charity cause (a terminally ill child from the Fords section of Woodbridge, we're told).

The park is easy to find, but your best bet for getting there is probably by train. NJ Transit has a station right beside the park. As with any festival, your behavior matters, so if you're inclined to get tuned up, you run a risk of not being served, or worse, asked to leave. (The past two festivals have gone very smoothly, so make the third the same.)

Weather.com right now is calling for a chance of rain on Saturday. So keep an eye on the forecast. Contact J.J. Bitting brewpub for tickets.

Here's video of last year's festival.

Märzen chronicles

Among Jersey-made Oktoberfest beers (notably the ones coming out of the production breweries) the compass definitely points north. Flying Fish in Cherry Hill in South Jersey puts out a respectable, malty fall seasonal. But Oktoberfish is actually an altbier, with just the faintest hint of ale stylings.

For lagers – and Oktoberfests are just that – follow that compass: Ramstein's Munich Amber Lager (from High Point Brewing) and Hoffmann Lager Beer Oktoberfest (Climax Brewing), two brews that speak faithfully to the style.

In Butler, High Point will debut its 2009 rendition of Oktoberfest on Saturday (2-4 p.m.) with a ceremonial oak barrel tapping and a spread of complimentary German food. All of this precedes the brewery tours.

High Point nearly doubled production of its draft-only Oktoberfest this year (105 barrels for 2009), with virtually all of that snapped up by the brewery's accounts. That means your best bet for getting a growler filled is on Saturday during the brewery event.

(Beer geek note: The beer was produced from a decoction mash, all German malt and hops, and fermented with Kloster-Andechs lager yeast. Owner Greg Zaccardi says what will be sampled at the brewery on Saturday is an unfiltered version that dropped shiny and bright after eight weeks of lagering.)

Over in Roselle Park, Climax is working on their third tank of Oktoberfest, reflecting a growing popularity of brewer Dave Hoffmann's tribute to his German roots. "It's been flying out of here," says Dave's dad, Kurt. Those familiar with Hoffmann Oktoberfest know to look for it on draft and in half-gallon, growler-size jugs available at a number of packaged goods stores that feature craft beers.

Meanwhile, Climax has now entered the Virginia market, and Dave's gearing up for the release of the Oktoberfest he brews for Basil T's in Toms River, where he has a side gig. The brewpub's fall observance is set for Friday, Oct. 2, with a flight of beers served to complement a multi-course German dinner served by chef Steve Farley. Kurt Epps of the PubScout blog puts his razor wit to great use as host.

Beercrafters closing

This is some sad news:

As of Sept. 19, Beercrafters homebrew supply shop will fold its tent. In the meantime, there's an everything-must-go sale.

Online discussion board chatter didn't reveal why the shop's closing after a 16-year run, and the folks at the store today we're pressed for time and couldn't talk.

The nucleus of the Gloucester County Homebrewers club, Beercrafters got a lot of people into homebrewing and helped a lot of neophyte brewers step up to making better beer, from extract brews turned out on stovetops to all-grain masterpieces crafted over gas flames in kegs turned into kettles.

Back in the mid- to late-1990s, Beercrafters was our go-to supply store, saving us a trip to far-off Philly's Home Sweet Homebrew and the related expense of parking in the city. Their selection of grain and hops was always respectable, their advice reliable, and the people always friendly.

And come the first Saturday in May, you'd find hordes of homebrewers in Beercrafters back lot, tending mash tuns in celebration of the American Homebrewers Association's annual Big Brew day. In fact, the winner of the AHA's first YouTube Big Brew video contest was shot at Beercrafters in May 2008. (The second video is from Big Brew 2007, shot in the first year of this blog.)