Bust our your lederhosen, Durango. Oktoberfest returns this weekend to Buckley Park

All hail the brewmeisters

by Chris Aaland

I’m still pissed at Julie Andrews for not including beer amongst her favorite things. But Tom T. Hall did. He likes beer. It makes him a jolly good fellow. Me, too. I consider myself the messiah of beer drinkers – I love them all, red, yellow, black & white. They’re all precious in my sight. I guess when you have 31 bricks on the wall, you consider yourself a bit of a connoisseur.

This weekend is a magical time for barley, hops, malts, yeast and water. Right here in dodge, the Bootlegger’s Society holds its 10th annual Oktoberfest in Buckley Park on Saturday (11 a.m. ‘til 5 p.m.) and Sunday (11-3). Purchase a commemorative stein and sample suds from Carver’s, Durango Brewing, Ska, Steamworks and the NKOTB, Brew. While beer may be the obvious focal point, this lively fiesta also sports German food, music and kid’s activities. Traditional Umpah bands like Diepolkaschlingles, Alpiners and Polkanauts provide the bulk of the music, but the Durango Funk All-Stars will also be on hand. For the sporting class, a holsting competition and brewers brat eating contest will crown champions. And feel good about spending those hard-earned Deutsche Marks: Proceeds benefit Local First.

Telluride Blues & Brews turns 20 this week. The Black Crowes headline a bill that includes a host of talent from the blues, funk, rock and jazz worlds. Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), Melissa Etheridge, John Hiatt and Mickey Hart (he played with some guy named Jerry) represent good old rock & roll. Jazz appears in the forms of Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Rebirth Jazz Band. Booker T. Jones and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe have forged two generations of R&B and funk. And there’s even blues – which makes sense given the festival’s name – by Gary Clark Jr., Otis Taylor and Anders Osborne. It all starts with a free night of tunes Thursday in Town Park. Late-night juke joints keep the party going until the wee hours. My favorite is Saturday’s 10 p.m. throwdown at the Mountain Village Conference Center where Preservation Hall teams up with Jim James and Karl Denson.

There’s also the ale. After all, festival founder Steve Gumble started the whole thing in 1994 to spotlight craft beers. Music was an afterthought. That first year, he hired a fledgling local act called the String Cheese Incident to play music. $500 was his entertainment budget back then. String Cheese soared into the jam band stratosphere within five years, and Blues and Brews now rivals Planet Bluegrass in terms of talent and attendance. Which brings us back to Blues & Brews’ roots: the beer. Saturday’s grand tasting (noon - 3 p.m.) features 56 breweries. Single-day tickets for Saturday are long gone, but you can still pick up three-day passes.

Sadly, I think I’m going to pass on Blues & Brews, although hitting for the San Miguel cycle is tempting. My festival checklist has already marked off Telluride Bluegrass, The Ride and Telluride Jazz … not to mention the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, Pagosa Folk’n Bluegrass and the Four Corners Folk Festival. And the English Beat at Ska last weekend, the Blues Traveler mudfest at the Aztec Speedway last month and KSUT’s New Orleans Suspects shindig at Buckley Park in July. And, most likely, all three of Durango’s beerfests. But Homey’s gotta rest sometime. My first fund drive as KSUT’s membership manager presented me with 14-hour days this week that started with an obnoxious 5 a.m. alarm each morning.

The Robin Davis Trio highlights Moe’s madness. Arguably the finest picker in town, Davis does bluegrass, newgrass, country, folk, rock and even the occasional Metallica-inspired traditional Irish tune. Hear him on the patio during FAC from 6-9 p.m. Friday. Later that night, DJCK, Technique and Nuff Said spin tunes. Then, from 8 ‘til close Sunday, celebrate Mexican Independence Day (free history lesson: Mexican Independence Day is not Cinco de Mayo, which celebrated the Mexican Army’s victory over the French at Puebla) with $15 buckets of Coronas.

By the time you read this, I hope KSUT’s fund drive has “Hit It and Quit” … but if it hasn’t, you can still pledge online at www.ksut.org or by calling 563-0255. If you get into the grand prize drawing, you could win a trip for two to the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October, complete with airfare from Durango and four nights’ lodging in the Texas capitol.

This week’s Top Shelf list honors 10 of my favorite Durango beer guys (and gal). They stir the pots, drive the trucks, haul the kegs and generally get the party started in here.

- John Betka, A&L Coors. Johnny B. has a heart of gold and a short game that’s not too shabby.

- Bill & Jim Carver, Carvers Brewing Co. Call them the Godfathers. In 1988, the brothers launched the first brewery in the Four Corners since prohibition.

- Bill Graham, Ska. The yin to Dave Thibodeau’s yang. A fellow former farmer who shares a passion for terrorizing chicken-sized birds from the San Juans to Norton, Kans. My brother in arms.

- Thomas Larson, Ska. Another Wheat Ridge expatriate and a perfectionist at his craft.

- Erik Maxson, Brew. My brother from another mother is to Durango craft beer what Terry Allen is to the Lubbock, Texas, music scene.

- Kristen Muraro, Ska. No, the preeminent party planner is on my list  not solely because she busted me snacking on the bands’ barbecue at last week’s English Beat shindig. She’s a marketing maestro.

- Andy “Muffin Man” Robinson, The Palace. It took decades for Muff to develop his sensitive palate. Think of “The Princess and the Pea,” only with a pint glass replacing the tiny, green legume.

- Spencer Roper, Steamworks. I’ve written it before: Roper is God. Just ask for a tall pint of his latest autumn brew and you’ll be converted.

- Aaron Sinberg, Sinberg Capital Lending. His family’s vision of a 39-tap microbrew nirvana played no small factor in my expanding waistline the past two decades.

- Bill Verhelst, Lady Falconburgh’s. I used to kid Bill that he was my second favorite bartender by default. Despite a passion for the Buckeyes and Red Wings, Big Bad Bill has vaulted to the top of the podium. He’s the best bartender in Durango.

Don’t live behind those swinging doors? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.