Unique Cincinnati Holidays, Part 1
Bockfest
Beer and Cincinnati have had a romance since 1812, when the
first brewery was built here just 25 years after the first settlers
arrived. Germans started arriving in
record numbers soon afterward, and they settled north of downtown, beyond the
Miami & Erie Canal, in the neighborhood that became known as
Over-the-Rhine. With them came their German brewing traditions, and the
neighborhood became a brewing center. In 1889, 23 breweries in Cincinnati
produced nearly 36 million gallons of beer a year. Some of it was exported around the world
local citizenry drank a lot of it, too, as much as 40 gallons per person per
year (including men, women, and children).
Carry Nation came here in 1902 with her axe to closed down our
saloons, but couldn’t do it. Vine Street
alone had 136 of those “dens of iniquity” and there was no way she could
succeed.
Cincinnati’s long brewing heritage was interrupted from 1920
to 1933 by the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. At its repeal, old brewing names like
Christian Moerlein, Kaufmann, Weidemann, and many others were lost. Only Hudepohl survived, but it closed in
1999.
Some breweries were re-established after Prohibition ended,
but they couldn’t compete with the bigger national companies like Anheuser-Busch
and Miller, and one by one, they went out of business. By the mid-90’s only Schoenling remained, and
it was sold to Boston Brewing (it makes Sam Adams beer here now).
Things started to move again around the turn of the century,
and the trade names of Hudepohl, Moerlein, Little Kings, Hudepohl, and bunch of
others were acquired by Greg Handman and things started to pop.
Other brewers followed, and now Cincinnati is home to a
burgeoning craft beer industry, with places like Rhinegeist, 50 West, MadTree,
Braxton, Listermann, Rivertown, Taft’s, Urban Artifact, and many, many others. (Check out this website to find a more exhaustive
list: http://www.cincyweekend.com/full-list-of-cincinnati-breweries/)
In 1992, the release of a new beer by Hudepohl inspired
local beer lovers to celebrate the release with the first BockFest, three days of beer and general wonderfulness. With the exception of 2008, when a snowstorm
got in the way of the full festivities (although many people marched anyway),
the first weekend in March has been the setting for a parade celebrating Spring,
beer, Over-the-Rhine, and general good times.
Since 2008 there has been an annual burning-in-effigy of a snowman, the
Precipitation Retaliation, which purports to ensure good weather for the
festival.
The parade features many goats (“Bock” is German for goat,
but the connection with beer is a long story – you can look it up), people dressed
in ridiculous costumes, marching ensembles, Franciscan friars from the
neighborhood == just about anyone who wants to participate.
A big part of the festivities is the election of a Sausage
Queen.
For the past five years, there has been an associated 5K
race (run by the same folks that produce the Flying Pig Marathon every spring).
As with all of Cincinnati’s holidays, at Bockfest, a good
time is had by all. Many consider
Bockfest to be a warmup for Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest, the largest Oktoberfest
outside of Germany, held every September.
While both Bockfest and Oktoberfest will be long over when you
come to Cincinnati in October 2019, you can still get into the spirit by visiting
some of the many breweries and tap rooms across the region. And for even more fun, you can take a tour
that will show you a lot about Cincinnati’s long relationship with beer.
Check out this link to learn about the possibilities:
https://cincinnatiusa.com/things-to-do/attractions/brewing-heritage-trail-tours
Photos from the Bockfest Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Bockfest/
Photos from the Bockfest Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Bockfest/