Tulsa Craft Beer Week review by D'Wain Carthen

Cheers, gang! My name is D’Wain Carthen and I enjoy drinking good beer. Simply put, I am a 29-year-old dude, from Oklahoma, that likes to meet people and partake in excellent brews and great conversations. The Tulsa beer scene is at its boiling point and I want to help bring attention to the beer available in our great city and in Oklahoma. I am not a beer snob. Snobs don’t share. I want to include you in my experiences with beer, so that we can all learn a bit more about what we drink and who we are.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the BierGarten Finale tasting event hosted by the one and only Freddy Lamport. He has been a major advocate for craft beer in Tulsa for a number of years now through his amazing store BierGarten, located in Jenks. April 15th – 20th marked the inaugural Tulsa Craft Beer Week. As an organizer of the festivities that took place, it was only fitting that the event be held at Freddy’s establishment.

We had several events throughout the week including several at the awesome R-Bar on Brookside. Of the eleven beer gatherings, R-Bar hosted five of them. Not to be outdone, the Tulsa craft beer veteran, McNellie’s, had just as many events. Each establishment had an event just about every night. We had beer dinners, tap takeovers, firkin nights, pint nights, OH MY! More beer, please! Any fan of craft beer that was within 100 miles of Tulsa had no excuse to be anywhere else in the state.

I almost missed out on the beer-tasting finale, myself. I waited too long and the event actually sold out before I was able to get tickets. I was bummed! So, on Friday I headed to BierGarten to grab some beer and heal my bruised soul. Freddy asked if I was coming to Saturday’s event, to which I had to regretfully respond that I was not due to my procrastination. This is when Freddy came through in the clutch and asked if I would be willing to work at the festival. Uhhh…yeah, dude! Who would turn down this opportunity?

BierGarten’s finale was scheduled from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday. It featured some of our awesome local breweries such as Coop Ale Works (Oklahoma City), Marshall Brewing (Tulsa), Choc Beer Co. (Krebs), and the exciting newcomer Prairie Artisan Ales (Krebs). I had the chance to try some great beers and discuss the event with fellow beer nerds. One of my favorite offerings was the Habanero Wheat (#15) from the Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers (FOAM) tent. It started with a smoky nose, quickly transformed into an apple cider middle, and finished with a hint of habanero. If this beer were landscape, it would be a cabin in the woods. Many of my buddies and other attendees had high-praise for #15, but there was one naysayer, THE BREWER! I had the pleasure of discussing this great creation with home brew wizard, Shelly. She wanted there to be more smoke and more spice from the habanero. Unfortunately, Shelly did not get what she wanted, but we all enjoyed the insane journey her beer took us on. I also had the opportunity to try Prairie’s “Bomb!” This M80 is a Russian Imperial Stout brewed with Tulsa’s own Nordaggio’s coffee. If you’re like me and love craft beer and a great cup of coffee, this brew will wake you up! With beers like Shelly’s Habanero concoction and Prairie’s Bomb!, this is an event that Tulsa must keep alive!

Cheers to BierGarten, Shelly, and all the good folks who attended!