Oktoberfest: A Canadian living in Munich's perspective

No surprises! Showing up on the first day we knew there was no way we'd get in a tent and had to limit ourselves to strolling around. It's basically like walking through a mosh pit, but sober.

Beer Prices

If you go to Oktoberfest and you don't drink... "you're gonna have a bad time" but the beer prices keep increasing, now at 9,80€ for a maß (liter) of Augustiner. In some tents you'll pay up to 10,15€ which basically means you're paying 11,00€ if you're generous with your waiter. Just to give you an idea, I can buy 20 bottles (10 liters) of Spaten, Löwenbräu or Augustiner for 13,00€ at the store.

A half chicken will soak up some of that alcohol but will also set you back another 10,95€. You should probably skip that looping roller coaster ride if you want to keep the rest in you and 8,50€ in your wallet.

There's also this app you can buy for 99¢ call Bier Inspektor, in which you insert the price of a liter and then measure how much beer is in your maß by taking a picture of it. The app tells you how much you're getting robbed if your beer head is taking over on the golden stuff.

Beer facts

Apparently Augustiner is the only brewery who will still serve their Oktoberfest beer from wooden barrels.

More facts: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e42da600-44cc-11e4-9a5a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Eu6nRtS5

I was watching the extensive coverage of Oktoberfest and an interview with the organizers of HB (Hofbräu) revealed that HB is the most popular of the Munich Breweries around the world. The HB tent is also known to the locals as the "Tourist Tent" filled with Aussies, Brits and Americans. The organizer denied that this is true and insisted on the authenticity of the brand and the strong presence of the local crowd. He seemed to be the only one with that opinion.

The Parade

There's a parade on the opening Sunday consisting of different marching bands and the breweries' carriages. Fun for the whole family, there was only one drunk holding a huge flag pole but his buddy helped him out.

Quick tips

To fully enjoy this still very traditional event be respectful of others at all times, we're all there for the same reason celebrate and enjoy some tasty beers. 

Don't bring anything you wouldn't want to lose or get stolen.

Don't go on drinking on an empty stomach, there's a lot of tasty treats and those big pretzels are life savers!

Remember dilution, is the solution!

Prost!

The German Beer Consumer

I always get that look when I show up at the counter of a new Getränke Shop with 12 different individual beers. Like I'm some sort of weirdo who can't make up his mind about what he likes to drink. Maybe it's because they have to scan 12 bottles instead of 1. Some specialized beer shops are more than happy to see customers leave with a variety of beers and I think these will be more and more popular as the craft beer scene expands.

That's the way I do it, not how our local Bavarian friends do it.

From what I gather they find a favorite and stick to it. After speaking with family and friends who are German natives it seems there's a two step process to finding "your" favorite beer.

Step one: find the type of beer you like, most choice will be covered by Hell, Weiss or Pils. If you're from Köln you'll swear by Kölsch and I've heard that Düsseldorf's choice would be their homebrew "Altbier". Dopplebocks are rarely the "go to" beer and mostly viewed as seasonal.

Step two: find the brand you like the most and the next two alternate brands you will opt for if the first one is not offered.

Tasting anything other than their type of beer will make them cringe, I've seen it. A different brand will be "not as good as the one brand I like". The brand they choose will greatly depend on the availability in the specific region and the price.

There's "construction worker's beer" which is very cheap and also very horse piss-like. You have the beers which are exported all over the world such as Löwenbräu, Becks, Warsteiner, etc. which you'll get for a very decent price and they have a steady quality but are all very generic. Then you get into the interesting beers which are mostly local, here in Munich you have Augustiner, Hofbräu, Andechs, Chiemseer and Tegernsee.

The younger generations seem very open to try other beers but I still hear some individuals who will refuse to drink Weissbier even if I give them 10 different brands to try. I hear things like "I know this one is good, why would I try anything else." No one here is ready for a double IPA, especially if it comes in a 0,5L bottle!

Read Part 1: A first glance at the Munich craft beer scene

Gluten Frei Bier bitte!

A friend of mine loves beer, unfortunately he's no longer able to tolerate gluten so I did my best, with the help of other redditors, to assemble a variety of gluten free beers available in Germany. Prost!

Neumarkter Lammsbräu Glutenfrei 0,33L 4.7%

Where to find it

RESIDENZ Bio Reisbier glutenfrei

RESIDENZ Bio-Reis-Gold glutenfrei

Gluten free beer made of rice in 0,5L at 4,3%

RESIDENZ Bio-Reisbier dunkel glutenfrei

RESIDENZ Bio-Reis-Gold Dunkel glutenfrei

Gluten Free dark beer made of rice (Landbier) in 0,5L at 4,3%

Where to find it

Lebensfreude - das glutenfreie Bier in 0,5L at 5,0%

Where to find it

Riedenburger glutenfreies Hirsebier in 0,33L at 4,7%

Exclusively brewed from millet malt!

