Drink Craft Beer goes to Oktoberfest
I’ve wanted to go to Oktoberfest for years, but something always got in the way, money, friends bailing out, it was always something...until this year. A friend of mine emailed me early this year asking if I was interested, I jumped at the chance and crossed my fingers this trip would actually come to fruition. Since I’ve come back from the trip I always get asked the same few questions so I’m going to tackle those right now.
Q: Do women really wear the dresses that, ummm shall we say show off their assets?
A. Yes, they’re called dirndls and I would say most women wear them
Q. Do men really wear lederhosen?
A. You bet! If I did the trip again I would have tried to buy some ahead of time. In Munich a traditional outfit will cost you around $400 US, I just couldn’t justify that.
Q. Is it as crazy and fun as it looks in the movies/TV?
A. Yes, this is one rare instance in life where the stereotypes are all true and that’s a good thing. Nothing can prepare you for the actual experience of being there.
We arrived at Oktoberfest at 11am on a Friday morning. If you’re reading this and thinking, wow that’s early, you’re right, but there’s a reason. In order to eat or drink at Oktoberfest you must be sitting at a table in a tent. Most of the tables are by reservation only and are completely booked a year in advance. We did not have a reservation so we had to get there early to grab one of the limited open tables. Nothing prepared me for the size of the “tents” at Oktoberfest. I’ve never seen anything like this called a tent, think aircraft hanger. Based on a recommendation by a friend from Munich we went to the Augustiner tent. As we walked in the sounds of hundreds of clinking glasses and thousands of voices greeted us. We found a seat after some time searching and got down to business. Our waitress arrived and I used one few but very important German phrases I know “sechs maß bitte” (six liters please). Moments later she returned with six beers in hand, an impressive feat given how heavy these beers are. The first sip was pure bliss. Was it the best beer I’ve ever had? No, but in that moment it was, there’s no other beer that could have possible been and better at that place at that point in time.
As we enjoyed our first beer the brass band began playing, by noon the entire tent was full and Oktoberfest was in full swing. Words can’t describe how packed the tents get. The tables are small and narrow and there’s less than an inch separating each one. This results in you sitting back to back with the people next to you. In any other situation this would likely feel claustrophobic but somehow here you just felt connected to your fellow man. What makes this so special is that everyone in the tent is there for the exact same reason. The people behind me were from Switzerland and I quickly became friends with them. We chatted about our travels, our excitement at finally making it to Oktoberfest and where we were from. The people on the other side of me were from Cambridge, MA one town over from where I live and it turned out they followed Drink Craft Beer on Twitter, crazy!
Now a couple beers in, we were in desperate need of food. As good as the beer is, the food is arguably better. People always think brats when they think German food but let me tell you, it’s all about the schweinshaxe (pork knuckle). This is a cut of meat from the lower part of the leg which is brined and then cooked over high heat. The result is a ridiculously good. It’s cooked skin on so there’s crispy pig skin covering deliciously fatty pork underneath. If for some reason this doesn’t sound amazing (something is wrong with you) grab a half chicken instead which is almost as good.
After some number of hours of eating, drinking, singing, participating in chugging contests while standing on tables while crowds cheered and general craziness we left the tent and explored the fairgrounds. There’s food and beer vendors outside of the tents as well as ferris wheels, roller coasters and all sorts of other rides. Oktoberfest was everything I wanted it to be and more. Looking back now there’s a few tips I’d give to anyone thinking of going.
1. Make sure you allocate two days for Oktoberfest. Munich is an awesome city and there’s so much else to do that I couldn’t justify going back a second day given my limited time there, but I would have liked to spend more time outside the tent and perhaps checked out a different tent one day.
2. Get a reservation. It’s hard to plan that far in advance but if I was planning the trip now I’d definitely do it.
3. Get the proper clothes, a dirndl if you’re female lederhosen if you’re male.
As I finish this article I can’t help wanting to go back, and for me that’s a rarity. I generally find that once I’ve gone somewhere once it’s rare that I go back, I’d rather go do something new. I find myself wanting to go back though, there’s so many other tents to explore, so many new people I could meet, so many experiences awaiting me if I return. And I think that’s the magic of Oktoberfest, that’s why so many locals come back again and again year after year. There really is something truly special about this event that makes it like nothing anywhere else. And that’s why you should go.
Prost!
