Photo courtesy of Chad Wadsworth

You remember when that Koko’s Bavarian place opened on the Eastside, right? Much ado about one of the venue’s partners having Bavaria’s King Ludwig – the royal who began the tradition of Oktoberfest in 1810 – as a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather?

Photo courtesy of Chad Wadsworth

Turned out to be true – and one helluva promotional flex, too.

Then, after a couple of visits by your intrigued Chronicle team, another truth emerged: Koko’s Bavarian is, ach du lieber, a proper biergarten of many gastronomic delights. The array of beers – pilsners, lagers, helles, hefeweizens, bocks, dunkels, IPAs – crafted onsite by head brewster Katie Lowe, the kitchen’s lip-smacking perfection of roast chickens and various wonderful wursts (mmmm, that rabbit-and-rattlesnake sausage), the casual and welcoming vibe of the well-designed place there off E. Cesar Chavez … yeah, we’re definitely fans.

And now?

And now here comes Oktoberfest again, and that Prince of Bavaria himself, Konstantin Prinz von Bayern, will return to Austin to tap the first keg (German: Das firstinfestinkegger) onstage at Koko’s on Saturday, Sept. 24th.

Note: The Oktoberfest partying at Koko’s ranges over four different weekends (Sept. 23-25; Sept. 30-Oct. 2; Oct. 21-23; Oct. 28-30) with a special in-house brewed beer for the season, live bands, games, food specials, and more. In addition to the regular lineup of quaffables, that badass brewster Lowe will release Koko’s Festbier (5.7% ABV), which boasts German hops and Texas malt from Fort Worth. Live music and DJs will start at 3pm each day – including the Austin Polka Band, Off the Grid, Neon Bridges, and more – and will totes keep the place rocking more lively than an Ostrogoth on Adderall.

(Does it seem like there’s some dates missing up there? That’s because the Koko’s team will take a break for ACL Fest – they’ll be one of the vendors at this year’s multipartite audiogasm.)

So. This Oktoberfest, as the weather begins to start to sort of think about cooling off, never mind any erstwhile king of beers, mmmkay? Instead, consider enjoying a sudsy sausage party session with a verifiable prince of beers and his court of crafty cuisine at Koko’s Bavarian.


This article appears in The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival.

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