According to Josh Brignola, the secret to a great burger is nothing less than love and care.
“You have to have a lot of love for what you do,” said Brignola, chef at Copperz Brewing Co. in Hamburg, as he laid cheddar on a grill full of sizzling burgers. “You have to have respect for the people who are going to eat your food.”
Josh Brignola of Copper Z Brewing Co. in Hamburg grills up some burgers during the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
Copperz Brewing Co. was a guest at one of the dozens of hamburger stands in Hamburg on Saturday, where they grilled up delicious burgers.
For Adam Gantz, the 21st annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival was an event he couldn’t miss, so he immediately devoured one of Brignola’s Oktoberfest burgers.
Andy Gantz of Schuylkill Haven enjoys a burger from Copper Z Brewing Co. during the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
“It’s amazing,” Gantz said of his meal, which consisted of a LaFaver beef burger with Swiss cheese, beer mustard, apple-caraway sauerkraut and Black Forest ham on a pretzel bun.
Gantz, of Schuylkill County, said it was his first time attending the festival and he was not disappointed.
Many of Hamburg’s grill masters weren’t just there to grill burgers on Saturday. Some, like Hess Catering, wanted to show how well they can handle meat during the event’s burger competition.
Hess offered their Skook burger, which takes urban chicken, a culinary classic from Schuylkill County, and turns it into a burger.
“We have a special sauce and we serve it with cheese, lettuce and tomato,” said Gary Hess, co-owner of Hess Catering. “(City Chicken) is a famous thing (in Schuylkill County).”
Hess said his recipe hasn’t won in previous years, but he’s used customer feedback to refine it and thinks the Skook burger has a good chance of winning.
From left: Sandra Hess, Steve Querengasser, Gary Hess and Duane Hess of Hess Catering in Schuylkill Haven create a Skook Burger during the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
Burger cooking wasn’t the only competition on Saturday. The festival’s dine and dash race gave Hamburg’s speed demons the chance to scarf down a few burgers in between two-mile sprints.
The rules of the race were simple: eat a burger, run a mile, devour a second burger, then run back again while fighting off a food coma.
According to race organizers, times average between 20 and 40 minutes, with the best runners running no faster than 14 minutes.
Winner Abraham Rogers broke those standards, sailing across the finish line in about 13 minutes and 30 seconds.
Abraham Rogers, 17, a senior at Hamburg High School, finishes first in the Dine and Dash during the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. Competitors had to eat a hamburger at the start, run a mile, eat another hamburger and then finish the race. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
The senior at the Hamburg high school was out of breath but calm after his victory. It looked like he could easily eat another burger or two.
“I feel great. I do cross country and track, I’m a long distance runner and I want to run in college,” said Rogers, 17.
For Rogers, the victory was sweet, even though the Dine and Dash Burgers left something to be desired.
“I think I would have preferred it if it had some In-N-Out sauce on it,” Rogers said, laughing. “I’m from California, I’m an In-N-Out guy.”
Elsewhere at the festival, people gathered around a stall selling large plates of ribbon fries: fresh-fried potato chips loaded with bacon, cheese and other toppings.
Plates of ribbon fries and giant hamburger hats were among the few dishes clearly visible among the bustling crowd.
The smell of fries and meat even lured a legend from the forest out of his cave: Bigfoot, or at least Rick Myers dressed in a full Bigfoot costume, was on the hunt for the best burger of the festival.
Myers interrupted his burger hunt to take photos with festival-goers, including Juniper Meidernos 2 and Percy Meidernos 7.
Rick Myers of Blacklog, Huntington County, is the Bigfoot of Blacklog at Saturday’s Taste of Hamburger Fest in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
Their father, Dylan Meidernos, said he has been coming to the burger festival since he moved to the Hamburg area five years ago.
“I normally like the mac and cheese burger (from Backwoods Brothers Authentic Texas Cuisine),” Meidernos said.
Event organizer Deena Kershner said that in addition to the 40-plus burger stands, there were about 180 other stalls offering everything from handmade crafts to elderberry syrup.
Kershner, executive director of Our Town Foundation, the organization that organizes the fair, has led the fair’s committee since its inception 21 years ago.
Organizers have indicated that this will be Kershner’s last year leading the fair, with responsibility now passing to Lynn Weiler.
Deena and Glenn Kershner enjoy Deena’s final year at the helm of the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. She has been aboard the festival for 23 years. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
The proceeds from the festival will finance the revitalization of Our Town Foundation.
Those efforts included the restoration of the Hamburg Strand Theater and the opening of a new, permanent events venue on State Street Square, Kershner said.
Bands perform on the new stage at State Street Square, which is set to open in time for this year’s Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
“We’re struggling, we’ve got all these parking lots to man,” Kershner said. “I get it, nobody wants to leave the festival … but we need volunteers if people want to keep this going.”
The one-day festival attracts 30,000 to 40,000 visitors annually, Kerschner said.
Those interested in volunteering for the organization can call Our Town Foundation at 610-562-3106.
For festival attendees like Mark Woodward, co-owner of the West Reading Tavern and Restaurant, the event offers a chance to showcase highlights from their menu.
Woodward and chef Shalamar Woods prepared the tavern’s whiskey smokehouse burger: a 28-ounce dry-aged beef brisket and short rib burger with Jack Daniels barbecue sauce.
“We sold a couple hundred burgers today,” Woodward said.
Mark Woodward, left, and chef Shalamar Woods of the West Reading Tavern wear glasses while smoky grilling burgers during the Taste of Hamburger Fest on Saturday in Hamburg. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)
