Washington Beer Commission Hops to Spokane

While many people heading east over the Cascades in the next couple of weeks will likely veer off I-90 and head to Yakima, the Tri-Cities or Walla Walla to soak up the various Crush events (not to mention the late season sun), there will still be plenty of hearty souls whose GPS will be set on I-90 until they reach their final destination in Spokane.

Sure, there’s wine in Spokane. But come September 23-24, the waterfront of the ‘Lilac City’ will transform itself into one giant Oktoberfest biergarten courtesy of the Washington Beer Commission.

There’s no doubt the Commission has been busy - especially on this side of the Cascades. This summer they made sure that beer lovers soaked up the suds along with the sun with highly successful (and sold out) brew fests in Kenmore and Bremerton.

But before they hit Seattle with some timely hops just as the dark skies of winter settle in, the Washington Beer Commission will be pulling out all of the stops for our friends out east with the 2nd Annual Spokane Oktoberfest.

There’s no way that one day would be enough to cover this monster beer bash celebrating Washington craft brews. So the Commission is throwing a two-day Brew Fest worthy of any true Bavarian bash replete with traditional music (with the obligatory lederhosens, no doubt), brats & sauerkraut and more than 50 German style lagers and fall seasonal beers on tap from 24 Washington Breweries - 14 of them hailing from east of the Cascades.

There’s .good news for returning Oktoberfest beer lovers (and for first timers for that matter). Chalk it up to the state of the economy - or maybe just the goodness of the Beer Commission’s heart - but either way, you’ll find tickets running 5 bucks less than last year.

As with many things in life, if you plan ahead you’ll find yourself on the better end of the deal. Advance tickets for Friday or Saturday are $15 ($20 if you procrastinate and buy at the door). Separate tickets are required for each day and will get you into the massive, high-peak tent on Spokane’s Riverfront Park's Gondola Meadow with a commemorative tasting cup in hand and five, 5.5 oz. sample tastes.

The full list of participating Washington breweries is impressive and you can start planning your tasting strategy for Oktoberfest here.

But don’t linger too long over the list. Grab your lederhosens and head on over to Brown Paper Tickets to secure your spot for what will likely be another sold out event.