Lost Hollow celebrating Hollowfest

With the weather changing into fall, that can only mean one thing --- it is time to celebrate Hollowfest with Lost Hollow Beer Co. 

The Greencastle brewery is in the midst of its third year of putting on the festival, which incorporates all that Lost Hollow has to offer, along with a local feel on Oktoberfest. 

"It is our variation of Oktoberfest. This is our third go at it, and we are trying to grow it each year. This year we are excited to add a couple new events and products to this," co-owner Elliott Dunbar told The Putnam County Post. 

One of the new additions was the first ever Beer Mile and Boutique Crawl, which featured 24 local businesses within the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) and allowed customers an opportunity to visit the businesses and come downtown. 

"We wanted to remind people construction is over, and there are great businesses downtown to shop, grab lunch and have fun at. The climate in Greencastle is changing, and us versus them is changing to we, which is great. It was great to partner with other businesses," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar said Hollowfest, which runs until Oct. 3, will feature something for everyone, including the best selling seasonal beer, the Hollowfest Lager, according to Dunbar. 

"This is a more rich variation of our best selling beer. It is a really good beer, and there are a couple more beer releases that will follow. There is a fun, community aspect to this, especially with Hollowfest Games. We have our annual stein holding competition, and it is fun. It is an event that features something for everyone even if you don't drink. There's live music, there's activities and there's people having a good time. This is an opportunity for us to bring what happens in Munich with the real Oktoberfest to Greencastle. We want to bring that community fest and kickoff to fall to Greencastle," Dunbar said. 

In addition, there will be a hot wing eating challenge on Oct. 1, Liter Stein Nights, the release of four new cans and much more. 

"If we are open, there is something different to do each night in Greencastle," Dunbar admitted. 

As for the hot wing challenge, Dunbar said it is not for the faint of heart. 

"It is 10 wings and a pint of Hollowfest, no ranch, no additional sauces. The hot sauce is 666 thousand scoville. I think it's twice as hot as blazin at Buffalo Wild Wings. You have to eat the 10 wings in 10 minutes but you can't drink until the 10 minutes is up. There is not a single winner. There can be multiple winners and we have participation trophies. If we have a bunch of people complete it, that is awesome. Tomorrow will not be good for you, it will be very spicy but you'll get a one liter stein for winning. If you like spicy wings, a challenge or just want to support us, come see people eat some spicy wings. It's a fun challenge and not just drinking. It is a way to support a local business," Dunbar said.