Local Oktoberfest Brew Gets High Marks From National Magazine

COLD SPRING - A local Oktoberfest brew recently received high praise by a national magazine.

Third Street Brewhouse and their Oktoberfest was ranked #2 in Paste Magazines top 55 Oktoberfest style beers. The beer was ranked second only behind a brewery in Ayinger, Germany.

Third Street Brewhouse Manager Karl Schmitz says it's a new beer they came up with this year. This is their first foray into an authentic German-style Oktoberfest.

"Traditionally Third Street has done a pumpkin spice beer for the season, we decided to not do that this year and instead do a more traditional Oktoberfest."

It took a few months to create the brew. They started working on it during the summer. Several recipes were sent to the 12 brewers on staff and they whipped up a half-dozen pilot batches. After sampling each batch, they made a compilation brew from what they liked from the pilot batches. Presto!

In their review, Paste Magazine says: "This Cold Spring, Minnesota brewery gives us a marzen with a lovely, perfumed hoppiness that supports crisp, grainy malt flavors and a light, bright mouthfeel."

Schmitz says brewery staff "fell in love" with the beer. The recent magazine ranking will also likely mean a spike in demand for their Oktoberfest.

"It's a big deal, there's a lot of very big names on the list. I'm guessing it means that we're going to run out of beer: the beer was made once and when it's gone, it's gone," Schmitz says laughing.

Third Street Brewhouse says their Oktoberfest is available in eight-packs of the 16-ounce cans.