Steins and sunscreen: Oktoberfest starts early in Colorado Springs

As if summer isn’t fleeting enough.

Welcome to September; time to get your Oktoberfest on!

Originally held in Bavaria on Oct. 12, 1810, as part of the lavish nuptials of the future King Ludwig I, Oktoberfest today is a multi-week festival marked worldwide by community celebrations of German culture. And beer. Lots and lots of beer.

The annual fete of autumn officially ends on the first Sunday in October, but the start date can range from mid- to late-September, often falling in late summer. The OG of Oktoberfests, the world’s largest beer festival, kicks off Sept. 21 in Munich.

By then, festers in Colorado Springs will be sporting lederhosen and tall socks tans.

WestFax Springs is among a number of local spots getting a jump on the season, with a Sept. 14 celebration that fully embraces the seeming calendrical misnomer.

“We chose the name ‘Okfauxberfest’ because we often do it before the actual Oktoberfest begins (and) we just like to have fun with naming things,” said WestFax Brewing Co. founder and President Anthony Martuscello, whose taproom opened on the city’s west side in early July.

The one day event at WestFax Springs includes a “stein fill special” and several Oktoberfest-style beers on tap, as well as a fitting vibe and tunes, but Martuscello said the brewery won’t be getting too deep into character.

“Our party will still have an overall Oktoberfest feel, but we’re in the USA so it’s not an actual Oktoberfest anyways,” he said.

At South Park Brewing Co. in Old Colorado City, the weekend celebration, Sept. 14 and 15, is both seasonal and personal.

The brewery’s 2014 founding, in Fairplay, happened to roughly coincide with the moveable feast that is Oktoberfest. Kemp decided to make it a tradition.

“We thought it would be a fun thing to do for our anniversary every year. So now, at 10 years … and in a new location … it’s just extra special for us,” said Kemp, whose brewery reopened in its new Springs home base earlier this year.

Stop by Saturday or Sunday for special tappings of German-style beers, including a whiskey barrel-aged dunkel, and a German-style menu from the food truck, all delivered by staff who “really get into things,” donning traditional garb, including dirndls and lederhosen, Kemp said.

No matter when or where you choose to celebrate, a key part of Oktoberfest in America is the salute to traditional beer styles — dunkel, marzen, helles — that too often get overshadowed in the pop Age of IPA.

“Every brewery has their own take on them, and I love that. I think it’s a great showcase of every brewery’s version of these classic styles,” Kemp said. “It’s a fun, early celebration of fall, and of great German-style beers.”