By Brian Beauchemin

Although the official German Oktoberfest in Munich officially begins September 21, traditional festival beers launch earlier, including four local releases this month. Fruity summer fruit beers are joined by fall-style ciders and even rainbow glitter. For the hopheads, a few traditional IPA’s are met with hazy alternatives and even one sporting coffee beans. Unless otherwise stated, all products are already available in taprooms and/or in the local market. 

Birdsong Brewing     
Party Starter Märzen is a 5% ABV seasonal Oktoberfest lager. It is malt-forward, rich, and bready, with hints of toffee and light floral aromas and a smooth, crisp finish. 

Cabarrus Brewing 
Due out later this month, Oktoberfest Märzen Style Lager is a classic German-style Märzen lager brewed with Vienna, Munich, Caramel, and Wheat malts. It provides a lightly toasted bread-like flavor and a reddish copper color. Noble Czech Saaz hops provide bitterness and flavor to balance out the malt flavor and give the 5.4% ABV brew a clean finish.

NoDa Brewing

All brews this month will be available only at the brewery’s North End tasting room.

Rescue Brew is a crisp, easy-drinking 4.5% ABV lager brewed with lemon and lime. The beer helps serve a larger purpose as well. Rescue Brew is a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Charlotte, where pet owners submit photos of their rescue pets and accumulate paid votes to raise money for the Humane Society. Once the voting period is over, the dog and cat with the most votes/the most money raised have their faces on the can label of the 2024 Rescue Brew beer. Over $75,000 was raised, and the brewery will continue to donate $1 from each can or draft until it is sold out.

Stuck on Haze is a strong hazy IPA brewed by their lead brewer, Eric Richardson. This strong but super flavorful and aromatic 7.7% ABV beer is hopped with Experimental 16660, Elani (a new hop variety), and Mosaic Cryo hops. The bright and clean tasting brew lets the hops shine. 

Releasing August 16, Brewers Coffee IPA is a session IPA brewed by NoDa brewer Rebecca Miller. The 4.8% ABV beer was brewed with oats, hopped with Mosaic, dry-hopped with Mosaic and Amarillo CGX hops, and then rested on coffee beans providing subtle coffee notes. 

Carolina Charm is a collaboration brew with Carolina Malt House to celebrate the brewery’s larger-scale use of their grain. The Vienna lager features Carolina Malt’s delicious Vienna malt as the primary focus of this balanced and tasty 5.2% brew. It will be released on draft on August 23. 

I.D.E.A.ology is a collaboration brew with Bobby Teasley from Black Bald Bearded Beer Snob. Bobby has worked hard to promote craft beer culture to minority groups and break barriers and perceptions of the industry. I.D.E.A. stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Accountability. Releasing August 30, the 7.0% ABV hazy IPA utilizes a tasty combination of Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. One dollar from every pint of I.D.E.A.ology served will be donated to the Many Faces Initiative.

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
Released in July through distribution, Mecktoberfest is now available in both of the breweries’ taprooms. The 5.4% ABV Märzen-style amber lager is the original Oktoberfest bier: rich, malty, and smooth courtesy of Munich malt, noble hops, and a yeast strain from the oldest brewery in the world. 

Pilot Brewing
The brewery celebrated its six-year anniversary on August 10 and released five small-batch draught-only beers as part of the celebration. Each beer was brewed by one of their staff members. Since these were small batches, the beers may not still be on tap. 

Greg T’s Honey Blonde is a 5.2% ABV American blonde ale fermented with Cloister’s wildflower honey. Sun-kissed blonde in color, with aromas of sweet honey, light hay, lemon zest, and herbal hops. Malt flavors of white bread and crackers provide a neutral base for the light honey sweetness and a low herbal hop flavor. Expect a medium body mouthfeel with a smooth and refreshing finish.

Rachel’s Irish Extra Stout is a 5.3% ABV full-bodied, black ale with roasted notes of coffee and dark chocolate, enough bitterness to support the rich complex malt character, and a smooth but dry finish.

At 5.5% ABV, Phillip’s Lady Poison Stout is a dark, smooth, full-bodied chocolate stout with a hint of peppermint.

Travis’ British Golden Ale is a hop-forward, drinkable, and refreshing 5.3% ABV English pale ale.

Serena’s Honey Orange Pale is a pale-orange, hop-forward 5.2% ABV American craft ale. Supporting malt flavors of light toast and biscuit with a light honey sweetness are complemented by orange zest in the finish. 

A refreshing German tart wheat ale with a low coriander note and restrained sea salt character, Prickly Pearfection Gose was fermented with red prickly pear fruit. The 4.5% ABV beer won the Gold medal at the 2024 US Open Beer Championship in the near gluten-free beer category. Available on draught, cans, and distribution.

Releasing August 23, Glitter Time Summer Ale is a lightly hopped, easy-drinking, and refreshing pale English-style summer ale. The 5.2% ABV brew is served with edible rainbow glitter and is this month’s charity beer for Twirl to the World.

Red Clay Ciderworks

The cidery is hosting a double can release on August 17. Blueberry Lemon Crumble is a 6.5% ABV taproom-only small batch release. The semi-sweet pastry cider is loaded with blueberry, lemon, vanilla, and notes of caramel and finishes with a touch of cinnamon.

Chai Jacked is their fall seasonal, available in their taproom and through distribution. This delightful semi-sweet fall cider is a blend of Appalachai’s chai spice, a touch of brown sugar, and real pumpkin. The sweetness from the brown sugar helps balance the slight astringency from the chai spice, while the pumpkin adds to the overall mouthfeel. It’s a pumpkin cider, but with a flavor combination more like an apple pie.

Triple C Brewing
Kei Truck is a 4.2% ABV Japanese rice lager. The light, easy-drinking lager was brewed with flaked rice, which provides a crisp and dry flavor. 

A traditional old-school west coast IPA, Back In My Day, has a bit more malt in tandem with dank, piney, and citrusy hops. The 7.3% ABV IPA was brewed with Cascade, Centennial, Citra, and Columbus hops, the way an IPA was meant to be. Releases August 16. 

Oktoberfest is a traditional Märzen lager. The 5.5% ABV brew sports a beautiful copper color while showcasing notes of toasted bread and malt tones with a slight crisp bitterness. The brew was fermented cold for a smooth and clean finish and releases on August 23.  

Releasing August 30, Peaks & Valleys is a small batch American pale ale with a crisp bitterness, and aromas of bready malt, balanced by piney, dank, and herbal hops.

Wooden Robot Brewery
Nocturnal Noir is a gose brewed with blackberries and salt. The 5.1% ABV bright, refreshing ale features a big blackberry aroma, notes of oak, and a refreshing, lightly salted finish. 

As part of their rotating series of refreshing summer fruit beers, the 5.4% ABV Blueberry Melon Pool Pounder is loaded with local Blueberries from Cody Strawberry Farm and Cantaloupe from Wild Hope Farm.