260926

A restaurant chef preparing a dish

Saturday, September 26, 2026 4-7P

Octoberfest at TSG

Cushing Square Octoberfest is here!

OKTOBERFEST at The Spirited Gourmet!

We’re kicking off autumn the best way we know how! Great drinks, good food, and our Cushing Square neighbors!

Join us Friday, September 26th at 4 PM for an Oktoberfest celebration featuring:

5 Oktoberfest beers. A full German wine tasting flight. Warm pretzels, and a little neighborhood fun!

We’re teaming up with our friends and neighbors at Hawthorn Gallery, Paradise Flowers, Curate, and other Cushing Square businesses to make this more than a tasting. It’s a celebration of our neighborhood and the start of one of our favorite seasons.

Grab a friend, stroll through Cushing Square, taste something new and help us officially welcome fall.

No passport to Germany required. Lederhosen optional.

The Spirited Gourmet, 448 Common Street, Cushing Square, Belmont

www.thespiritedgourmet.com

Octoberfest Beers, September 26, 2026

Festooning / Grimm Artisanal Ales, 4-Pack

The Craft Beer Geek sez: This amber lager was brewed with a traditional step mash process. The grist is a rich combination of German Vienna and Munich II malts that give warm notes of honey, caramel, and a fresh-baked loaf of seeded bread. Malty-sweet flavor with a crisp body and a subtle balancing bitterness. The Craft Beer Geek sez: This is one of the first beers brought in by your resident Beer Geek for Oktoberfest, and it continues to be a hit! While it is a lager, it feels a lot more like an ale, with dark rye notes and a touch of caramel and toffee, but a smooth mellow finish that warms you from the inside. Prost!

Bunktoberfest / Bunker Brewing, 4-Pack

Bunker Brewing out of Portland, Maine is one of our favorite breweries, and the Bunktoberfest is a premier example of the New World take on this traditional German style. Malt forward, with a medium body and wonderful mouth feel, the gentle toffee and caramel notes are in perfect balance, which makes this a top-seller! Get it while you can, it goes quick during the season. The Craft Beer Geek sez: The Oktoberfest for the folks who want a full-bodied brew, Bunktoberfest was our best-seller last Fest. Caramel, toffee, and brown bread are the name of the game, but without ever getting cloying or sticky, and with a hint of hazelnut on the finish. Pair with schnitzel, brats, and extra dark pretzels.

Oxtoberfest / Oxbow, 4-Pack

Oxbow Brewing out of Newcastle, Maine, is a brewery that does not do things according to tradition, and the craft beer world is all the better for it. So get ready for an Octoberfest beer like nothing you've had before. The Craft Beer Geek sez: To quote David Letterman when he introduced Sam Kinison to the world - "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding." Oxbow has made a smoked amber "bier de garde", or "beer for keeping." A beautiful amber color, with a gentle smoked finish and slightly-sweet malt body, Oxtoberfest is their play on that Bavarian classic, thinking way outside the box. And as a farmhouse ale, you can indeed keep this beer in your cellar if your willpower is strong enough.

Festbier / Counter Weight, 4-Pack

The Craft Beer Geek sez: This award winning lager from one of my favorite younger breweries is a traditional festbier that pours a deep golden color which provides a subtle but delicious malt-forward beer with a smooth, long finish. If you ever get a chance to go to CW's Oktoberfest, I highly recommend it! It's cheaper than a trip to Germany, that's for sure.

Festbier / Weihenstephaner, Single

This wonderful Oktoberfest brew shows lots of grain in the aroma with some faint spice and light citrus. Sweet, malty flavors and plenty of grain are complemented by some light spiciness. The Craft Beer Geek sez: Weihenstephaner has a solid claim to being the world’s oldest brewery, with continuous operations since 1040, almost 900 years before the first Oktoberfest. While it clocks in at almost 6% ABV, this fresh, crisp festbier is easy drinking, refreshing, and clean as a whistle.

Oktoberfest / Ayinger, Single

There are many classic German Oktoberfest beers out and about, from breweries all over Deutschland, and Ayinger's take on it is this crisp, clean, but wonderfully nuanced malt-forward marzen. Ayinger may not have quite as much name recognition as Weihenstephaner or Paulaner, but they do a fantastic job with this lager. The Craft Beer Geek sez: This Märzen has a deep golden color tinted with amber. It is lightly sweet with a malty nose balanced with floral hops. It's medium-full body and alcohol are not overpowering. The soft dryness comes from long maturation. For a festbier that’s a little more filling, but knows it’s roots.

Octoberfest Wines, September 26, 2026

Dr Loosen Red Slate Dry Riesling - 750ml, 2023

A beautiful dry Riesling from Dr Loosen. Sourced from steep vineyards over the Mosel river, where red slate soils impart gorgeous white peach, floral and flinty elements to the wine. Refined and racy, this delicious wine is a must for German and dry Riesling lovers.

Dr Loosen Blue Slate Riesling Kabinett - 750ml, 2025

This classic Mosel Kabinett is harvested from parcels owned by Dr. Loosen in the blue slate villages of Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen. The wine is bright and pure with the vibrant white peach fruit and a floral, flinty minerality that is so typical from blue slate. A plush attack on the mid-palate leads to a deliciously firm, delicate finish.

Dr Loosen Fischerei Riesling Spatlese - 750ml, 2024

The passion fruit, mangosteen and wild strawberry aromas of this vibrant wine are divine. Extremely dynamic and brilliant on the sleek, barely medium-bodied palate. What beautiful zestiness in the very long, vibrant finish.

Dr Loosen Fischerei Riesling Trocken / Urziger Wurzgarten Grosses Gewachs - 750ml, 2024

Ürzig produces wines of a completely unique nature, showcasing the typically exotic fruit flavors of the “spice garden,” vineyard with a rich texture, gentle acidity and lingering finish. GG is the designation for an estate’s best dry wine from a Grosse Lage (grand cru) vineyard. This Riesling captivates with its delicate, elegant nose, clear fruit and fine savoriness. Very salty and delicate on the palate, with juicy fruit and crystal-clear acidity, this is possibly Loosen’s finest grand cru of the vintage.