UPDATE: THE BEERS AT THE FESTIVAL

Here is the list... ALL YOU CAN DRINK FOR 5 HOURS... HELL YES!

Shmaltz : Freaktoberfest, Hop Manna, Coney Island Lager, Bittersweet Lenny’s Ripa, Funky Jewbelation, Genesis 15:15, Jewbelation 15, Barrel-aged Blockhead,

Reunion collaboration with Terrapin Brewing Co.

Smuttynose : Strawberry Short Weiss, Homunculus, Pumpkin, Vunderbar Pils

Brooklyn: Fiat Lux, Oktoberfest

Kelso : Rye-aged Belgian Pale Ale, Sour Quad

Empire: Golden Dragon

Ommegang: BPA, Abbey Ale

Greenport Harbor: Harbor Pale Ale

Bronx Brewery: Bronx Pale Ale, Rye Pale Ale

Wandering Star: Zingari Witbier

Sixpoint: Spice of Life, Mad Scientist #11

Sierra Nevada: Red Wine Barrel-aged Ovila Dubbel

Flying Dog: Gose with Old Bay Seasoning

Left Hand: 400 Lb. Monkey

Weyerbacher: Imperial Pumpkin

Two Brothers: Testudo Bier De Mars

Ballast Point: Sculpin

Lagunitas: Lil’ Sumpin Wild, IPA

Allagash: White, Confluence

Elysian: Ruin

Victory: Ranch DIPA (Chinook), Headwaters Pale Ale

Peak Organic: Hop Noir

Southampton: Abbott 12

Dogfish Head: Indian Brown Ale

Stone: IPA, Smoked Porter, 16^th Anniversary

Founders: Breakfast Stout, Devil Dancer, Red’s Rye, Frangelic Mountain Brown

Speakeasy: Vendetta IPA, Payback Porter, Prohibition Ale

Harpoon: Ginger Wheat, Harpoon Dark, Pumpkin Cider

Nebraska: Hop God

Maine Brewing Company: Zoe, Peeper

The Bruery: Saison Rue

Green Flash: Friendship Brew (Black Saison)

Ithaca: Country Pumpkin

Captain Lawrence: Pumpkin

Stillwater Artisinal : TBA

Hill Farmstead: TBA

Confirmed Breweries for 2012

Here is what we have confirmed... this is going to be epic once again!

Shmaltz Brewing/He'brew & Coney Island Craft Lagers, Smuttynose, Sixpoint, Kelso, Brooklyn Brewery, Greenport Harbor, Stone, Lagunitas, Green Flash, Weyerbacher, Oskar Blues, Flying Dog, Left Hand, Empire, Peak, The Bruery, Maine Brewing Company, Hill Farmstead, Founders, Speakeasy, Bronx Brewing, 508 Gastropub and Eataly.

Just added: Elysian, Allagash, 21st Amendment, Sierra Nevada, Nebraska, Pretty Things, Dogfish Head, Ballast Point, Two Brothers, Stillwater and Harpoon.

Get a ticket and drink up!

Freaktoberfest 2012: An Afternoon Delight!

Attention Beer Freaks and Beer Geeks: The 5th Annual Freaktoberfest Boutique Beer and Music Festival is set, and we can't wait to get the party started! We're thrilled to be throwing this party at one of the coolest, biggest and best new beer gardens to grow in Brooklyn. Join us on Saturday, September 15th from noon to 5pm at Greenwood Park Beer Garden in the South Slope. Soak in the sun with all your favorite craft breweries, listen to live music, be amazed and aroused by a host of beautiful burlesque performers and witness the freaks, wonders and human curiosities that will thrill you all afternoon. Hosted by our favorite human blockhead, the one and only Donny Vomit.

Tickets are available at freaktoberfest.eventbrite.com. The ticket price is $60, and includes 5 hours of unlimited drinking, music and performances, as well as a commemorative tasting cup. 

