Capitol City Oktoberfest.

Last Saturday was the fifth annual Oktoberfest in Shirlington, although this was the first time I've attended it. Well organized, lots of good breweries represented. You buy a plastic 12-oz. mug to get in, and $2 tickets, each of which gets you a mug of the beer of your choice. (You can also ask for a 1 oz. "taste" of a beer first, although I didn't see all that much of that happening.) Nice weather, prompt service bringing new kegs on line when kegs were emptied. Could have used a lot of dump buckets, instead of making you decide between finishing off the beer you had, or pouring it onto the walkway or into the bushes and flowerpots.

A lot of good beers: among them, Rogue's hazelnut brown ale, which had hints of mocha, was very rich; Dogfish Head's pumpkin ale had great spice flavor (but, like all pumpkin ales I've had, I wouldn't want an entire six-pack of it - so it's lucky that Dogfish Head sells 12-oz. bottles in a four-pack); fest beers from all over. My favorite beer of the day? Once again, hands down, it was the High Desert Imperial Stout made by Sweetwater Tavern of Northern Virginia. Gold medal winner in the "American-style Stout" category at the 2003 Real Ale Festival, and bronze medal in the overall "American Style Ale" category. An absolutely wonderful, thick, rich, gooey imperial stout. Still not quite the right weather to be enjoying it, of course (you need snow on the ground and a big fire in the fireplace), but that didn't stop me from enjoying every drop of it.

All in all, a nice festival. I'd be willing to go back another year. Still, there are a few things I'd do differently. I'd follow Old Dominion's lead in a couple of areas, and have actual glass tasting glasses instead of an opaque plastic mug, so that you can see the beer you're trying, and I'd have $1 tickets, each of which would get you 6 ounces of your chosen brew, so you could try more beers for the same price. (And I'd encourage people to get the 1 ounce taste more often.) But if it were really up to me, I'd do what is done at most beer festivals I've been to outside of Virginia and most wine festivals within Virginia, and charge a higher admission fee and unlimited tastes of all the beers.