Oktoberfest Odyssey

Wine Warehouse Beer’s own Stephanie Jensen and Brian Lopes went to Oktoberfest in Munich this year, and brought back some photos and stories of their awesome trip to share!

What was your favorite part of Oktoberfest?

Steph: The people watching was amazing. Tourists and locals alike fully embracing the spirit and culture of the festival was incredible to see. Everywhere you looked were men in traditional lederhosen and women in colorful dirndl dresses. I also loved seeing all of the different and colorful Lebkuchen, the large heart-shaped gingerbread cookies strung with ribbon.

Brian: I love the crowds. I love to see the groups of locals and tourists from Asia, all over Europe, South America and Americans all partying together, talking to each other and singing.  They all have the same huge grin on their faces and it’s fun to watch.  

What was it like inside the tent?

Steph: We were lucky enough to be upstairs on the balcony looking over all of the humanity inside tent. The view was spectacular! It is its own city in there: overflowing with people, food and beer, and lots of it, everywhere. One table would start a chant and like a wave it would make its way around the tent until everyone at every table was hoisting their glass mugs in the air and yelling and singing.

Brian: The feeling is electric, the roar of 10,000 people in one “tent” having a blast is amazing, especially when a familiar song or chant comes from the center stage.  I also like to walk around. I like to go near the kitchen to watch the streams of waitresses coming out of the kitchen carrying 6 to 7 heavy liter mugs of beer, or 5 plates of roast chickens and sausages.  

Favorite beer house visited in Munich

Steph: Hofbräuhaus was quite the scene to behold. The cavernous building is 3-stories and absolutely jammed full of patrons consuming beer by the liter. There are even lockers for the regulars to lock up the steins after a long day or night worth of drinking.

Brian: Schneider Weisses Brauhaus. It’s a very old and lively place in the middle of the Old Town with very traditional Bavarian food.  It feels like someone’s dining room and the assortment of different versions of Schneider Weisse that you order by “tap number” is great.   I also love the snarky waitress, she made me laugh.  

Other fun things to do while in Munich:

Steph: Stroll around the Englischer Garten, which is a large public park in the city center. I had heard rumors of a river where people surf, and it’s true! A standing wave provides a curious discovery of surfers decked head to toe in thick wetsuits carving tight turns. One surfer would pace between the river banks with sharp turns and amazing balance then fall back over the wave to allow the next surfer in. And this went on and on, I could have stood there for hours watching.

Brian: Walk, I love to walk in Munich.  It’s so big and there’s so much to see you could do it for days.  There’s tons of places to check out, we stumbled upon the insanely ornate Asam Church decorated with gold leaf skeletons and crazy murals.  We went to the oldest on-premise account in Munich where you order a beer by ringing a big bell on a chain, a window opens up, and someone serves you a beer,  you then stand in a small entryway and drink it.   There are seemingly hundreds of cafes where you can stop and sip a beer or coffee while people watching for hours.  

Oktoberfest Fun Facts: 

The 183rd Oktoberfest in Munich came to a close on October 3rd with an estimated 5.6 million visitors this year.

6,000,000 liters of beer consumed; for perspective, an Olympic sized swimming pool holds 2,500,000 liters of water.

The festival has seating for about 100,000.

550,000 1/2 chickens were served. 

Fairgrounds cover 75 acres.