Every year gets better and better, so buy your ticket and come out to playayyyy!!!

Hosted by Shmaltz Brewing Company, Smuttynose Brewing Company, Mikey Palms - Brooklyn Bar Group, and the New York City Brewers Guild.

Beer Trails: Freaktoberfest Kicks Serious Ass

—by John Fortunato, October 14, 2011

Found at The Aquarian Weekly

An eclectic array of hardened beer enthusiasts converged at popular Park Slope, Brooklyn, music club Southpaw to try some of the best offerings ever available under one roof. From the righteously stylized to the diligently experimental, Freaktoberfest 2011 had something for everyone this breezy Friday evening. Trendy Black IPA’s and sour ales generally took a backseat to prodigious dark ales, autumnal pumpkin-spiced concoctions and some frolicking, fruited fare.

As expected, the real story here at the third annual Freaktoberfest had to be the contagiously incessant do-it-yourself spirit of Shmaltz Brewery host Jeremy Cowan, whose two successful product lines (Shmaltz’s expansive Hebrew series and the ensuing sideshow-inspired Coney Island lagers) habitually astound ardent beer geeks. Selling over 10 million beers since ’96, Cowan’s bi-coastal contract brewing company has regaled San Francisco and New York City and many cities in-between from its auspicious inception ‘til now.

Another seasoned DIY-spirited maverick perusing Southpaw at this gathering was Gotham Imbiber web host Alex Hall, a ‘real ale’ fanatic, promoting not only cask conditioned libations but also a new Massachusetts brewery whose inspirational English-styled ale got the party started for yours truly. I immediately make my way through the crowded front hall at around 7 p.m. with fellow beer enthusiast Dennis Flubacher.
Making me feel like a privileged rock star, New York City Homebrewers Guild President Chris Cuzme recognizes me upon entering and welcomes us to the main open area post-haste. Now lobbying for Massachusetts’ newly operational Wandering Star Brewery, the long-time beer maven (and professional musician) proudly serves us samples of the perfectly rounded Wandering Star Mild At Heart—a creamy schwarzbier-like English dark mild with crystal-malted dried fruiting and caramel-burnt chocolate spicing.
“There were three licenses supposedly readied for brewers,” Cuzme says as we work our way over to the opposite side of the table to quaff Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA, a wet-hopped dry body with peach, pear, orange and tangerine fruiting emanating from Illinois. “But Massachusetts’ ridiculously antiquated laws could be a drawback to getting a brewery started. The state changed the way to determine what qualifies as a farmhouse brewery. Sam Adams and Harpoon qualified previously. At court, we argued that growing hops and barley on premises should let us qualify.”

Opened June, 2011, Wandering Star’s all-star crew includes above-mentioned cask ale expert Alex Hall, whom I didn’t get to speak to even though our elbows rubbed during dangling conversations.
Between sips Cuzme declares, “We’re really proud of our traditional mild ale. We try to give our beers extreme flavor without extreme alcohol. At the moment, we’re working on a Lemongrass Wit brewed with cardamom and lemongrass. Then, there’s a spelt-grained Saison and an Alpha Pale Ale that hasn’t been tapped.”

After cheering it up with Cuzme, Dennis and I head downstairs to the dank catacomb-like cellar, where a copper-topped corner bar serves a cornucopia of fascinating bottled beers and Shmaltz’s latest one-time seasonal, Geektoberfest Sour Brown Ale. A vinous, cherry-soured, raspberry-tart, grape-dried, high-octane ale made in coordination with respected New York brewers Captain Lawrence and Ithaca, its elegant bourbon theme caressed chocolate-malted marzipan sweetness and ginger-spiced, fig-raisin tartness.
A few previously untried libations that were bottled got examined next. The collaborative Shmaltz/Terrapin Reunion Ale ‘11, a succulent Imperial Brown Ale with advertised chili-peppered cocoa nibs and vanilla adjuncts, retained a creamy chocolate-milked Kahlua, coconut and chocolate cake sweetness. Dry-hopped Belgian-styled golden ale The Bruery Mischief used sour brettanomyces yeast to punctuate the farmhouse-wafted, basil-thyme seasoning and lemon-rotted bittering of this persuasive Californian. Pretty Things Baby Tree, cleverly formulated herbal-spiced, citric-hopped, floral-accented Massachusetts-based ale replicated Belgium’s finest Abbey quadrupels.

