Maltese Brewing Oktoberfest Celebration

It's that time of the year when the local craft breweries put on their Oktoberfest celebrations. I haven't gone to many of them in recent years so was glad when our schedule made this one doable. I do have fond memories of the events held by Blue and Gray Brewing in years past. 

Last weekend we went over to Maltese Brewing (FB Link) for their Octoberfest event. Maltese recently relocated to a new, expanded location. Coincidently, they are now located in the same industrial complex where the long-gone, and greatly missed, Blue and Grey brewery and taproom was located. 

We arrived at the event early to take advantage of the breakfast menu. While simple, the meal of scrambled eggs, bratwurst, and pancakes was a tasty and a fun way to start the day. Of course, it was enjoyed with a pint of Maltese Oktoberfest Märzen.

After eating, we moved to an outside table to enjoy the pleasant weather. We had plans to attend another, non-beer event later in the afternoon but there was still time for another beer and a smoke. As we sat, the afternoon food trucks arrived and we debated perhaps staying for a quick lunch before leaving.

I enjoyed an Espinosa Knuckle Sandwich Maduro with the beer. This cigar is the result of a collaboration between chef and cigar lover Guy Fieri and Erik Espinosa. I've enjoyed this one in the past. The dark coffee, cocoa, dark fruit, and mild white pepper flavors make for a pleasant smoke.

After a bit, a couple of friends arrived to enjoy the festivities as well and we enjoyed catching up. It wasn't long before we were getting hungry again. We were having fun, so decided to just stay for the afternoon. Another beer, and a "german grilled hotdog" sandwich from one the food trucks capped off the now long afternoon.

It was a fortuitous and fun way to spend Saturday afternoon.

Cheers!

Decisions, decisions...

Finally, the weather is pleasant, the sun is shining and the grill will be fired up shortly. But first, what's on tap tonight? To answer that question, Colleen and I headed over to Maltese Brewing to pick up a growler fill. Of course, we had to first do some research to decide what to get for the evening.

We opted to try pints of Raspberry Wheat and Pineapple IPA. The Pineapple IPA a regular at Maltese, and may be their most popular beer; it's one of my favorites. The Raspberry Wheat is a newer offering and brewed with fresh raspberries, which give the beer just hint of tartness. The fruit flavor is mild and combined with the wheat base, it's a very refreshing and flavorful beer. But then again, I really do like that Pineapple IPA...

And now, the fire pit is prepped for an evening fire, and a growler of Raspberry Wheat awaits.

Maltese Brewing Company

We finally paid a visit to Maltese Brewing Company this weekend. The brewery is owned by firefighters, and many of the employees are also firefighters, and this connection is apparent in the pub's decor. The tasting room is small, with just four seats at the bar, with a few tables in a front room and several more in the back with the brewing equipment. We did learn that after less than a year from their opening, the owners are already are making plans to expand into the space next door.

The small space doesn't limit the beers the brewery is pouring. We started with a flight, called a Brigade here, that consisted of all 7 beers being poured, along with a cold-pressed coffee that was served on nitro. The flights at Maltese Brewing come with a small bag of pretzels. That was a very welcome twist which is just one example of the attention to detail the owners offer.

The selections in our Brigade were Fireman's Blonde, Vanilla Brown, Pump Panel Coffee Brown, Amber IPA, Mint Chocolate Porter, Fire Wife Wheat, Pineapple IPA, and the aforementioned coffee. There were no disappointments in any of the beers. Among our favorites were the two IPAs, the Vanilla Brown and the Wheat. The coffee too was quite enjoyable. The flavor of the locally roasted coffee was rich, and the nitro pour made it quite smooth. After our tastings, we debated about our next selection. In the end Colleen opted for a pint of the Pineapple IPA and I went for the just tapped Amber IPA. The flavor of the Amber IPA is a cross between an Imperial Red Ale and an IPA. The rich malt and bitter hop notes combined for an extremely flavorful beer.

There were menus for a visiting food vendor, Good Dog, on the bar and many patrons were eagerly awaiting our chance to order the "gourmet hot dogs." The vendor was late setting up, which led to much good natured "harassment" of the bartenders. It was all in good fun, and when the food was finally available it was well worth the wait.

During our visit there were a lot of folks coming in to get growler fills. We observed that after rinsing the growlers, they were were purged with CO2 to help preserve the freshness of the beer. This was another example of the attention to detail at Maltese Brewing. I don't see this extra step taken at a lot of breweries.

We had plans to visit a couple other local craft beer stops on this day, as there were a number of new beer releases available. However, we ended up enjoying ourselves so much at Maltese that we opted to forgo the other stops and extended our stay. The atmosphere at the brewery is casual and very friendly. The bartenders were attentive and engaging. That seemed to spread to the patrons as well, and we enjoyed a lot of friendly conversation with others. We had a very enjoyable afternoon and look forward to going back to Maltese Brewing very soon.