Where to find it

Schnitzerbräu Hirse (Gluten free) in 0,33L at 5,0%

Schnitzer Bräu Hirse Lemon (Gluten Free Radler) in 0,33L at 2,6%

Where to find it

Spalter Buchweizen in 0,33L at 2,5%

Brewed with buckwheat (100% Gluten free)

Where to find it

A first glance at the craft beer scene... in Munich

This is likely going to be the first part of a few articles as I venture into the endless beer culture of Bavaria. I have been a fortunate Canadian living in Ottawa for the most part of my legal drinking days and a part of me was reluctant to leave the expanding craft beer scene behind and move to Munich. What we have in Canada is nowhere near the boom that is happening in the United States but it is much closer than the baby steps taken by a handful of Germans who want to stay in the beer game. After all, if they want to keep their title they must find a way to merge culture and craft in order to compete with the new wave of expanding micro breweries worldwide.

This is an interesting point in time where the German brewers want to have the Reinheitsgebot inscribed in of the UNESCO's World Heritage list and also where other brewers are trying to get away from the traditional brewing methods and break through the conservative German palate with new flavors and ingredients that are being shamed by the purists.

Why would one dare brew some American Pale Ale when we have perfectly good Helles? Who needs a Belgian Wit when we have our Weissbier? Porters and stouts are nothing compared to our Dopplebock. The simple answer is variety.

That simple answer leads to the first problem craft brewers will encounter, the customer.

A good read:

Germany Wants World Heritage Status for Its Beer

Part 2: The German Beer Consumer

Pub Review: Tap-House (Munich)

I've been eyeing this place for a couple of months now and finally got the chance to head out on Saturday to the Tap-House in Munich. I had already lined-up a few beers I wanted to try from a large selection of beers. I was a bit worried that showing up on a Saturday evening around 9 pm, the place would be packed and we'd have to squeeze in at the bar and wait for a table but to my surprise the place was almost empty.

Right on the corner of Rosenheimstr. and Orleansstr. and walking distance from Ostbahnof is nowhere near the "hip" and current local hangouts but still very accessible.

The Menu

You can see for yourself there's a lot of beer both on tap (vom Fass) and bottles, you can spot the fridge when you walk in. You get a variety of German local craft beers and a few from bigger breweries. It's peppered with Belgian, Italian but most interestingly American beers. Among them were Allagash, Sly Fox, Firestone and Sierra Nevada.

The Service

I thought I'd go for the beer of the week, in a very bad Deutsch I requested the Kürzer Alt and asked if it was good. To this question the waiter replied that it was an alt beer. Ok... thanks for the elaborate response. In general I don't expect much from the wait staff in Germany, they don't get much tips and are usually not so enthusiastic about "tourists" and/or speaking English. In this case, I'm going off the beaten path and paying top dollars for craft beers which are trying to pierce the very stable and present beer market of Bavaria, I'm expecting a bit of shared knowledge.

I was recommended an Austrian beer from Freistädter which was apparently better, also pricier than the beer of the week. I was  then offered a Camba Amber Ale, which was delicious. I'm not fully aware of the affiliation that Camba has with the Tap-House but Camba seems to be their "house brew" so I'm gonna go with Camba owns Tap-House.

The Vibe

Very new, clean, pub atmosphere featuring huge barrels stacked up in the middle of the bar. As I said to my surprise the bar was almost empty but still had a steady flow of walk-ins throughout the evening. This place would definitely be a go to bar in North-America simply for their menu. But the layout is very open, there's a lot of sitting and standing room and could also host bands. I will definitely go back and attempt to get a little more out of the staff because I'm certain they enjoy talking about their product as much as I enjoyed tasting them. 

A Crew for You

I've been looking around town (Munich that is) for some local craft beer and if you're not from here it get's a bit tricky. After being here for three months or so I've realized that stores and businesses don't realize the impact of online presence. After asking around on reddit and cruising facebook and translating many German websites I finally found what seems to be one of Munich's hidden gem.

Getränke Oase

They have a facebook page and my first impression was, WOW! They have a lot of beers in that small shop. Belgian, American but most importantly German Craft Beers. 

The first two I tried were from the highly recommended Crew Brewery.

The Detox and The Escalation. I personally preferred the Escalation, I was looking for something bitter and hoppy and the Detox had a great citrusy aroma but lacked a bit of IPA grit. Both very well balanced beers they come in 0,33cl bottles and are a little more expensive but someone's gotta pay for those cool labels!

Check out their other beers.