A block party celebration of German culture will bookend a week of subzero temperatures in Lincoln.
Complete with lively polka music, soft bavarian pretzels, sauerkraut soaked bratwursts, and what will seem like bottomless lager: BockFest 2025 will close off 8th Street from “P” and “O” streets, in the heart of downtown’s Haymarket district, on Saturday (Feb. 22) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This is the 2nd annual “Oktoberfest, but winter” hosted by the premier German-style pub of downtown Bierhaus Maisschäler — an off-shoot of the Kinkaider Brewing Company, a microbrewery based in Broken Bow, Nebraska.
Bierhaus Maisschäler
That single-block of 8th street will be closed to thru traffic all weekend, to allow for set-up & tear-down, but the festival will only take place on Saturday and move inside around dusk.
After a week-long Arctic blast that brought record-breaking cold, most Lincolnites would understandably shudder at the thought of an outdoor party — alcohol notwithstanding. But as if blessed by a Germanic deity, Saturday’s forecast calls for sunny skies and highs in the 30s to 40s.
“We’ve been watching the temperature pretty closely and it just keeps going up. So I think that warm front’s gonna push in a little early and give us a beautiful day,” said, Nate Babb, General Manager for Bierhaus.
More than eating and drinking, BockFest will feature classic German fair-games, such as hammerschlagen, stein-stamina, and more. Attendees will also be liable to half-step to live music provided by acts like the Polka Police and The Barry Boyce Band.
Babb tells KLIN News they’ll have a hot-iron on stand-by for “beer-poking” — a tradition that involves heating a metal poker in a fire and then dipping it into a glass of beer. The heat caramelizes the malt sugars in the beer, creating a frothy, caramelized flavor.
“Believe it or not, the beer stays actually pretty cold,” said Babb. “It almost gets a toasted marshmallow smell and taste. It really makes the beer open up and changes the flavor profile quite a bit.”
Bierhaus will also be rolling out their new “Goat Bock” lager for the event. “It’s a dark, caramel like beer, almost like an amber. It is delicious,” Babb added.
Admission at the gate is $10. If you buy your ticket online, it gets you a free token to be redeemed for beer or food. VIP packages are also available. All ages are welcome to attend. For more details and ticket purchases, visit bierhausne.com.