Backroom Brewery logo Backroom BreweryMiddletown · Virginia · Est. 2013
Steins raised under the festival tent
Germany Meets the Shenandoah

Oktoberfest
at the Brewery.

Five days of steins, hop picking, and live music at the gazebo, September 23–27. Here is how the week went, one day at a time.

Sept23–27 RecapPhotos by day
See the Photos What’s Next at the Farm
New This Fall · Tapped Sept 23

Oktoberfest
Märzen.

A classic amber lager in the Bavarian tradition — smooth malty sweetness, balanced hops, and notes of caramel, toasted bread, and a hint of spice. We tapped it Wednesday, September 23, to open the festival.

StyleAmber Lager TappedWed, Sept 23
A stein of Oktoberfest Märzen raised in front of the barn
The Recap

Five days,
one long prost.

The week in photos, day by day.

Wed23

Hop Harvest Party

Oktoberfest opened with the hop harvest. The bines came down off the trellis and went up along the Big Barn’s mezzanine rail, where they were picked clean by hand, one cone at a time.

By the end of the afternoon the barn floor was green and the bins were filling up. The first pour of this year’s Oktoberfest Märzen followed, with Robbie Limon at the gazebo.

Hop picking 1–4 pm ♪ Robbie Limon
The Backroom Brewery barn with an Oktoberfest banner over the porch and blue-and-white bunting along the rail
A woman holding a hop bine in the hop yard beside a basket of freshly picked cones
Three men picking hop cones from bines hung inside the Big Barn, chandelier lit behind them
Two men pulling hop cones off a hanging bine by hand
Two men working along a row of hop bines hung beside the barn staircase
Pickers kneeling among hop bines on the barn floor, one in lederhosen and a felt hat
The stone patio and gazebo strung with blue-and-white Bavarian bunting
Thu24

Hop Harvest Party, Day Two

Day two went back out to the hop yard. Pickers worked the rows under a clear blue sky, with a dog keeping them company along the trellis.

Meisha Herron closed out the evening at the gazebo as the sun went down behind the patio.

Hop picking 1–4 pm ♪ Meisha Herron
Meisha Herron playing acoustic guitar in front of the gazebo at sunset, bunting strung overhead
Two people picking hops along the trellis rows in the hop yard, a dog in the grass behind them
A dimpled glass mug etched with the Backroom Brewery logo and Oktoberfest 2026
Two Backroom Brewery team members in navy BRB shirts standing behind blue-and-white bunting on the patio rail
Fri25

Family & Kids Day

Friday belonged to the kids. Petsy’s Face Painting set up inside the barn with a full kit of colors, and buckets of balloon flowers waited by the door.

After dark, David Elliot played the gazebo under the string lights.

Kids activities 3–5 pm ♪ David Elliot
The face painter smiling beside her open paint kit inside the barn, balloon flowers behind her
A young girl with a freshly painted pink and white design on her cheek
A woman with blue face paint around one eye toasting with a pint in the Big Barn, the Oktoberfest backdrop behind her
Pink buckets filled with balloon flowers and twisted balloon shapes on the barn floor
A guitarist playing at the gazebo at night under string lights and blue-and-white bunting
Sat26

Veterans Poker Run Finish

Saturday was the finish line for the Sysco Northeastern RDC Veterans CRG Poker Run, and the party filled the Big Barn. New Remedy played in front of the Oktoberfest backdrop while pints went around the tables.

The lederhosen and dirndl came out, the taps kept pouring, and at least one dachshund made the guest list.

Poker run finish ♪ New Remedy
Six guests, several in riding vests and bandanas, standing in front of the Backroom Brewery Oktoberfest backdrop
The band New Remedy playing inside the Big Barn, the singer in a cowboy hat with an acoustic guitar
Two men in lederhosen and a woman in a dirndl and cowboy boots standing in front of the Oktoberfest backdrop
A hand pulling a brass tap to fill a pint glass, a man in lederhosen smiling in the background
Three guests at a table in the barn raising pint glasses toward the camera
Four guests standing by the chalkboard menu, one holding a small dachshund in a pink sweater
The band seen from the tables across the barn floor, a chandelier lit overhead
Sun27

Passports & Pints

The last day belonged to the Passports & Pints Travel Club by Dream Vacations. Out on the patio, a name came out of a globe and the winner stepped up to collect.

Brats went out from the kitchen, the picnic tables stayed busy under a gray sky, and the crew lined up behind the bar for a group photo.

Passports & Pints Travel Club ♪ 2fer 2sday
Nine Backroom Brewery team members in navy shirts lined up behind the bar in front of the chalkboard draft list, two raising mugs
A guest holding a dachshund in a pink sweater beneath the barn chandelier
A team member in the kitchen behind a tray holding a brat on a bun
Guests at picnic tables on the patio under a red umbrella, string lights, and blue-and-white bunting
A man drawing a slip of paper from a globe on the patio while a woman in a dirndl and two guests look on
Nine men, two in lederhosen, lined up in front of the Backroom Brewery Oktoberfest backdrop

Danke for coming.
See you next fall.

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