Grab your liter mugs and lederhosen; it's almost time to drink local beer at Oktoberfest 2021 in downtown Tampa.
No Tampa Bay brewery has ever produced three beers for the festival, co-founder Nicol Winkler told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, but this year, Green Bench Brewing Co. did.
The St. Petersburg beer maker’s head brewer, Khris Johnson, has already brewed festbier for a few years, and he recently brewed with Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye of Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver.
Now—exclusively for Tampa Oktoberfest set for Oct. 8-10 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and Kiley Gardens—Green Bench prepared a traditional hefeweizen and dunkel, which will be poured on site along with the festbier.
SLIDESHOW
All the lederhosen and people we saw at Oktoberfest Tampa 2019
“When we had the opportunity to make and drink some of our favorite classic styles with some of our most dedicated friends, we could not pass it up,” Johnson wrote in a release.
According to Winkler, every Munich Oktoberfest features a light, medium and dark brew, and one wheat.
“While we may not be in Munich, we want to thrive to celebrate Oktoberfest with as much tradition as possible,” Winkler said. “Green Bench is helping us achieve just that for our guests!”
The hefeweizen is a straw colored weisse beer brewed with hops and wheat infused resulting in aromas of bread, banana, clove and some bubblegum. Dunkel is also a rich beer, dark with German malts and a nutty flavor. And can’t forget festbier, a golden lager that carries a malty flavor and carbonation.
As for COVID-19 precautions, purchasing tickets is mostly contactless, and sanitation stations will be available.
Downtown Tampa’s Oktoberfest 2021 runs from Oct. 8-10 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and Kiley Gardens; general admission entry starts at $10. Military members, active or retired, and first responders get in for free.
UPDATED 07/05/21 11:33 p.m. Updated Dunkel description and here's, too, because Green Bench's hefe is not infused with bread, banana, clove and some bubblegum (those are aromas present in the hefe).
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