(Press Release)

ANAHEIM, CA—FirkFest, Orange County’s first cask beer festival, is set to take place on March 22, 2014 from noon to 4 P.M. on Farmers Park in the Anaheim Packing District located at 400 S Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim. Firkfest highlights Old World beer serving technique and blends them with new creativity of today’s burgeoning local craft brewers. Thirty Southern Californian breweries will participate in this unique event that pays homage to how beer has been traditionally served for centuries.

 “Beer festivals need a fresh approach, I want to focus on unique nuances of modern craft beer.,” says organizer Greg Nagel of OCBeerBlog.com. “My favorite part of craft beer is that it’s always evolving. We have received a lot of brewery interest; normally I have to nag brewers for weeks to get a response. With Firkfest, I have breweries nagging me if they can participate every day. It’s weird to have a brewery wait-list.”

The name Firkfest is a spin on the name “Firkin” which is a 10-gallon cask. A cask of beer is traditionally considered “real ale,” meaning the carbonation is supplied naturally from the yeast finishing secondary fermentation in the vessel. Cask beer is served directly from the vessel in which it finished fermenting and is normally served at cellar temp 50-55F. Cask beer is also a one-time blank canvas for brewers, who typically add specialty ingredients for the one-time serving. The use of extra dry hops, coffee, tea, spices, fruit, and peppers are commonly added to base beers. 

“What you drink at Firkfest can never be replicated exactly,” says Nagel.

Restaurants from the much-awaited Anaheim Packing House – ADYA (Indian), The Kroft (specialty sandwiches), Ecco (Italian fare), Wheat and Sons (butcher) – will sell locally-crafted food. The Packing House, due to open Spring 2014, will serve as a culinary center that brings together artisan food producers and purveyors in a public market type setting. 

Visit http://www.firkfest.com for more information.

ABOUT FIRKFEST

Firkfest was born after standing in a 200 person line at a beer festival for a small sample of Noble Ale Works Naughty Sauce ‘White Russian’ on cask.  Interest for great cask beer is alive and well in Orange County; a beer festival that focuses on it is as well. Anaheim Family YMCA is the sole beneficiary of all proceeds for the event.