2nd annual Oktoberfest

Friday night we hosted our 2nd annual Oktoberfest Party. Last year we got a lot of Fall Seasonal beers, the theme this year seemed to be Pumpkin Brew. There were probably 6-7 different pumpkin seasonal ales. Lots of good different tastes. The weather thankfully cooperated great! It had been rainy/snowy and windy all week, but cleared up very nicely for Friday! It was definitely chilly, but felt great as long as you were sitting around the fire!
The conversation around the fire pit was very lively all night long. Neighbor Rob even stopped by for a while. It felt pretty good sitting by the fire, but when you got too far away, it got cold fast!
We had tons of food, and it was pretty fantastic! I made caramel corn and it turned out great and disappeared quickly!!! The food really complemented the drinks and the season!

Oh yeah! The Cardinals also wrapped up game 5 against the Phillies! 2nd round baby!!!!

Oktoberfest

So now that it is officially over a month past the time of this party, I guess I can write about it. I decided I wanted to have an Oktoberfest party where we drank only Oktoberfest or Fall Seasonal beers, and sat around the fire pit out back and cooked s'mores. Natalie went along with it as long as I was the one in charge, and took care of most of the details. Sure enough! We ended up with about 20-30 people over here, and spent most of the night hovered around the fire in the back yard, or hovered around the amazing appetizers in the kitchen. We had at least 10 different types of beers for people to sample or drink. We had little sample cups out, so people could browse the different flavors before choosing which one to drink. The tub below was sitting in the kitchen with the sample beers, and we had a cooler out back with several of each flavor to choose your favorite. I think the party was a success! I know I had fun hanging with good friends, and sampling good drinks!
It was really nice sitting by the fire. I love these cool fall nights around the fire!
Two of our Social Studies teachers sharing a "special" moment.... :-)Below is the result of the many "samplings" that we tried...