Ska Brewing Cajoles Cooler Temperatures With 2023 Oktoberfest Lager
Ska Brewing produces limited quantities of Oktoberfest Lager to share across its markets with ample time to stock up before fall celebrations begin.
DURANGO, CO— Ska Brewing is sorry to be the ones to break it to you, but despite continued 100-degree days in Colorado, summer is just about over. The good news, though, is that with this near turn of the season comes the release of brewery’s famed Oktoberfest Lager.
Now for the sixth year, Ska Brewing Oktoberfest is available in cans for a limited time. Crafted with all-European Munich and Vienna malts and classic German lagering techniques, this amber-brown hued lager is nutty, bready, and toasty with a clean, neutral yeast flavor on the finish. When it first debuted in 2018, Ska Oktoberfest received a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival® in the Vienna-style Lager category. It has also earned awards at the European Beer Star and The Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival.
“The changing of the seasons is a big deal in Colorado where we experience all four, so we like to bookend the warm months with Oktoberfest to signify our trajectory into the fall. We’re really hoping Oktoberfest is a harbinger of cooler weather after the heat wave that Colorado has experienced this summer,” says Brewery Co-Founder and CEO Dave Thibodeau. “And if this heat keeps up… then at least Oktoberfest is still extremely refreshing.”
Like the Oktoberfest festival in Germany, this lager will last until the end of September— but not much longer. Ska produces limited quantities of Oktoberfest to share across its markets with ample time to stock up before fall celebrations begin. It will also be served at select festivals, including the San Juan Brewfest in downtown Durango on August 25, Telluride Blues & Brews in downtown Telluride on September 15-17, and at the Ska Anniversary and Brewers Invitational going down on September 9 at the brewery World Headquarters.
For more information about Ska Brewing’s Oktoberfest Lager or any of their internationally renown beers, contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi and Rue B. Soho. For information, music, and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com.
Ska Brewing Reports 2022 Impact; Previews New Sustainability Initiatives
Ska Brewing is coming off of a dynamic year in business engaged in the craft beer, music, art, biking, and local Southwest Colorado communities in which it is ingrained.
Photo of Ska’s xeriscaped beer garden courtesy The Brewtography Project
DURANGO, CO— Ska Brewing is coming off of a dynamic year in business engaged in the craft beer, music, art, biking, and local Southwest Colorado communities in which it is ingrained— with even bigger plans to support its community with sustainability initiatives in 2023.
Here is Ska Brewing’s 2022 Year In Review.
BEER
In 2022, Ska Brewing brewed approximately 25,000 BBL of beer that was served on tap at the brewery World Headquarters and distributed nationwide. Ska’s distribution footprint grew to 11 states last year with the addition of Wyoming in the fall.
Ska debuted several new canned beers last year, such as the new age Checkered Future IPA that brought together old school hops and new brewing techniques; Raspberry Blonde Ale that gave a fresh take on a classic style; the Faceplant Lager brewed with Tailwind Nutrition electrolytes; and the Peppermint Bark Stout crafted with Animas Chocolate Company peppermint bark. The brewery also brought back famed mainstays Mexican Logger, Oktoberfest, Euphoria Pale Ale, and Mexican Lager Style Dark.
Up next in Ska’s canned beer lineup is The Ska Lager, a snappy, crisp, bright, and easy-drinking at only 4.8% ABV. This new no-nonsense offering will hit shelves in March.
MUSIC
Ska Brewing was born out of an affinity for music, which the brewery continues to stoke by hosting Ska, punk, and other relevant bands of all shapes and sizes to play at the brewery. The legendary third wave Ska group Hepcat and opener Rude Girl Revue traveled to Durango to perform an epic show at Ska’s 27th Anniversary Party and Brewer’s Invitational.
SOUTHWEST COLORADO
Ska was a proud supporter of many events that took place in its hometown Durango, Colorado— including Durango’s annual winter festival Snowdown, the 50th anniversary of The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, the Durango Independent Film Festival, Animas River Days, Downtown 4th of July Celebration, Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships, Thirsty 13 and many more.
