A Few Good Reasons Why Beer Lovers Should Attend Casks & Caskets

OK, so you’re into the beer thing and you’ve belched your way through more tastings than you care to remember. Time to perk up. You’ve never been to a beer event like this one. On Saturday, November 3, the Society Of Oshkosh Brewers (SOBs) will be hosting a beer tasting that’ll be like nothing Oshkosh, or for that matter Wisconsin, has seen before. Casks & Caskets will be the first tasting in the state composed entirely of homemade beer, wine, cider and mead.

Now, if that’s enough to pique your interest, go HERE for all the details about times, tickets and such. If you still need convincing, here are a few reasons why you should hit this one.

It’s a chance to try something really new.
Let’s face it, at most tastings what you tend to get is a glut of beer you’re already thoroughly familiar with. That won’t happen at Casks & Caskets. Every beer you’re poured will be a beer you have never tasted before. Same goes for all the wine, mead and cider on the docket. And you won’t be served by clueless attendants sloshing out tasters of whatever suds they’re told to. These beers will be poured by the Oshkosh area brewers who made them; a bunch of genial geeks who would love nothing more than to tell you every last thing about what’s in your cup.

It’s the first beer event of its kind.
Four months ago this kind of thing would have been strictly illegal. But when the revised homebrew law went into effect this past July, it opened the doors to homebrewers toting their potables out of their cellars and into the streets. Casks & Caskets will be the first such tasting under the new law. In the annals of Wisconsin beer, this is going to be an historic event. You’ll be able to say you were there.

It’ll be a good time for a good cause.
Unlike most charity tastings, the folks making the beer and wine are donating every last drop of it. That means ALL of the proceeds will go directly to charity, which in this case will be the Oshkosh Food Pantries. The next morning when you wake up feeling lousy, you can comfort yourself with the reminder that you’ve done a good thing.

Still not interested? How about this: If you’ve never tasted well-made homebrew before, you’re in for a surprise. This isn’t like the stuff your crazy uncle used to make in the basement. These brews are being made by experienced, Oshkosh-area brewers who spend an unhealthy amount of time fixating on the quality and flavor of their product. Aside from being the freshest beer you’re ever likely to taste, it will also be some of the most unique. These folks don’t worry about producing a product the masses can immediately grasp. They’re into creating one-of-a-kind beers, meads, wines and ciders that emphasize flavor and originality. Believe me, you’ve never tasted anything like what’ll be pouring at Casks & Caskets. And if you miss it, you may never get the chance to try anything like them again.

Check out the Facebook page HERE.
Info concerning times, tickets and everything else is HERE.

Ale Asylum Lands in Oshkosh

If punchy, hop-forward American Craft Beer is your cup of meat, then Thursday night (as in October 18, 2012) ought to find your bulk planted at Oblio’s, where Ale Asylum will be pouring for all it’s worth. Based out of Madison, Ale Asylum is the sixth largest (and fastest growing) craft brewery in the state. They’ve just moved into a new 45,000 bbl capacity brewery and expanded their distribution beyond the Milwaukee/Madison area, which has been soaking up most of their efforts for the past six years.

The Oshkosh tasting will run at Oblio’s from 9-11 pm. It’s free and I’m sure if you ask nicely they’ll oblige you with all sorts of gratis samples. What have you got to lose... other than your sobriety?

For more info on the Ale Asylum plan for world domination, go HERE.
Go HERE, if you want to get your drool on for some of what they'll be dousing the crowd with at Oblio's.

Beers, Barley's & Oktoberfest

Once again, we have another tasty week of beer drinking ahead of us in Oshkosh. The weekend starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 3 at Barley & Hops, where a new season of Barley’s Beer Sampling Series will kick off. This time, Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery will be in the spotlight. They’ll be pouring the full Lakefront line-up; including a slew of Lakefront beers that we’re deprived of in Oshkosh thanks to the caprices of our local retailers and distributors. Seriously, our beer selection on the retail side of things is becoming more dismal by the day. I’ll save that rant for another day... The Barley’s sampling will also feature Lienenkugel’s Big Eddie series, which has turned out to be surprisingly good. There’ll also be a host of other beers, spirits and wines to taste to your heart’s content. For $15 in advance ($20 at the door), this is a fine way to try out a swatch of new brews you’ll have a hard time sourcing locally. For more info, check out the event's Facebook page.

After you’ve recovered from Barley’s, you can dive back into the suds at the Third Annual Oshkosh Oktoberfest, on Saturday, October 6 at the Leach Amphitheater. This year, the event is free. Of course, there’ll be all manner of excellent Oktoberfestbier flowing in addition to a 2K Bier Run, a barrel rolling contests, a fraulein carrying contests, lots of music, excellent German food and a bucket of other Okto-Fest amusements. And I’ll be there with German Bier tastings throughout the day where I’ll be pouring and talking about German beer styles. I’m looking forward to that in a big way. The day’s full rundown can be seen HERE. And don’t forget, it’s free! Prost!