Spirits

Oktoberfest

PATRICK AUSTIN

Since the official Oktoberfest in Munich has been cancelled, we should prepare to celebrate here

at home. When someone mentions Oktoberfest, images of long wooden tables with thousands of drunken partyers drinking from enormous beer steins come to mind. Pigtailed waitresses wearing checkered dresses and carrying trays of beers is a common scene. Hours and days of continual beer drinking originated from a marriage in 1810. That is right; Oktoberfest was created for a marriage of a prince and princess in 1810. The celebration was a five-day long festival held at the gate to Munich. Present-day Oktoberfest is the largest folk festival in the world. The current festival will run for 16 glorious days of great beer and food. Records show that the largest Oktoberfest was in 1999 with 6.5 million people who visited that party.

The food at the festival is as traditional as the list of beers. There is more than sausages and pretzels served daily. One of the all-time favorites is a roasted chicken named Brathendl, there will be approximately 510,000 sold during the 16-day event. Another crowd favorite is potato pancakes served with applesauce. However, really, you cannot have Oktoberfest without Brezen. These large and soft German-style pretzels have probably helped more than one person get through the night! We should not leave out the Wurstl or sausage. A Bavarian delicacy made from ground veal or pork stuffed into a natural casing then boiled or grilled to perfection.

Not all German beers are for Oktoberfest, the style of beer is known as a Marzen. To have your beer poured at Oktoberfest, you have to meet two requirements. The first one is that you must conform to Reinheitsgebot, which is the series of regulations that limits the ingredients in your beer. The second one is that your beer must be brewed in the city of Munich. Currently, there are only six breweries that meet all of the qualifications to have their beers at Oktoberfest. • Augustiner-Brau • Hacker-Pschorr-Brau • Lowenbrau • Paulaner • Spatenbrau • Staatliches Hofbrau-Munchen to a couple of these beers. If you would like to try an authentic Oktoberfest beer, please come in and well will help you prepare for your own Oktoberfest celebration.

Many companies brew beers to recognize the Oktoberfest season. We have a number of these in our coolers and on our shelves. They are always highly anticipated among beer fans. Some of the more common brands are as follows: • Sam Adams Oktoberfest • Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest • Schlafly Oktoberfest • Revolution Oktoberfest

There are four or five beers that I have not mentioned, which you may find on the shelf at one of our stores. The unfortunate thing with Oktoberfest beer is that breweries will be pushing winter beers by the time this article goes to print. The demand to move on to the next big seasonal beer seems to have all of us drinking our beer a season ahead of time! It will be spring beer in winter, summer beer in spring, and Oktoberfest at the end of summer. The next time you are in one of our stores, pick up an Oktoberfest beer, how could so many festival goers be wrong! n