Beer lovers rejoice! Riveredge Nature Center'soutdoor beer tasting event, The Frothy Forage, returns this year, albeit in autumn instead of spring. Tickets are on sale now.
The Frothy Forage: Oktoberfest Edition is slated for Saturday, Oct. 9 and so far 13 brewers/purveyors have signed up to participate.
(In addition to samples of beer from great area craft breweries, the event has also embraced sangria, cider, wine, mead, kombucha and N/A drinks, too.)
Among those already on tap for this special Oktoberfest edition of the event are Sturgeon Bay's Bridge Up Brewing, West Allis' new Ope! Brewing, The Fermentorium – with locations in Cedarburg and Wauwatosa – Mershon’s Cidery, from Stoughton, and Grafton's Sahale Ale Works, which collaborated with Riveredge in September on a Staghorn Sumac Wisconsinade Gose.
There will be three outdoor locations on the 379-acre property offering samples, which means you get to walk it all off as you go, while enjoying prairies, forests and wetlands along the banks of the Milwaukee River.
If you’re a brewer or winemaker or purveyor of any of the beverages above, contact Ed Makowski at emakowski@riveredge.us about taking part in the event, which has space for 20 purveyors.
“Traditionally, the Frothy Forage is an exciting spring event welcoming everyone in our region to celebrate May and returning outdoors after the long winter,” said Riveredge Executive Director Jessica Jens. “For 2021, however, with everyone’s safety in-mind, planning to host a special Oktoberfest Edition seemed like a smarter plan for both safety and logistics.
“The Frothy Forage is a fundraiser for land conservation and research at Riveredge, and we also wanted to develop ways to support these community businesses and employees who’ve also seen their lives and bottom lines affected by Covid-19,” said Jens.
New this year, attendees can make purchases electronically from purveyors to pick up later at those sellers’ locations.
The 21-and-over event is an annual fundraiser for Riveredge Nature Center and helps it fund preservation and restoration on its habitats.
“We take many unexpected and creative approaches to welcoming everyone to explore and enjoy wild Wisconsin. If somebody who would have never known about Riveredge visits for a unique beer sampling experience and then returns to hike with their family - in my book that’s a big win,” said Jens.
“As conservationists, we have to work to welcome people to preserve places because they care about and see the value in nature. A love for nature starts with having personal experiences within it.”
For more on the event and on Riveredge, click here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
