It’s day 7 of the official Oktoberfest in Munich, the world’s largest beer party!

At Oktoberfest, the beer is supplied by breweries known as the Big Six: Spaten, Löwenbräu, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr. Each brewery has its own tent, holding thousands of festival-goers. The price of beer varies from tent to tent, but ranges between 7.80 and 8.30 Euros per liter – or about $12 US.

Estimates are that 6.2 million visitors will consume a mind-boggling 6,940,600 litres of beer. Do the math. That’s about $84 million US on beer alone – no wonder the German government seems to love Oktoberfest!

More amazing images after the jump.

The Augustiner beer tent:

The Paulaner Braeu Winzerer Faehnd’l beer tent:

The traditional rifleman’s parade:

And some folks who might just have had a bit too much fun:

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Oktoberfest Continues to Welcome Visitors

In Germany, even the politicians get into the act during Oktoberfest. The official Oktoberfest celebration is held in Munich, Germany, located in Bavaria. Here, Bavaria’s state governor Guenther Beckstein attends the BILD Wiesn event at Hippodrom beer tent September 25, 2008. You can read more about what’s going on at the Hippodrom here.

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Ein Prosit in Germany During Oktoberfest

For more on Oktoberfest, check out our prior post.

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220,000

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BBC Reports on Oktoberfest

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Oktoberfest 2008

Oktoberfest is officially open!

The world’s largest wedding part was first held in Munich, on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

The festival begins each year in mid-September (this year, September 20) and runs 16 days. It’s held on an area named the Theresienwiese (field, or meadow, of Therese), and often called d’ Wiesn for short.

For the last fifty years, the festival has been opened by a twelve gun salute and the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest beer at 12:00 by the current Mayor of Munich with the cry “O’zapft is!” Roughly translated from Bavarian, that means “It’s tapped!”

New at the Oktoberfest this year? A new Bavarian law banning smoking in all enclosed spaces that are open to the public. This will mean a complete smoking ban inside the tents. It will be interesting to hear how that goes…

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Oktoberfest Officially Opens

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Beware the ales of March (redux)

I’ve written on beer and children a few times, and for good reason. When we had our first child many people told us (and, despite our statements to the contrary, we feared) that our days of pleasant afternoons at a nice brewpub were over. Not true, at least not entirely.

As I sit here today we await with some anticipation our first pilgrimage to the Stoudt’s brewery for 2007. For those who don’t know, Stoudt’s is a long-established Pennsylvania microbrewery with an “Oktoberfest” in its rather large beer hall every Sunday in October, complete with music, roast pig, and, of course, beer.

Now what does this have to do with children? Well, when we went with our first child, we were pleasantly surprised to see that she absolutely loved it. As she grew, and a sibling was added, she enjoyed it even more. Now we have three, and this will be the first time our youngest can join the others on the dance floor. I expect him to love it too.

Even better, everyone else at the Oktoberfest was thrilled to see our little girls (and sometimes her friends) dancing on the dance floor, running around under the trees, and just generally having a good time. Meanwhile, we enjoy the beer and the (relatively) peaceful afternoon in the beer hall/beer garden we had longed for.

Contrary to expectations, Stoudt’s Oktoberfest (much like the real thing) is a relatively family-oriented affair, which is one thing for which I am exceedingly happy. If you have a local Oktoberfest and haven’t tried taking the kids, check it out, and let us know how it goes.

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Fest for the family

After 16 days of beer, fun and Gemutlichkeit, the Oktoberfest has closed its gates. 6.2 million people visited the biggest fair in the world and approximately 6.7 million “Maß” beer, thousands of “Hendl” and 104 oxen were consumed.

If you don’t know, a Maß is one liter, so that’s 1.8 million gallons of beer. I was responsible for three of those Maß, no chickens, and no oxen. Hell, I didn’t even have a pretzel.

For those who like to plan ahead, next year’s Oktoberfest will begin on September 20, 2008. Book now!

Really, I mean that, book now if you plan on going.

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Oktoberfest – a postscript

I know you can cook with beer, although my idea of cooking with beer is throwing half a bottle of lager into a crock pot with Kielbasa and sauerkraut on a cold winter’s day. For those of you with more ambition for cooking than I can usually muster, the following recipe sounds pretty tasty:

Beer and Cheese Soup

5 T butter
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1/3 c flour
3 c milk
1 12 oz. bottle amber beer
1-1/2 T dijon mustard
10 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
croutons, for garnish

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and
leeks, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until soft, 10 minutes. Add
the flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.

2. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high,
add the beer and mustard and bring the soup to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce
the heat to low and simmer, whisking, until creamy and thickened, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the cheese 1 handful at a time until
combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the croutons.

In the interest of full attribution, I’m pretty sure my wife found this in a Rachel Ray magazine (she had an Oktoberfest special, go figure), so kudos to both. Now if I can only persuade one of them to make it for me.

Photo from Rachel Ray magazine website

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Beer soup