As we trek back to the main floor, the crowd has doubled in size, but the sampling tables are still easily accessible. I finally get the chance to try a few of Greenport Harbor’s well balanced, eager-to-please brews. The newest Long Island-based brewery to pop up since 2009 (alongside Great South Bay and Barrier) proved it’s not necessary to make only ‘big beers’ for snooty aficionados. Greenport’s Harbor Ale brought crisp Amarillo-hopped wood dryness to light, wheat-cracked dried citrus bittering. Leaf Pile Pumpkin Ale’s creamy, cinnamon-toasted pumpkin pie sweetness contrasted leafy hop foliage above allspice-cardamom-nutmeg spicing. Black Duck Porter wrangled cocoa-powdered, soy-milked black chocolate creaminess out of brown-sugared grain toasting and dark-roasted hops.

Next table over, I found a few herbal-spiced Belgian-styled pleasantries. Sour-fruited Saison farmhouse ale Sly Fox Grisette Summer Ale may’ve bettered the equally upscale citric pepper-spiced Empire Golden Dragon (a Belgian golden ale utilizing garden-grown Thai basil).

Excitedly, I encounter the Shmaltz homebrewer table to taste a few one-of-a-kind ‘gypsy brews.’ These so-called gypsy brews, generally local craft beers with no permanent home base made at the whim of adventurous zymurgists, prove the entrepreneurial American spirit hasn’t died yet.

A true gypsy brewer, Jeremy Goldberg started up Cape Ann Brewing Company in 2004. Last year, the Gloucester, Massachusetts, company presented a musty, caramel-glazed pumpkin beer that had Freaktoberfest ’10 patrons dazzled at Brooklyn’s smaller Rock Shop venue. This year, Goldberg brought down an eccentric potion known as Cape Ann Fisherman Tea Party, a fig-dried, ESB-like barleywine with earthen hops and smoked peat malting appeasing black and green tea adjuncts.

Next up was Smuttynose’s latest edition to its established Big Beer Series, a casually splendid Belgian IPA dubbed Homunculus. Its tart lemony orange tang lingered through apple, apricot and pear fruiting as well as earthen grassy-hopped leathering and floral jasmine-honeysuckle herbage. Nearly as rewarding and not far removed taste-wise, Smuttynose Finest Kind IPA saddled its mild woody-hopped, grapefruit-peeled bittering with bright peach, pear and orange rind illusions that grazed a leathery alfalfa-hay earthiness.

Shmaltz loves to promote home brewers. And a few scored high. The most ‘active’ amateur brewer at this evening’s event may’ve been Fritz Fernow, whose cool website, fritzbrew.com, features a Beerography and Beerjoints section. His Shmaltz-sponsored Horny Ryenocerous Rye IPA was aimed at “people who like to geek out on hops,” Fernow claims. “There’s Chinook and Magnum bittering hops. Then, for flavoring, Centennial hops were used. Aroma hops include Citra and more Centennial. Then it’s dry-hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo,” the cordial Fernow explained like a well-versed pro. For me, the final product loaded lemony grapefruit rind bitterness atop caramel-roasted crystal rye malts.

Also worth investigation was Zomerfest, a homebrewed Dutch twist on a German ale. Its crisp lemony entry and almond-toasted easement picked up citric-floral nuances from Sorachi Ace hops, leaving a nifty gin and tonic finish.

For dessert, I choose a tremendous cocktail-like elixir from a tiny Detroit suburb and a magnanimous barrel-aged tonic celebrating Shmaltz’s 15th anniversary.

