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<p>PITTSTON &#8212; Oktoberfest is a tradition that&#8217;s about 200 years old, but one brewery in Pittston made it a tradition for the first time this year.</p><p>The Susquehanna Brewing Company, which has called Pittston its home for five years now, staged its first Oktoberfest celebration Saturday at its brewery on Main Street.</p><p>Fred Maier, the company&#8217;s vice president and co-founder, had a pretty simple answer about why Susquehanna Brewing decided to bring the Bavarian celebration to Luzerne County.</p><p>&#8220;Because it&#8217;s Oktoberfest,&#8221; Maier exclaimed. &#8220;It&#8217;s all about fun.&#8221;</p><p>Maier said that as a person of German heritage himself, the renown festival of German culture and, of course, beer has grown to mean a lot to him.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s one of my favorite things about fall,&#8221; Maier said.</p><p>Maier said Susquehanna Brewing was prepared for plenty of guests, having purchased 1,000 mugs for Saturday&#8217;s event. Just 90 minutes into the party that started at noon, a few hundred people had already come out.</p><p>A $7 admission ticket granted beer enthusiasts a souvenir mug and their first beer, plus access to a variety of food trucks, German music and even traditional Bavarian beer games provided by the Scranton Brewer&#8217;s Guild.</p><p>One of those games was keg bowling &#8212; where players rolled a keg into a pile of kegs to knock them down.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re here to promote the fun about beer,&#8221; said Sean Wolfe, guild president. &#8220;It&#8217;s not just about drinking it, it&#8217;s about fun.&#8221;</p><p>Wolfe said Northeast Pennsylvania is home to a strong German heritage. And games like the stein carry &#8212; where people had to carry as many plastic steins filled with water as possible for 40 feet without spilling &#8212; allowed everyone to celebrate that culture.</p><p>And just in case you were wondering, Wolfe said by mid-afternoon the best was 16 steins at once.</p><p>Games aside, the festival&#8217;s main focus was still a cold, foamy mug of beer.</p><p>Maier said patrons were able to try a variety of Susquehanna Brewing&#8217;s own beers, including the newest addition to its line, &#8220;Orange Is the New Ale,&#8221; an ale brewed with the juice of blood oranges.</p><p>Marie and Greg Sheplock, a West Pittston couple who self-identify as &#8220;huge beer fans,&#8221; said they were having a blast.</p><p>&#8220;They really thought of everything,&#8221; Marie said, citing the brewing company&#8217;s orderly parking set-up and the presence of police for security. &#8220;It&#8217;s just really nice.&#8221;</p><p>Marie said it&#8217;s important to them to support a local business like Susquehanna Brewing.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good to come together as a community and have a nice Saturday for adults, especially to support a local establishment,&#8221; she said.</p><p>But she was sure to make it clear her favorite part of the day was trying the various beers on tap.</p><p>If you missed Susquehanna Brewing&#8217;s Oktoberfest, you might have a chance to visit again next year.</p><p>&#8220;Hopefully, this will become the first annual Oktoberfest,&#8221; Maier said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Debra Klipple, of Nazareth, reacts after she knocks down all the kegs during a keg bowling game at Saturday&#8217;s Oktoberfest celebration in Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL091717Oktoberfest1-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Debra Klipple, of Nazareth, reacts after she knocks down all the kegs during a keg bowling game at Saturday&#8217;s Oktoberfest celebration in Pittston. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL091717Oktoberfest3-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kim Stearn, of Shavertown, tests her strength as she holds up a full beer growler with other contestants to see who can hold theirs up the longest. Stearn won second place in the competition Saturday as part of Susquehanna Brewing&#8217;s Oktoberfest party in Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL091717Oktoberfest3-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Kim Stearn, of Shavertown, tests her strength as she holds up a full beer growler with other contestants to see who can hold theirs up the longest. Stearn won second place in the competition Saturday as part of Susquehanna Brewing&#8217;s Oktoberfest party in Pittston. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL091717Oktoberfest2-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dan Schreffler, of Dunmore, and a member of the Scranton Brewer&#8217;s Guild, takes a sip of beer after a toast during the Susquehanna Brewing Company&#8217;s Oktoberfest celebration in Pittston on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL091717Oktoberfest2-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Dan Schreffler, of Dunmore, and a member of the Scranton Brewer&#8217;s Guild, takes a sip of beer after a toast during the Susquehanna Brewing Company&#8217;s Oktoberfest celebration in Pittston on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Oktoberfest debuts at Pittston-based Susquehanna Brewing Co.