St. Louis Beer Blog: Maifest

Maifest

By Nate Brinson

UCBC Midtown opened to the public on January 26, 2011, andwhile it was thrilling to be able to have five beers on tap, it’s always alittle depressing to be open during the darkest, coldest time of the year. Therefore,when the weather started to turn, we followed the tradition of welcoming thearrival of spring: Maifest, and this tradition returns to UCBC withcelebrations happening every Saturday in May at both Midtown and the Grove!

Maifest traditions began well over 2000 years ago withGermanic and Celtic tribes in Europe seeing their opportunity to rid themselvesof the harsh winter and welcome spring, a time of awakening and vitality. Music,dancing, honoring the gods, food and drink are a part of these celebrations aswell as raising the Maypole (Maibaum)*.

Unlike the Germanic and Celtic peoples of years past, we willnot be performing any rituals to pay homage to the gods of nature, but we willhave music** every Saturday in May in the Midtown Biergarten from 1-4pm!

In a bit of a St. Louis Maifest twist, UCBC has offered BBQspecials for over ten years, and the 2026 version will be no different. We’rethrilled that Pappy’s, our neighbors in Midtown, will be our Maifest BBQpartners this year; stay tuned for their specials every Saturday!

Finally, Maifest is also an opportunity to enjoy Bockbier,and we’re excited to release this year’s Maibock***. This amber, cold-fermented(aka lager) beer is perfect for the transition of gray winter to sunny summer: notquite as much deep, rich malt flavors as typical Bockbier, but to fit withnicer (but not quite summer-y) weather, it is also drier and brighter thantraditional Bockbier while also exhibiting more hop character. And since thisis a celebration, it’s a full-throttled beer, clocking in at 6.8% ABV!

We hope you’ll join us this May to not only welcome springbut also Biergarten season****! Prost!

* The Maypole traditions exist in many regions of Europenorth of the Alps. In southern Germany, their tradition involves young men’sclubs cutting down a tree before the festival and protecting it from youngmen’s clubs from neighboring communities. Successfully stealing a rival’sMaypole is rewarded with receiving a massive ransom of food and beer, and thisplayful tradition. By the way, you can still see our Maypole over at Midtown!

** Dancing is up to you!

*** Pinpointing the invention of Maibock is a little tricky.Hofbräu claims their version, first brewed in 1614, was the first ever whileothers claim it dates to the 1700s. The English-speaking world has named this“Helles Bock”, presumably taking the term “Helles” and slapping it on to Bock.This is grammatically incorrect in the German language. “Heller Bock” or“Helles Bockbier” would be more proper. Sure, it’s a bit pedantic, but so isthe German language. 😉

**** Hmmm…maybe Biergarten/Bierkeller traditions/etiquetteis a potential future blog post.

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