La Crosse Tribune,
August 18, 2006 . . . City Brewery
unveils new Oktoberfest
USA Amber Ale
By Steve Cahalan
The City Brewery on
Thursday unveiled its
new Oktoberfest USA
Amber Ale craft beer,
which will be available
on tap and in cans in
the next several days at
area stores, bars and
restaurants.
It also will be
available at the 46th
annual Oktoberfest
celebration, which will
be Sept. 29 through Oct.
7.
At a press conference at
the brewery, company and
local Oktoberfest
officials described the
new brew as a
partnership of the two
organizations. The
Oktoberfest USA name is
trademarked.
Oktoberfest officials
decided several months
ago to have only City
Brewery and Pearl Street
Brewery products at the
2006 festival.
Oktoberfest will be a
“wonderful opportunity
to showcase the beers of
the local breweries,”
Oktoberfest board of
directors President
Victor Hancock said
Thursday.
The local Oktoberfest
celebration was started
by the brewery, then
known as G. Heileman
Brewing Co., and by the
chamber of commerce when
the local economy was in
a downturn, 2005
Festmaster Pete Stinson
said.
If the new product sells
well, it could
eventually be available
year-round, said Jon
Reynolds, City Brewing
Co. director of
marketing and sales.
The brewery also will
deliver its seasonal
City Festbier to stores,
bars and restaurants
about a week after its
new amber ale arrives,
Reynolds said.
In June, the brewery
unveiled its new Golden
Leaf Unfiltered Wheat
beer as part of La
Crosse’s
sesquicentennial
celebration.
“It’s gone very well,”
Reynolds said of sales
of the wheat beer.
Brewery officials will
decide whether to
produce it beyond this
year’s sesquicentennial
celebration.
Brewmaster Randy Hughes
described Oktoberfest
USA Amber Ale as a
medium-body ale with a
rich, malty character.
The can label was
designed by Mary Schill
of Forte Design.
Reynolds said craft
beers are the
fastest-growing segment
of the beer industry,
and that amber beers
represent more than 23
percent of total craft
beer sales.
