by Darren Diekmann
news@thenewsleaders.com
Bad Habit Brewery held its nearly-annual Oktoberfest Friday with traditional German dress, music, food, games and many toasts of “Prost!”
It celebrates the passing of summer into fall and the introduction of the newest batch of Oktoberfest beer. It also gave customers a last chance to enjoy the past season’s beer styles.
“It’s a day of music and food and drink. It’s about bringing everybody together and having fun,” said Aaron Rieland, who is co-owner of Bad Habit Brewery, along with Eric Geier.
“It is a brewery’s biggest holiday,” Geier said. “It is where we drink up last year’s batch and start making fresh stuff.”
This was the fifth year of the event that started in 2016, after a hiatus last year.
Bad Habit brewed 20 32-gallon kegs of their Oktoberfest this season and hoped to serve half of that at the fest.
The event also included two musical acts: a local polka duo, The Krautmeisters, followed by nationally known accordionist Mike Stillman.
The festive air was enhanced by the staff and a dozen or more guests sporting traditional garb: the men in lederhosen (leather knee-length shorts and suspenders) and the women in dirndls (dresses consisting of a bodice, blouse, skirt and apron).
Rieland and Geier stayed busy serving appreciative customers German brats from the St. Joseph Meat Market and large hot pretzels from Backwards Bread Co.
The fare could not have been a more perfect pairing with the new brew of Oktoberfest.
The Krautmeisters from the St. Cloud area have been playing at Oktoberfest since its inception. Tom Pattack, on the Bell tuba, and Mel Hauck on accordion
Tim Neison, St. Joseph, buys his first pint of Oktoberfest in a sturdy commemorative mug from cheerful bartender Sara Winter donning a traditional dirndl.
Greg Evenson, St. Joseph, takes his turn at Hammerschlagen. Rod Gertken, Cold Spring, in his Lederhosen, looks on waiting his turn. Hammerschlagen is a game, similar to Stump, where the object is to drive a nail flush into a stump with the wedge end of a cross-peen, or blacksmith’s, hammer.
