When we came up with the name ‘OktoberFaust’ to highlight the soullessness of what some Oktoberfest celebrations have become, we also starting using the hashtag #ProstBeforeProfit as a way to point out the sheer amount of money rinsing that seems to go on with the identikit events selling mass-produced beer and cheaply sourced, pre-packaged snacks.

But it goes deeper than that.

The name OktoberFaust means more. It’s not just pointing out the lack of soul some events have, focussing on enforced fun as a veneer excuse for overcharging for beer. For us it’s become a check for any brewery we’re buying beer in from; they must all still have their soul. We don’t care about size or even about perceived popularity, we care about how much they care. That their heart and soul goes into each and every beer they produce rather than having lost heart and sold their soul to the accountants or Big Beer.

And the #ProstBeforeProfit goes deeper still.

One of the great things about the beer community is that there really is an element of community. People know people, word gets around, and we were put in touch with No Heroes. These folk give a percentage of *all* profit they make to good causes. Not just the odd charity event or donated keg – everything. I can’t thank Mash enough for the introduction, but I can buy them a beer (or two) if they can make it along.

Over the course of OktoberFaust all bar two beers will be on rotation. One of those will be our own barrel-lagered Märzen that we’re launching at the event, the other will be No Heroes lager. We’ll be keeping this on throughout the weekend so that everyone can get to try it and help community groups in London by doing so.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, we’ll be donating some of our profits from the weekend to local causes in Manchester too.

We’re not here to rinse you, we’re not here for the mass-produced. We’re here for the beer, the heart and the soul.

Tickets can be found here.

#ProstBeforeProfit.