Your @BaltBeerWeek Bucket List
Steve Fogleman, Baltimore Beer Baron

Baltimore Beer Week Co-Founder Dominic Cantalupo and I caught up and talked about my favorite parts of his 10-day behemoth brewfest starting today:

Das Best Oktoberfest and Opening Tap Celebration: Here’s the Bad News/Good News: They won’t need to move the Beer Week Opening Tap ceremony and Das Best Oktoberfest to Rash Field to accommodate the Orioles playoff game like they did two years ago. The Toronto Blue Jays took care of that problem. Cantalupo admits, “I always love the opening tap event because of the sheer size of it. With 200+ beers and oompah bands, what’s not to love?” (Saturday, M&T Bank Stadium Lots, dasbestoktoberfest.com, $39-$59)

Metropolitan King of the Pins: Come out to Metropolitan tonight (902 S. Charles Street, metrobalto.com, 3:00-11:00 PM) to witness some ballot-stuffing of the best kind as breweries battle to kill their pins first. Usually, the brewery that brings the most thirsty reps wins.

“Mini-Belgian”: Though not as big or bad as Max’s world-renowned Belgian Beer Festival, the Hudson Street Stackhouse (2626 Hudson Street, hudsonstreetstackhouse.com)does a three day Bmore Belgian Beer Fest pay-as-you-go event featuring rare Belgian beers, including at least 36 of them on tap. “There are some extraordinarily good beers there,” said Cantalupo. But first up, it’s the Stackhouse’s Tri-State Tap Takeover with Heavy Seas versus Troegs versus Dogfish taps rotating throughout this weekend (yes, including today!) from 2:00PM – 11:45PM each day.

Big Wheel Race at Max’s Taphouse: Hilarity often ensues when there’s a beer-fueled race on a child’s ride by bartenders and brewery reps. “It’s hard to beat that event,” Cantalupo assures. (October 12, 737 S. Broadway, www.maxs.com, 5pm)

Pedal Power 2016: BBW’s joined up with the Pratt Street Ale House Empire (who owns Park Tavern in Severna Park as well as Severna Park Taphouse) and Cantalupo will be leading 50-60 people down the Baltimore/Annapolis trail and back to Severna Park. Come and celebrate the end of Beer Week in their outdoor beer garden. (October 16, 58 W. Earleigh Heights Road, severnaparktaphouse.com, 10:00AM – 3:00PM)

And my #1 personal favorite will be the subject of an upcoming post.