Rustico's Oktoberfest

Stardate 65302.8

07:00 - On the nicest of fall days, I ventured out of the district to Alexandria, Virginia to attend Rustico's Oktoberfest. I started off by taking a picture at the Braddock Road Metro Station. It is not as odd as you might think.  Those of us taking public transportation got a free mug or 5 tickets towards food and beer.  With my picture, I trekked to Rustico, a pizza place related to the bar ChurchKey, for an Oktoberfest like no other.  This version was a Bloc Party. The beer lovers of NoVa and DC decended on this bloc like sharks to blood.  With the amount of people there, we  were going to need a bigger bloc. I got my 21 year old wrist band and pushed my way towards the ticket line.  I dropped $20 on tickets, got my awesome mup, and entered the promise bloc.

I am not new to beer, but I am new to Oktoberfest.  This Bloc Party had huge tents with beers from local and international breweries that brewed pumpkin ale, marzen, oktoberfest, and stouts.  I tried a pumpkin ale for the first time; Dogfish Head pumpkin ale did deliver (see picture). Side note: I poured the beer into my mug too quickly and my cupeth runeth over. So I had to do some quick emergency evacuation of the beer.  Needless to say, I had to decide pretty quickly if I liked that pumpkin ale.  Other beers I tried include St. George's Oktoberfest (twice) and some fancy 9 ticket international beer. Some fun beer facts: Pumpkin Ale is an American invention according to a rather gigantesque German man. Good work, America! Next, my favorite beer, the hefeweizen, is a Southern Germany tradition, and the Northern Germans drink pilsners.  So as my (apparently from the North of Germany) new German friend told me, my beers would be safe from him.


As the first time at any Oktoberfest, Rustico's Oktoberfest did the trick.  So much so that I want to save up to go to the big Oktoberfest in Shirlington next year.