KITCHENER — Craft beer makers and their fans partied into the night in the large shadow of a corporate sponsorship agreement that freezes them out of any official role in KW Oktoberfest.
Alex Szaflarska and Rob Shorney watched as hundreds of people packed the large white tent in the heart of downtown Kitchener for Craftoberfest 2016 — the first of what they hope will be an annual party.
They are part owners of TWB Cooperative Brewing on Mill Street, a recent addition to this region's expanding number of craft brewers, and the main organizers of the party that celebrated the small makers of flavourful beers.
"We feel very strongly that we should have a space to celebrate the harvest, the community and this special time of year," Szaflarska said in an interview inside the Craftoberfest tent on a parking lot off Ontario Street.
A long-running sponsorship agreement with Molson Canadian gives the giant brewer exclusive rights to beer sales at all KW Oktoberfest events. So, Szaflarska and Shorney rolled up their brew meister aprons, and went about organizing Craftoberfest 2016.
Sold-out crowds came Friday and Saturday nights, checked out the local artwork, listened to the DJ and sampled craft beers from around this region and other parts of Ontario.
Craftoberfest hosted 20 breweries including Block Three, Waterloo Brewing, Innocente, Abe Erb, Descendants, Barncat, Royal City, Elora, Black Swan, Short Finger, KW Craft Beer Club, Wellington, Stonehammer, Four Fathers and KW Craft Cider.
"We tried to get as many out as we could for this first year," Szaflarska said.
Out-of-town craft breweries included Great Lakes Brewing, Beau's All Natural, Collective Arts, Flying Monkeys, London Brewing Co-Operative and Sawdust City.
"We asked each brewery to bring in a beer that was harvest-oriented, Oktoberfest-style," Szaflarska said. "So we had a lot of pumpkin beers, a latzenbier, that's like a top-shelf Oktoberfest-style beer."
Brewers from Royal City, Wellington and others got together and made a latzenbier at TWB Cooperative Brewing.
"So it really is a community beer," Szaflarska said. "We sold out."
There is more than a whiff of David-versus-Goliath, or local-versus-multinational at Craftoberfest. The website says: "We're organizing a festival by the people, for the people. A festival centred around a love of craft beer. One shaped by — and in celebration of — the community in which it is anchored."
It was a ticketed event — $50 for both nights. Everyone received a souvenir stein and a couple of beer tokens.
"We really wanted to showcase the other beers that are on offer both in the region and beyond; show the diversity of flavours," Szaflarska said. "This is really about the flavours and the community."
On Friday night all of the participating craft breweries had their own stands and taps. Saturday night featured four taps that kept changing kegs.
"It has been fantastic to get feedback from the community," Szaflarska said. "This year has been very much a proof-of-concept."
After the big tent comes down, the celebration of craft beer goes into the community. Four restaurants — Fork and Cork, Grand Trunk Saloon, The Berlin and B@Themusuem — will be paired with a local craft beer maker. A thank-you party is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Apollo Cinema.
"We just wanted to raise our hands, wave hello, and say 'We're here as well and we'd love to be part of this,'" Szaflarska said. "We love that everyone gets together and celebrates and we want our celebration as well."
Resource: http://www.therecord.com/
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