Adventure: Zauber Brewing Co.'s Maifest

This past weekend was a study in duality: busy about town one day, and nothing but home projects on the other. Needed though, especially that second day!

Saturday's schedule looked something like this (for me anyway):
1. Get up; get dressed in work out togs; have hamstrings and pecs, in particular, murdered by trainer. The killer part was the last 15 minutes when my workout buddies had to jam, so it was me and Mary (my trainer). Oy vey. 
2. Stopped to get a well-deserved coffee on the way home.
3. Made lunch for Spouse, farted around, then took a short siesta. 
4. Showered, got cute, headed out with Spouse to Four String Taproom for their Saturday Firkin Tap. This week was their Brass Knuckle IPA, cask conditioned with Kumquats, and dry hopped with Triple Pearl. Tasty stuff. 

These are kumquats. Imagine the cherry tomato of the citrus world.

5. After we tried that and their newest tap, Solo Series #6: Hibiscus Ale, headed two blocks to Zauber Brewing Co.'s Maifest. The weather was kind enough to clear up, so that by 3 p.m., it was heading toward sunny, nice breeze, not too hot. 

  

They held Maifest in the parking lot to the east of the building. Had an entertainment tent (featuring a groovy trio with an Alpine Horn, accordion and stand-up bass), three food tents + 1 food truck, and 4 beer tents, one for each local brewery. 

Featured was Zauber, of course. We tried their Buxom Blond and Stodgy brews, but missed their later offerings...which means we just have to go back to their taproom. 

Photos courtesy of Zauber's Instagram.

Four String was there with Brass Knuckle and Big Star, I believe (since we'd just come from there, we just stopped by to say hello and be friendly like). 

From Barley's, we tried their Basin Street Wheat, which is listed in Untapp'd as a "wheat wine". With an ABV at 7.5%, I believe it. Tasty stuff though. 

Spouse took this one of me, double-fisting SideSwipe and Zauber.

The fourth brewery, SideSwipe, we were not that familiar with, but enjoyed their beer. I tried their IPA named Fisticuffs, and Spouse had their smoked stout named Elegant Hoodlum. Both very good, although I did like the smoked stout more than my IPA. 

After we had wandered about, we left the parking lot and went into Zauber's Taproom. Watershed Distillery was inside and had two concoctions you could try, so I did. Der. The first was their Bourbon Barrel Gin with oranges, mint and topped off with a skosk of club soda. The second was their Vodka with blueberry and basil. I liked both, but you had me at blueberry. 

Spouse decided he needed some more food, so tried Illy's Pizza, which was the food truck of the day at Zauber. They feature only turkey meats, so he got a 10" turkey pepperoni and cheese. It was really yummy and what I really enjoyed was it wasn't as greasy as regular pepperoni, and the crust was perfectly done. Seriously good. 

We met Papa & Mama Zauber (parents of one of the owners) and they were super fun. Chatted with the guys that run the Columbus Chapter of ManBQue, a cool organization dedicated to dudes, grilled meats and tasty beer. Also spent a ton of time talking with fellow master beer nerd, Christina, from Matt the Miller's Tavern. Also a great guy from Chicago (originally a Buckeye) named Colton, and also managed to run into some friends we didn't even realize would be there. And our groovy beer dudes from Four String, too. Fun times all around. 

According to Christina, the Grandview Craft Beer Alliance hopes to have more events like this in the future, especially as this small area of Columbus, is doing a great job of welcoming these small businesses, so Spouse & I look forward to going to more events like this in the future!