By: Becca Walker

Every fall, the Food and Fermentation Science Club hosts an Oktoberfest celebration to welcome back students, faculty, and staff in the Food Science and Technology Department at Oregon Sate University.  This event started out small and has begun to grow as our department has grown.  This is a great way for new students to meet their peers, professors, and alumni who are out in the industry.

The event is free to all those who attend and this is possible because of the donation of most of the food and beer from local companies.   Our Brew Masters work hard to get kegs donated from local microbreweries and our contacts from the local Oregon Section IFT support the event with product donations from many of their companies, including hot dog buns and condiments.

This year we had a record amount of the food come from our university.  The officers made the bratwurst and sauerkraut.  One of our professors in Crop Sciences made over 300 soft pretzels from scratch in his lab and the OSU Dairy plant donated cheese.

While it is traditionally pouring down rain during Oktoberfest, it doesn’t stop us foodies and fermies from having a good time and meeting new people while packing under the park shelter trying to stay dry.

 Pictured from L to R:

 Curtis Nelson (Brew Master), Eryn Bottens (Senior Brew Master), 

Becca Walker (President), Meghan Keck (Secretary), 

Nicole Babb (Graduate OSIFT Representative), 

Claire Oslund (Treasurer), Michayla Robertson (Member at Large)

Has your club ever held an Oktoberfest event? What made your event unique and exciting?