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Oktoberfest Website
So, I realised that I havenât written an issue about food and drink in some time. Since it is October, I thought it would be a good idea to write about one of the largest folk festivals in the world. If you havenât guessed it by now, it is Oktoberfest, the Bavarian tradition that takes place in Munich from Mid-Late September to the First Sunday of October.
Oktoberfest was first held on 2nd October 1810 as a celebration of a royal wedding and the citizens of Munich were invited to the festival to celebrate the festivities. The festivities are held in Theresienwiese (Theresaâs Meadow) in honour of the bride of the wedding, Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. To this day, the Oktoberfest is held at the same grounds. The festival was then turned into a public festival initially to promote Bavarian agriculture but eventually it became a celebration of Bavarian culture and tradition and is now visited by millions every year.
The Bier
In recent times, an estimated average of more than 6 million litres of beer is sold during the Oktoberfest. That is more than enough beer to fill 2 Olympic size swimming pools. Considering that the festival is normally held for a little more than 2 weeks this is extremely impressive. Traditionally the beer consumed in Oktoberfest is in the MĂ€rzen style, MĂ€rzen translates to beer of March which is incredibly confusing. This is actually due to the fact that the beer is brewed in the month of March as the brewing of new beers from April to September was prohibited in the olden days. This meant that the malt, hop and alcohol content is slightly higher than those of normal German beers to ensure that the beer would keep till October. This creates a beer which is darker in colour and exhibit a sweet and hoppy flavour. The beer sold during the Oktoberfest must be brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, an ancient brewing regulation dating to the Holy Roman Empire and also be brewed within the city of Munich. There are currently 6 breweries which meet these criteria and are licensed to make Oktoberfest beer. They are as follow: Augustiner-BrĂ€u, Hacker-Pschörr-BrĂ€u, LöwenbrĂ€u, Paulaner, SpatenbrĂ€u and HofbrĂ€u-MĂŒnchen
Other interesting facts
The glassware that the beer is commonly served in is called a MaĂkrug, pronounced mass, which comes from the word MaĂ which is the measure of beer served, equivalent to 1 litre. A vessel can only be called a stein if it is made of stone and holds a MaĂ of beer. The festival was cancelled for the years 2020 and 2021, marking the first time the festival has not been held since World War II. In addition to beer, the festival promotes and sells traditional Bavarian cuisine, such as pork knuckles, sausages and grilled fish on a stick. Lastly and probably the most important, is when toasting with drinks, you must maintain eye contact while saying Prost (cheers in German) with the other person or you will be guaranteed bad luck.
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