Ska partnered with Fort Lewis College on multiple efforts, including a hop biotransformation research project that yielded the Skyhawk Single Hop IPA; and a hard seltzer branding deep dive with the Fennell-Saegert Student Marketing Agency.
Each year, Ska donates upwards of $50,000 in product, money and time to nonprofits organizations such as La Plata Open Space Conservancy, Manna Soup Kitchen, Fort Lewis College, United Way, KSUT, KDUR, Women’s Resource Center, LaPlata County Humane Society, and Trails 2000, among many others.
Ska Distributing continued to serve the Southwest Colorado market by bringing craft beer brands to the area from across the state and beyond, including new auditions to the portfolio: Bruz Beers and Weldwerks Brewing Co.
COMMUNITY
Outside of its hometown, Ska engaged with the beer community at large through collaborations with Living The Dream Brewing in Littleton, Colorado and Manhattan Brewing in Manhattan, Kansas.
Beyond beer and music, Ska is passionate about art— especially art that showcases Ska music. During the Ska anniversary weekend in September, Ska hosted San Diego-based artist Nan Coffey for an art show that brewery visitors can still peruse on the second floor of the building.
Beyond beer, music, and art, Ska is passionate about biking. The brewery was a sponsor for Rides & Vibes in Grand Junction, the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, and 12 Hours Mesa Verde, among others. This year, Ska is stoked to be the official beer of the Session Series, Triple Bypass, Salida76, and Beti Bike Bash by Team Evergreen Cycling.
SUSTAINABILITY
Ska has long committed to reducing waste and developing brewery and distribution systems that minimize its carbon footprint— from recycled jeans in the walls as insulation and reused bowling alley wood as tables, to solar panels, solar lighting, wind energy credits, and recycling of all cardboard, paper, plastic, glass and metal waste. Ska was one of the first craft breweries in the country to package its beer in infinitely recyclable aluminum cans, and now has many packaging systems in place to further conserve resources, including Ionized air rinse instead of water rinsing and an efficient, on-demand, de-aerated water system. These are just a few of Ska’s sustainability programs that the brewery is constantly improving upon.
In 2023, Ska is pleased to continue these efforts alongside the implementation of two sizable and unprecedented sustainability initiatives. The brewery is installing a machine that will allow for the transition of all can collars from plastic to paperboard, making Ska one of the first breweries ever to utilize this equipment in the move away from plastic packaging materials.
Secondly, Durango’s Table To Farm Compost will now be the recipient of all of Ska’s spent grain. This transition from cattle feed and landfill to compost will reduce methane emissions and align with Ska’s commitment to local partnerships.
Ska will publish more information about these efforts in coming weeks.
Media inquiring about Ska Brewing can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi and Rue B. Soho. For information, music, and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com.
Ska Brewing Oktoberfest Returns, In July
This award-winning German-style lager will tap for its fifth season at Ska Brewing World Headquarters on Wednesday, July 27 and hit shelves in 6-packs this week.
DURANGO, CO— Ska Brewing is ready for Oktoberfest early this year— blame it on the early fall colors to be found in the San Juan Mountains that the brewery calls home. This award-winning German-style lager will tap for its fifth season at the brewery World Headquarters on Wednesday, July 27 and hit shelves in 6-packs this week.
Ska’s Oktoberfest was late to the German lager party when they first debuted this beer in 2018, but they quickly made up for lost time in accolades. The first batch of Oktoberfest that came out in a can earned a gold medal at Great American Beer Festival® in the Vienna-style Lager category that year, and has since been honored at the European Beer Star and The Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival.
Made with all-European Munich and Vienna malts and classic German lagering techniques, this autumnal amber-brown beauty is nutty, bready, and toasty with a clean, neutral yeast flavor on the finish.
Oktoberfest season begins at Ska Brewing on Wednesday, July 27 where fans can count on this Vienna-style lager to stick around a little longer this year. The 2022 batch is scaled up to allocate more draft and canned 6-packs across Ska’s national markets for the fall season, too.
For more information about Ska Brewing’s internationally recognized craft lager program, contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi and Rue B. Soho. For information, music, and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com.
