Pretzelfest 2012

This past weekend I headed down to Pretzelfest in Over the Rhine with my fellow beer nerds Alex and Grant. Pretzelfest is a fundraising event for Bockfest which comes in early March, which I am now extremely excited for...

The event took place at Venue 222 on East 14th St. in Over the Rhine. A really cool loft/ gallery/ event type space. Complete with giant wooden beams, exposed brick and rafters, in other words, just my kind of place. 

Since Pretzelfest is the kickoff to the Bockfest season the guest of honor beer-wise was Christian Moerlein's Emancipator Doppelbock. A big, malty, toasty, very flavorful, and quite delicious beer indeed. After a few words were said about Bockfest, the Cincinnati beer scene and the like a cask of Emancipator was tapped. Now I've only drank beer off of a cask a few times, but each time I have, it's been pretty great. The natural carbonation afforded by the cask makes for a much different taste than out of a bottle or keg. The Emancipator had a much smoother mouthfeel off the cask than out of the bottles. If you have a chance to check out some cask ales I highly recommend it! I know the Cock and Bull in Hyde Park taps a cask on the last Friday of every month. Definitely worth checking out.

There were a handful of Cincinnati bakeries that supplied the pretzels necessary for such a fest. The rye knots were especially tasty. MOTR Pub even supplied pretzel ale caramels that were way more delicious than what you're thinking right now. 

The highlight of the evening's fare was the met from Mecklenburg Gardens served with sauerkraut and spicy Dusseldorf mustard on a pretzel bun. They were fantastic. The natural casing gave the met a really nice snap and the sauerkraut (which I'm not usually a massive fan of) and pretzel bun made for a pretty amazing meat in tube form experience.

Brian Keith Wallen, a local blues guitarist, was the evening's entertainment. He was great. My friends and I bought a few of his albums and each one is better than the last. You can buy his music at his website, iTunes, or Amazon. I highly recommend doing so.

All in all it was a pretty awesome night. Great food, great beer, and I really kind of felt like I was a part of the craft beer culture in Cincinnati. I am now extremely excited for Bockfest in March.

A minor housekeeping note: I think, at least for the time being, I'm going to try and stick to a Monday - Wednesday - Friday schedule. So look for my first beer review on Friday!

HD