Dan Norton, right, started as a home brewer years ago.
The Wichita Eagle
The eve of Halloween has always been a day celebrated by Nortons Brewing Company owners Dan and Becky Norton, usually by releasing a few special beers.
This year, however, their observance of All Hallows Eve will be much larger.
They are planning what they hope will be an annual beer festival that will allow craft beer enthusiasts to sample rare beers from local breweries and out of state.
The first All Hallows Eve Beer Fest, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, will fill Nortons Brewing Company at 125 St. Francis with more than 20 breweries from across the country offering samples. Brewers will be stationed inside the brewery and its spacious beer garden, and Nortons will be closed to the public while this happens.
Tickets, which are on sale now, will carry the Halloween-appropriate price of $66.60 per person and include admission, samples, a special keepable glass and a bottle of American Barley Wine ‘At the Stake’ from Norton.
At 4 p.m., Nortons will reopen to the public and host an all-ages “metal throw” from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on October 30 at the beer garden stage. The show will kick off with local metal bands Externus and Virgins, followed by headliner Gorgatron from Fargo, North Dakota. Beer festival attendees will receive the first dibs on the tables for the show.
Among the breweries that will be present at the Oklahoma City Oktoberfest: Locals River City, Hopping Gnome, Wichita Brewing Company, Walnut River and Central Standard as well as breweries like Vanessa House from Oklahoma City, Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company from Denver and Surly Brewing Co. .of Minneapolis. The Nortons kitchen will be open during the festival.
Norton said he asked each brewery to create a Halloween-themed beer or bring something rare – something from the beer cellar or any unique type of beer that their own customers don’t like. have no access. He expects the festival to include high-alcohol beers as well as imperial stouts, barley wines and more.
“It’s programming that locals have never seen,” Norton said. “This will be a great opportunity for beer fanatics in town to have a beer they’ve never had before, and we all know that’s the mission of craft beer drinkers: if you haven’t not drunk, you have to try it.”
Tickets for All Hallows Eve Beer Fest are available in person at Nortons or online at www.toasttab.com
This story was originally published September 30, 2022 11:11 a.m.