Munich’s Oktoberfest is Cancelled Again, Ska Brewing German-Style Lager Returns Nonetheless
Oktoberfest lovers across the country can find this beer in six-packs of 12-ounce cans in one of Ska’s 11 distribution states while limited supplies last.
DURANGO, CO— Oktoberfest in Munich may be cancelled for the second year in a row, but Ska Brewing is here to fill the void— or at least fill pints of their award-winning German-style Lager while supplies last. This famed lager will tap at Ska’s World Headquarters in Durango on Friday, July 30.
Although the cancelling of Oktoberfest because of COVID-19 leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth, this beer is anything but. This malt-forward, easy drinking craft lager is made with 100 percent German-sourced Munich and Vienna malts that yield amber-brown color with nutty, bready, toasty notes. It finishes clean with a neutral yeast flavor. Here’s what some of Colorado’s media outlets have to say about this beer:
“Not only did this malty brew — nutty, clean and with just a touch of rounded sweetness — manage to set itself apart in a category that already includes a wide variety of stellar examples of Vienna-style lagers, especially in Colorado, but it won gold at the Great American Beer Festival®.” – Denver Westword
“A pointed caramelized-sugar, floral, and burnt-crust nose offers a hearty swagger. The sip follows through with big but dry well-toasted bread, an earthy hop through line, and a heavily toasted light bitter malt finish.” — Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine
The first batch of Oktoberfest that came out in a can in 2018 struck gold with the recipe at the Great American Beer Festival® in the Vienna-style Lager category. It has also been honored at the European Beer Star and The Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival.
Ska will kick off Oktoberfest season Friday, July 30 at 4pm at its World Headquarters, where The Container Restaurant will serve German-style brats to boot. Next week, Oktoberfest lovers across the country can find this beer in six-packs of 12-ounce cans in one of Ska’s 11 distribution states while limited supplies last.
For more information about Ska’s Oktoberfest, contact Emily Hutto at coop@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi and Rue B. Soho. For information, music, and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com.
Ska Brewing Gets Oktoberfest Act Together; Rolls Out German-Style Lager in Cans
Ska Oktoberfest will be available seasonally, encouraging skanking at Oktoberfest celebrations across Ska’s distribution footprint while supplies last.
DURANGO, CO— Twenty years ago a friend told Ska Brewing’s founder Dave Thibodeau that Ska music was simply Polka gone bad. “It was a zinger,” he says, “And I had no comeback until now.”
That comeback is Oktoberfest Lager in a can. The brewery will release its German-Style Lager in canned 6-packs for the first time at its World Headquarters this Friday August 3. The beer will be available seasonally, encouraging skanking at Oktoberfest celebrations across Ska’s distribution footprint while supplies last.
Ska’s Oktoberfest is crafted with 100 percent German-sourced Munich and Vienna malts that impart nutty, bready, toasty flavors, all balanced by Noble hops. It finishes clean and crisp.
This beer’s label sports the Headless Horseman (a Ska-themed skull-less cowboy, really) with a traditional blue and white checkerboard Bavarian flag as the backdrop.
“We appreciate and respect good, clean lagers because we know the care that goes into fermenting them,” Thibodeau says. Home to one of the country’s first craft lagers in a can, Ska’s brewing team crafts its seasonal Mexican Logger in warmer months and craves it all winter long. "This year we’re stepping up our seasonal lager game with this traditional Oktoberfest,” he adds.
On Friday, The Container Restaurant at Ska Brewing’s World Headquarters will serve house pretzels with Rude Boy Lager mustard, Pinstripe Red Ale brats, and house sauerkraut. Pints of the new Oktoberfest Lager will cost $3 each.
Six-packs of 12-ounce cans of Oktoberfest will be available across Ska’s distribution footprint beginning next week and seasonally while supplies last.
For more information about Ska’s new canned Oktoberfest, contact Emily Hutto at coop@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and produces more than a dozen award-winning beers fueled with Ska music, and lots of it. Pioneers in the canned craft beer movement, Ska Brewing is known for an array of styles in 12 oz cans that include Mexican Logger, Modus Hoperandi, and Rue B. Soho. For information, music, and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com.