I’d met the Kuhnhenn family (father Eric and sons Eric and Brett) at their intimate Warren, Michigan, brewery several times in the past. And it was great to have them here in New York, even if they didn’t know where their serving table was assembled. Though I did find Kuhnhenn’s station unmanned, a leather-jacketed dude thankfully started pouring Dennis and I a few samples of the excellent Kuhnhenn Extraneous Ale. Months of aging changed the profile, complexion and complexity of this wonderful ‘big beer.’ While its original tapped version provided a heady bourbon piquancy and Cassis-like blackberry curdle, tonight’s vintage tasted like a Mai Tai with its coconut-pineapple conflux, caramelized whiskey malting and candied apple sash.

Lastly, the stimulating Shmaltz Genesis 15:15 Barrel-Aged Barleywine gave its pomegranate-juiced fig, date and Concord grape adjuncts a fantastic rye whiskey malting atop smoky hop roasting. Red-wined chocolate liqueur, Kahlua, and brown chocolate illusions settled beneath the profound dried fruiting, finishing like an awesomely full-bodied, brandied barleywine.

As mustachioed emcee Donny Vomit proceeded to juggle knives and swallow a fake sword in honor of Coney Island Sword Swallower Pale Lager, I finished up my samples and grabbed some Chinese food across the street before heading home. Without a doubt, this was one of the best beer-related gatherings I’ve ever attended. Can’t wait for next years’ shindig, wherever it’s at.

Donny Vomit @ Freaktoberfest Video!

Article from Drink Me magazine!

http://drinkmemag.com/2011/09/freaktoberfest/

NY Craft Beer Week Begins: Freaktoberfest

by Allegra Ben-Amotz

NY Craft Beer Week kicked off this Friday with Freaktoberfest, a party hosted by Shmaltz Brewing Co. that featured representatives from over 20 breweries, a bevy of Coney Island freakshow performers, 2 floors of live music, and a mustachioed emcee named Donny Vomit who juggled knives and swallowed balloons between sets.  The third annual celebration went down at Southpaw, a raucous music venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn where beer geeks boogied and sipped unlimited tastings alongside soul singers, industry types, and burlesque dancers.

The spirit of the event was embodied by its highlighted beer and official drink of NY Craft Beer Week: Geektoberfest, a collaboration between Captain Lawrence, Ithaca Beer Co., and Shmaltz Brewing Company, is a blend of seven barrel-aged sour brown ales.  The beer, only available on draft during Craft Beer Week, is a spirited, tart ale with hints of raspberry, a kitchen-sink project that brings together sours with history all over the state.

We sampled the national launch of Genesis 15:15, Shmaltz’s new barrel-aged harvest barleywine ale with a whopping 13.4% ABV, brewed with pomegranate juice, fig juice, date & grape juice, aged in rye whiskey barrels – the perfect tipple for the Jewish New Year!


Shmaltz also celebrated the recent launch of the world’s tiniest craft brewery, Coney Island Brewing Company, who welcomed five of the guest brewers they had at their facility this summer (we especially liked The Horny RYEnocerous, a dry-hopped rye IPA, brewed by Fritz Fernow).  Other notable participants were Greenport Harbor, a two year old Long Island brewery who served up a double IPA; Ommegang with a palate-cleansing, summery Belgian pale ale; Speakeasy, who shared a two-month release from their Bootlegger Limited Series (Butchertown Black Ale, a roasted but light-bodied IPA-type brew); and Goose Island, a Chicago-based brewery who featured Matilda, a dark, fruity pale ale targeted at wine drinkers, and Sofie, a tart, Belgian-style farmhouse ale aged in wine barrels with orange peel.

Freaktoberfest had all attendees in high spirits, ready to embark on a week-long celebration of New York’s finest brews.

More Freaktoberfest Photos

from Metromix.com

Thanks guys for coming out!!!

All photos by Metromix.com!