Oktoberfest season starts early at Tributary.

At 5:00 PM sharp, we tap a pin cask of Oktoberfest from our friends at McFleshman's Brewing Company in Appleton. It's a historical style with real depth — dark bread crust and sweet caramel up front — but it stays crisp and clean through the finish, the way a good lager should.

A cask-conditioned Oktoberfest is an unusual thing to come across. True cask ale is rare enough in the U.S. A lager, naturally conditioned in the cask and served by gravity at cellar temperature, is rarer still. If you've had an Oktoberfest before, you haven't had it like this.

A pin is a small cask, and when it's gone, it's gone. Cask ale is at its best fresh, so anything left won't be served the next day. If you want a pour, 5:00 is the time to be here.

Week three of Cask Ale Friday. New cask, every Friday, 5:00 PM.