Anstich kegs are here, so Sandkerwa NA begins Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

Assuming the creek doesn't rise and the delivery from Indianapolis is made on time, a new batch of 20-liter Anstich gravity-feed kegs from Franconia will be safely stored away by Wednesday, and one of them will kick off Sandkerwa NA on Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

There are 40 half-liter pours in each Anstich keg, and again this year, we're charging only $5.00 (plus sales tax) even though a conventional mark-up would place the price nearer to $8.00. That's because they're meant to be tapped and consumed immediately, and if the freshness and quality of last year's crop are repeated, we're all in for a treat.

A total of nine Anstich kegs should be coming on Wednesday, meaning that we’ll tap one at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week, and then repeat the same schedule each of the next two weeks.

For Sandkerwa NA in 2010, we've not attempted to flood the taps as in the past. Rather, in addition to the specially priced Anstich selections, three CO2 kegs of Bavarian lager will start pouring on Thursday alongside our usual draft staples of Pilsner Urquell, Spaten Lager and Schlenkerla Marzen:

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen
Weissenohe Monk’s Fest
Weissenohe Altfränkisches Klosterbier

*Thursday, September 16*
Ahornberger Landbier (?)
Ahornberger Landbrauerei Strößner-Bräu in Konradsreuth
Brauerei Strössner was founded in 1739 in Konradsreuth, a town northeast of Kulmbach, near Hof and the old border with East Germany. It is a family-owned brewery making approximately 80,000 hectoliters yearly, many of which are seasonal variations on the theme of Landbier – “country beer,” (not a style unto itself). I believe this one will be Ahornberger Hopfig, classified as a Pils, but it isn't certain. We previously poured the brewery’s Marzen in Anstich form (12/09).

*Friday, September 17*
Zehendner Mönchsambacher Unfiltered Lager
Brauerei Zehendner in Mönchsambach
Description to come later.

*Saturday, September 18*
Zum Grunen Baum Landbier
Brauerei-Gasthof Zum Grunen Baum (Bayer) in Rauhenebrach-Theinheim
Description to come later.