Tidbites | Week of Aug. 27, 2015

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OKTOBERFEST IN LONGMONT

Leaves are changing and so are drinking and eating appetites. To honor this year’s harvest and the coming of cooler weather, head out to the Longmont Oktoberfest celebration from Left Hand Brewing on Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12 in Roosevelt Park.

Nine local breweries will be pouring their regular and seasonal beers, including Left Hand, Oskar Blues, Pumphouse Brewery, 300 Suns, Grossen Bart, Long’s Peak Tap House, Shoes & Brews, Skeye Brewing and Wibby Brewing. There’s also going to be a bunch of German food like brats, schnitzels and pretzels.

There will be live music from 10 bands throughout the weekend, too. And no Oktoberfest celebration is complete without German games like a brat-eating competition, a stein-holding contest, malt bag races and a Best Dressed of the Fest competition. You’ll also stumble upon a parade and a few games of giant foosball.

Best of all is that entry to Longmont Oktoberfest is free, though a $5 donation, which goes to several local charities, is recommended. You’ll still have to pay for beers and brats. For more information, visit www.lefthandbrewing.com.

BOULDER ESTABLISHMENTS WIN AWARDS

USA Today recently announced the results of its Readers’ Choice awards for food establishments across the country. Lo and behold, the Boulder Farmers’ Market was voted the best farmers’ market in the country.

Boulder beat out markets in Atlanta, Santa Fe, Seattle, San Francisco and Burlington, Vermont.

Meanwhile, Celestial Seasonings was voted the fifth best food factory tour in the U.S. in the same contest. The winner of that category was the Herr’s Snack Factory in Nottingham, Pennsylvania. (Mmm… Herr’s chips.)

Other categories included best food trail, best local dining scene and best outdoor dining experience.

NEW BREWERY COMING TO LONGMONT

Wibby Brewing is making its grand opening in Longmont over Labor Day weekend.

Wibby specializes in, fittingly for the season, German-style lagers. Its three flagship beers will be the Wibby India Pale Lager (IPL), the Moondoor Dunkel and the Lightshine Helles.

The IPL is a “hop head red lager with a smooth malt finish and pungent, citrusy hop aroma that leaves you wanting more.” The Dunkel is a “supple and crisp … incredibly drinkable dark lager,” and the Helles is a “light, sweet finishing, Bavarian influenced lager.”

Wibby is located on Emery Street in Longmont, between Second and Third Avenues, just a block off of Main Street. For more information on the brewery or its grand opening celebration, visit www.wibbybrewing.com.

THE OCTOBER BEERS CONTINUE

Autumn is a great time to be a beer drinker.

You start getting into the dark stuff, the lagers and the pumpkin beers. You’ve probably seen orange-covered beer labels pop up overnight in the beer section of your local liquor store, and though we’ve still got one or two death blows of summer still in our system, football is just around the corner. So crack open those pumpkin and Oktoberfest brews, you.

One new seasonal local beer you might reach for is the Dragonhösen from Boulder Beer. Their description is a bit better than what I can muster:

“Late at night in the dark cellar or among the rows of towering vessels at Boulder Beer, if you listen carefully you can hear the eerie sound of the Dragonhösen. Brewed with generous amounts of Vienna and Munich malts for a rich, full-bodied malty flavor, Dragonhösen begins as a traditional Oktoberfest lager, then stealthily breathes fire with 9 percent alcohol by volume. Now available in 4-packs!” Alright.