Soon, green leaves on the trees will turn vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow. The air will become brisk and crisp, and cozy sweaters will be unburied from closets, dusted off and slipped on. The aromas of pumpkin spice, cinnamon and nutmeg will waft from coffee shops.
And along with autumn, Oktoberfest once again returns, the amber color of Oktoberfest lagers wonderfully complementing the season’s color palette.
“Almost every day, everything that we do revolves around Oktoberfest,” said Vinnie Quinzio, general manager of Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh, which is modeled after the original Hofbräuhaus brewery in Munich.
“It’s our most important and fun time of the year. … One of our most famous sayings is, ‘Every day is like Oktoberfest.’ But when it actually is, that’s even more special.”
Oktoberfest originated in Munich in October 1810 as a five-day celebration commemorating the Oct. 12 marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig — later, King Ludwig I — and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, culminating in a horse race.
The festival became an annual affair, a way to draw a crowd to Bavaria and generate revenue. Years later, it was pushed to late September to avoid the reliably rainy fall weather.
The first Oktoberfest celebration in America took place in 1961 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the festivities have since spread across the nation — including to Western Pennsylvania, where German immigrants began arriving in the 1600s.
Pittsburghers looking for Oktoberfest fun this year have several options, including Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh, which is hosting the festival Sept. 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28 and is currently in the running for USA Today’s best in the nation.
‘Part of the culture’
“You don’t have to be German to enjoy and have a great time,” Quinzio said. “You don’t have to drink a bunch of beer. You can sing along with the songs and [join] the fun. That’s what it’s all about, to come and enjoy part of the culture.”
For those who do envision themselves with a beer stein in hand, there are plenty of brew options at Hofbräuhaus and other local breweries.
While American Oktoberfest beer is an amber color and is usually sweeter and slightly adjusted for the American palate, authentic German Oktoberfest beer is brewed in Bavaria and is typically lighter and more of a pale yellow color, similar to a traditional lager, explained Earl Kleckner, president of the Greater Canonsburg Chamber of Commerce and owner of Rusty Gold Brewing in Canonsburg.
Hofbräuhaus, which brews its own beers on site, imports authentic Oktoberfest beer to serve this time of year. It’s a little stronger than the average beer, Quinzio said.
“I’ve tried it this year, and it’s one of the better batches that I have tasted in a very long time,” he said.
They will also be offering their year-round lager, dunkel, hefeweizen and Jubiläum on tap, along with a variety of flavored beers, and their own fest beer, which is a similar style to the authentic Oktoberfest but brewed in Pittsburgh. It has a slightly lower ABV, so it’s not quite as strong as German Oktoberfest, and a bready taste, a little more malt and hops and slightly more of a “balanced” flavor, Quinzio said.
There will be a variety of food options, and Quinzio, a classically trained chef who studied in Germany, helped to curate the menu, which will include traditional German dishes such as hendl (roasted chicken) and schweinshaxe, a slow-roasted, crispy pork shank. Also on the menu are various schnitzels and wursts and hot German potato salad.
Authentic Oktoberfests
Penn Brewery, Pittsburgh’s oldest craft brewery, is hosting its Oktoberfest celebrations Sept. 20-22 and 27-29 and Oct. 4-6. It will be serving its own Oktoberfest beer, brewed on site in copper kettles, as well as pilsner, house-made ciders and a seasonal Pumpkin Roll Ale, which is brewed with pumpkin puree and has flavors of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and ginger.
Sundays during Oktoberfest are “family days,” with carriage rides and a scavenger hunt among the kid-friendly activities, office manager Amy Huseman said.
While Penn Brewery’s Oktoberfest isn’t quite the same as in Germany, it’s still full of culture and fun, said owner Stefan Nitsch, 43, who’s from Tirol, Austria, and has attended the celebration in Munich.
“It’s definitely nice to have such an authentic Oktoberfest here in Pittsburgh,” he said. “It reminds me of back home.”
General admission is free, though there are VIP packages available, including one offering seating inside the brewery’s original lagering cave from the early 1900s.
Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is hosting its Oktoberfest Sept. 27-28. There will be live music, German foods such as bratwurst and sauerkraut, and its own Oktoberfest lager, Herman’s Best, which has toasty and bready notes, said Rachel Semelbauer, the company’s working director.
There will also be a hefeweizen, a traditional Bavarian wheat beer brewed with Hallertau hops, which has notes of banana and clove, Semelbauer said.
Slightly outside the city is the Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest in Canonsburg, taking place Sept. 20-22.
It started as a very small event and has since grown significantly, now with over 50 vendors, 15 food trucks, carnival rides and games and live music on two stages all three days.
“The fact that we can pull off the Oktoberfest that we do is a testament to the pride of this little town,” said Kleckner, whose German ancestors came to the U.S. in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Oktoberfest Pittsburgh
The first Oktoberfest Pittsburgh is set for Oct. 3-13 in Downtown’s Market Square with a Munich-style Karneval and a Ferris wheel on the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
Market Square will be filled with booths, banners and traditional Oktoberfest decorations, and a beer tent and garden will serve local craft and German beer. Of course there will also be traditional German food such as bratwurst, pretzels and strudel along with live music by Bavarian-style bands.
The event and activities are free; tickets for the Ferris wheel are $5 each.
The Market Square Biergarten will be open noon-8 p.m. weekdays and noon-10 p.m. weekends. The Sixth Street Karneval will be open daily from noon-10 p.m., and until midnight on Sunday, Oct. 6, after the Steelers game against the Dallas Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium.
Oktoberfest Pittsburgh is organized by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and Flyspace Productions.For more information, go to www.oktpgh.com.
‘Spread all over’
When German immigrants began flocking to the Pittsburgh area between 1820 and 1880, many ended up in Deutschtown, on the North Side, working in a variety of professions. Breweries were one of their biggest employers.
Today, the German population in Pittsburgh is “spread all over,” said Paul Overby, 67, of Squirrel Hill, the honorary consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Pittsburgh. Overby doesn’t have German heritage, but he’s been fascinated with the culture since studying the language as a child growing up in Columbia, Missouri.
“You still see remnants left over [from] when Germans came to Western Pennsylvania,” Kleckner said. “But it happened so long ago, there really isn’t a centralized German area anymore.”
Oktoberfest means different things to different groups of people, and the celebrations look slightly different from place to place, with differences even across Germany, explained Overby.
Here, Oktoberfest “connects us to the roots of the German population in Pittsburgh,” he said. “And I would like to think that it also reminds us of the current-day connections between Germany and southwestern Pennsylvania.”
In and around Pittsburgh, there are anywhere from 80 to 150 German-owned businesses of various sizes, according to Overby, and Germans account for more investment in the Pittsburgh area than residents from any other country.
“Oktoberfest could serve almost as a match, a flame, that ignites interest on the part of people to join the American-German connection,” he said. “That might be learning the language in school, it might be applying for a job at one of these companies and it might just be taking an interest in the political relationship.
“In Pittsburgh, it’s just a great party,” he said.
Where to celebrate
Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh (2705 S. Water St., South Side Flats): Sept. 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28
Penn Brewery (800 Vinial St., Troy Hill): Sept. 20-22 and 27-29 and Oct. 4-6
Pittsburgh Brewing Co. (150 Ferry St., Creighton): Sept. 27-28
Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest (Pike Street, Canonsburg): Sept. 20-22
Oktoberfest Pittsburgh (Market Square and Roberto Clemente Bridge, Downtown) Oct. 3-13
First Published: September 12, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 13, 2024, 2:05 a.m.
