Prost!

Location: Munich, Germany






This post is actually a little delayed as some of you know, but a few weekends ago I went to Munich for my first Oktoberfest. I have been very eager to go since I have become quite a fan of German beer over the past few years, especially the Hefeweizens.

The seeds of this trip were planted several months back while I visited college friends in California and by chance discovered a friend would be in France at the same time. She generously invited me to tag along with her girl friends to Oktoberfest. It was a difficult choice, but in the end I went for it...

Once there, we all woke up bright and early (6am I think) in order to get a good spot in line. Since it was a Friday (not the weekend yet), there was hardly anyone there. We arrived with ~2 hours to spare, and I think we were in the first 20 people in line. Keep in mind these beer halls each hold thousands of people, so it would be fair to say we were ahead of the curve. The group had previously decided to go to the Hoffbrau tent because of numerous high recommendations from others, and since I had no reason to think otherwise I agreed.

Here is some of our group standing in line. I showed this to some of my Spanish friends and they responded with "La vida es dura", which translates to "Life is hard". A very perceptive assessment, I would say.
My good friend (directly to the left of me in the Fencing sweatshirt) and I decided that standing in line wasn't doing it for us, so we wandered around to take pictures. This is what the Oktoberfest area looked like; essentially it was an amusement park with occasional beer tents. I oddly liked the idea of this as a family event - sort of like "bring the kids and leave 'em in the roller coaster line while daddy drinks a pint!"
I couldn't pass up the chance to get my picture taken with this ride. My female compatriot did not understand why I found this humorous. If you don't get it either, read this to find out what the Shocker represents in popular American culture.
Disgusting right?!? Who says this blog isn't educational :)

Eventually they let us into the tent. "Tent" is actually a stretch in my opinion, since these places have amenities such as hard-wood floors, solid walls, fully operating kitchens, and live bands. The only tent-like aspect is the roof, which is hardly noticeable and seems to be a very thick plastic material.

The culture inside is mostly what I expected...lots of young people from other countries. I think the most common language there was English, which did come as a surprise. And obviously they become very crowded, noisy, and smoky place as the day progressed.

But here is a picture with my first liter.
And then it was gone...kind of like a before and after photo. Fortunately they had more.
For some unexplained reason, every now and then (half an hour or so) the sound of people rumbling would suddenly pick up and we would all stand , scream at nothing in particular, then toast and drink heavily. Kind of like "the wave" at football games, I found myself wondering who actually started these things.

Here is what it looked like.
And a video of the experience.

Apparently we left the Hoffbrau tent in the early afternoon (I don't recall this at all) and wandered into the Paulaner one. Oddly enough, no pictures were taken there...or anywhere else the entire rest of the evening for that matter. The moral of this story is: If you start drinking at 10am, make sure to eat plenty of food throughout the day.

I wake up the next morning in my hotel room and try to piece together what happened. Apparently I became separated (likely to be my fault) from the group but still managed to find my own way home. This might sound strangely familiar to those who know me.

For Oktoberfest, headaches are deemed as nothing but minor obstacles to be overcome through the consumption of more beer. And so we pulled ourselves out of bed and started all over again.

As promised, these next set of pictures come from the following day. I was unaware of this but apparently some people dress up for the event. My favorite is the nun.
I had received restaurant and brewery recommendations prior to my arrival, including one claiming one place to have "the best Hefeweizen he ever had". So my friend and I departed from the group and Oktoberfest tents and brewery-hopped around Munich instead. I wound up having a much better time this way because the beer was much better (and cheaper), the food was more plentiful, and the atmosphere resembled much more traditional German and less of a frat party.
NOTE: That last sentence was difficult to type because it made the author feel old.

This picture is in front of the IsarBräu house ("best Hefeweizen ever brewery"), which as you've noticed doesn't look like much except a brick building.
This is their front sign. I personally think they need to fire the person in charge of advertising.

To set the stage a little bit, I'd like to backtrack and lend a review of the beer inside the Oktoberfest tents. In short, it was surprisingly bad. First off, one could only order one of the following three items:
1) A beer
2) A non-alcoholic beer (I liken this option to those few souls to manage to score tickets to the Super Bowl while admitting they don't really like football)
3) A raddler (half beer, half lemonade). I think there is a mutual international understanding that men aren't supposed to order these.

And the "beer" choice was always a very light lager - kind of like a German equivalent of Bud Light. Very easy to drink one (or even five!), but never very flavorful or satisfying.

So with this as my backdrop, I was very excited to get to "the good stuff". As mentioned, our first stop was the IsarBräu and it did not disappoint. It mostly consisted of a restaurant with all the vats and other beer processes spread out in the corners. Here's the view coming in the front door.
And I finally got my local German Hefeweizen of which I am such a huge fan. My impression? Not the world's best, but likely to be in my top 3. Lets just say that smile is definitely real.
And these are probably the coolest yet most ridiculous place holders I've ever seen. Yes I think a case can be made for a bit of sexism here, but then again look at that smile...
We wound up staying for about 3 hours eating large quantities of food and trying every beer on the menu (my other favorite was the Dunklweizen, which is a dark yet sweeter Hefeweizen).

Our next stop, Augustiner, came as my partner in crime's suggestion and took us out of the boonies and back into downtown. The brewery also happens to be the oldest in the city and has been producing since 1328! More fantastic beer and food ensued.

We eventually left and were wandering the downtown streets, weaving in and out of shops looking for gifts when suddenly we found ourselves in front of the Paulaner pub, which so happens to make my favorite beer. Naturally, we strolled in and took a seat.

Here's a picture of the lively inside. After more talking and a couple pints I decided it still holds my top spot. After that we were spent and found our way home, but it was the perfect last place to stop off.
In the morning we pulled ourselves together and made our way to the airport, where I happened to notice a beer concession stand close by the ticket counter. By luck, it happened to be a small outlet for Erdinger which we had not found yet.
Upon closer inspection, temptation reared its ugly head...
And with a whole hour left before my flight, why would I possibly waste it without a beer in my hand?

Clearly I would chalk up the trip as a success. My one suggestion - for anyone coming to this festival seeking great beer, I would highly recommend leaving the tents behind for the actual breweries instead. And always remember to say "Prost" as the proper toast!

For additional pictures of debauchery, click here.