FOOD & ENTERTAINING The beer gained in strength until it became the
The Story of Oktoberfest
doppelbock (“double bock”) known today, with
The most famous expression of seasonal beer is
perhaps the best known example being Paulaner
no doubt Oktoberfest, when people the world
Salvator, which the monks had named after
over celebrate German culture and beer, with the
their Savior.
epicenter being Munich’s Oktoberfest which is a 16-day celebration which runs from late Septem-
Spring through Christmas
ber to the first weekend of October.
Another style of seasonal bockbier that evolved
is the maibock (“May Bock”), also known as
sumed 6.9 million litres of Oktoberfest beer and
Helles Bock—a strong golden lager served in
untold number of sausages. As a side note, 4,500
May to celebrate the spring transition from
items were handed into the lost and found office,
winter to summer. The darker version served
including two wedding rings, a hearing aid, two
no later than the beginning of Advent, four
French horns, and almost 500 cellular phones. But
weeks before Christmas, is the Weihnachtsbier
in a change from recent history, the list did not
(“Christmas Beer”), and is closer to the original
include any false teeth, normally a fixture of the
darker form of bockbier.
inventory of lost items.
In 2012, 6.4 million people attended and con-
Merry Mischief (Samuel Adams); Very Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf and Criminally Bad Elf (Ridgeway) and Tidings (Port City)
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Winter 2013 / Celebrate Home Magazine