What you need to know about Oktoberfest in the Amanas

Oktoberfest in the Amanas

Friday through Sunday, Oct. 1 to 3

Every year on the first weekend in October the Amana Colonies is says “Prosit!” or “here's to you!” during the annual Oktoberfest celebration. This year marks the 45th celebration of all things German - food, dance, customs and yes, beer.

The festival begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 1 with blanket weaving and embroidery demonstration at the Amana Woolen Mill.

The party starts with the Oktoberfest keg tapping at 2 p.m. Oct. 1 with free beer until the keg is empty. The second day's events kick off with a parade at 10 a.m. Savor German fare, listen to Bavarian music and watch the keg toss, crosscut log sawing and brat-eating competitions.

Beer in the Amanas

Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies can't claim a two-century birthday party (as the revelers in Munich can) this year. But the colonies have been brewing beer nearly that long.

The founders of the collection of seven villages brought their love of beer (and wine) with them when they settled in east central Iowa in the

mid 1800s.

Jon Childers, one of the Oktoberfest organizers in the Amanas, says there were at least four breweries in the villages between 1855 and 1932. Lots of people brewed beer at home, too.

Technically the breweries were operated by the community - they were communal, don't forget - and they produced enough beer each year to be rationed to members for their personal use.

“When it was believed that the folks consumed too much beer, they stopped production of it and issued warnings to the members in church that they were not acting in character,” says Childers. “After a while, they were permitted to order beer from elsewhere. Then eventually it was permissible for the breweries to start operating again.”

The Oktoberfest celebration dates back to 1965. The hub of activity is the century-old Festhalle Barn in Amana, where people enjoy beer from Millstream, Iowa's oldest microbrewery.

The brewery also won a best beer in its class in the world for their Schildbrau, a Vienna-style Lager.

“They also brew a wonderful Oktoberfest beer, similar and actually better in my opinion, than the official Spaten Oktoberfest produced in Munich,” says Childers. “I've had it there and here, and I like Millstream's better.”

He's not the only one who thinks so. “On the official Oktoberfest grounds in Amana, we sell twice as much Oktoberfest as any other single beer there,” Childers says.

Why October?

Besides the beer gods, who do we have to thank the annual beer love fest that takes place every fall? As it turns we owe our gratitude to Germany's Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. So take a bow, your majesties.

The pair organized the first Oktoberfest - originally a horse race - in Munich, on Oct. 12, 1810, in honor of their marriage, which took place five days before.