If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
That’s the theory behind combining High Cotton Brewing Co.’s second annual Oktoberfest with opening weekend of Station 3: The Memphis Firehaus beer garden on Saturday, October 3rd.
“We decided that it’d be a good idea for us to do the event together rather than compete against each other since we’re going out for the same crowd,” says Benjamin Orgel, one of the partners organizing the fall pop-up beer garden at the long-vacant firehouse at Third and MLK Avenue.
Station 3
This is opening weekend for Station 3: The Memphis Firehaus, a follow-up to last spring’s highly successful beer garden in the Tennessee Brewery. And it’s also the weekend High Cotton Brewing Co. was planning to hold its Oktoberfest. Last year, the day-long, all-you-can-drink beer fest was held at the brewery in the Edge District. But this year, it will run from noon to 6 p.m. at the old firehouse. They’re debuting their German Fall Lager at the event, and High Cotton co-owner Ryan Staggs said they’ll have a couple of other German-style beers, as well as their mainstays, ESB and Scottish Ale.
A Bavarian meal from Central BBQ is included in the cost of the ticket — $40 online in advance or $50 on the day of the event.
Unlike last year’s event, there will be no V.I.P. area and no glass mugs. Staggs said they’re going with a plastic mug for safety reasons. “It’s an event-safe vessel. Broken glass is never a good thing for a beer fest,” Staggs says.
After the Oktoberfest event is over on Saturday, the Firehaus will open to the general public for the rest of the evening. Station 3: The Memphis Firehaus officially opens on Thursday, October 1st with multiple taps and food trucks. It will be open every Thursday through Sunday until November 30th.