Even More Oktoberfest (And Another New Beer Fest!)

There are two new Oktoberfests in town that were just recently announced at Power & Light and in Lawrence, and a new beer fest at Grinders. And pay attention, because two of these events are tomorrow! Being new, I can't say whether these are going to be great events or not (as we've seen in the past, the devil is in the details with beer festivals), but they all sound like solid events based on their info so far. And all seem like a relatively good value as well. 

And since baseball is over and it's Chiefs & Sporting bye week, what else have you got to do! Of course, there's always K-State football (among other less important universities around here...), but they don't play until 7:00pm, so the beer fest & Oktoberfest tomorrow will just be a good warm up for the game! Details on the events are below.



Oktoberfest Live! @ Power & Light - Saturday, 10/8, 11am-11pm


Leinenkugel's KC opened in Power & Light a couple of months ago. And even though they're owned by InBev, I've always had a soft spot for Leinenkugel's and think they still do some good traditional American beers. They also have made a solid Oktoberfest beer for years before it got trendy for every brewery to put one out. So I was excited to see the Leinenkugel's restaurant open up downtown. I haven't yet made it down there, but since they're providing us a couple free passes for Oktoberfest, we'll be down there tomorrow to check it out!

The event they're hosting goes all day, with a more family friendly period from 11am-4pm, and then a 21+ drinker's Oktoberfest from 4pm-11pm. They're going to have various contests going on all day out in the central beer garden area including wiener dog races, pretzel and sauerkraut eating contests, stein holding contests & more. And as a bonus for those with kids, Power & Light also has their Family Fun Day going on out in the street that day with all kinds of kid shit.

The Oktoberfest is free to get in before 4pm. After 4pm, tickets are $15 (which covers any normal cover charge that PNL charges on weekend nights anyways). You can also buy a $35 VIP ticket that gets you two pints, access to the Leinenkugel's patio, a fish fry dinner, a pretzel, a mug, and some Leinenkugel's swag. You can find out more info about the event on their facebook page and website.


Bye Week Brew Fest @ Grinder's - Saturday, 10/8, 3pm-8pm


This is another new event for KC. Grinder's, in a service to all of us with some extra time this weekend because of the general lack of all sports events, is putting on their inaugural Bye Week Brew Fest. Grinder's knows how to do good beer and have done it for a long time. They also know how to put on a party and have a great space for it. So, I'm guessing this is going to be a great fest, even if the brewery selection is a little lighter than most. If anything, this should give you a little extra time to check out all the brews, rather than just ping-ponging from table to table.

They're going to have a Foo Fighters Tribute band, the Foo Crew, playing in the Crossroads KC venue, and the beerfest area will be just west of the venue in the parking lot. Tickets to the beerfest get you into both the beerfest and the concert. They're also going to have the regular food menu available from Grinders along with food trucks and pretzels for sale. You can go in and out of the fest with your wristband too, which will be nice for such a long fest time if you want to go out and get some food and come back later. This is just about unheard of with a typical beerfest.

Tickets are $29 in advance, and $35 at the door. You can find more info on their facebook page and website. Here are the brewers coming to the event:

Anchor
Angry Orchard
Big Sky
Ballast Point
Boston Beer
Boulevard
Breckenridge
Blue Moon
Crane
Leinenkugel
Crispin
Founders
Guinness
Hofbrau
Lagunitas
Martin City
Not Your Father’s Root Beer
Stiegl
Mother’s
Santa Fe

Lawrence Oktoberfest - Saturday, 10/15, 2pm-8pm


This is actually the second year that the Lawrence Oktoberfest has been held, but it was a little off my radar when I posted about all the other Oktoberfests in the area. And I haven't been to this one yet, but it looks solid based on the pictures & reviews from last year, especially if you live out that way. They're holding the event in the plaza between the fancy new library and the parking structure south of it.

They're going to have food and beer vendors on site for sale (not included in the entry price). They'll have "German-inspired" food from The Burger Stand, Fine Thyme Foods, Leeway Franks, Torched Goodness, Mr. Bacon BBQ, and Juice Stop. As far as beer is concerned, I'm a little unclear on who all will be there, but I see that Boulevard & Free State are sponsors along with Standard Bev & Crown Bev. So they'll definitely have to Boulevard & Free State beers, and I'm guess they'll also have a lot of the Munich brewery beers like Hofbräu, Spaten, Paulaner, and others. They also have a couple om-pah bands booked for the day.

Tickets are $10, or you can pay $20 and get a 1 liter Maß glass to go with. You can find more info on their facebook page


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