O’zapft is!
Sixteen days.
One Märzen.
The real Oktoberfest runs from late September into the first weekend of October, and it is not a beer festival so much as a very large room agreeing to sit together. We do our version of it here.
What we do
Märzen goes on tap. Amber, malty and brewed to be drinkable in quantity — the style exists precisely because it had to survive a Bavarian summer in a cellar before being drunk in the autumn.
The litre glass comes out. The Masskrug is not a novelty. It is the standard measure at the Wiesn and it changes how the bier drinks.
The tables get longer. More communal seating, fewer small tables, and the expectation that you will end up talking to whoever sits down opposite.
The full grill runs. Every wurst, every side, every night of the season.
Come prepared
Five things worth knowing
- Eat before you drink. A litre of Märzen is nearly two pints.
- Come early or come in a group — the room fills from about 6 pm on weekends.
- Learn one toast: Prost! Look the person in the eye when you say it.
- Clink the bottom of the glass, not the rim. Litre glasses chip.
- Wearing Tracht is welcome. Wearing a novelty costume is a choice you will have to defend.
The history
It started as a wedding
The first Oktoberfest was held in October 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The citizens of Munich were invited to the fields outside the city gates — still called the Theresienwiese, still where the festival is held — to watch a horse race.
The race was repeated the following year. The bier came later, the tents came later still, and the whole thing crept earlier in the calendar because September nights in Munich are warmer than October ones. Which is why the world's largest Oktoberfest now mostly happens in September.
Only six Munich breweries may serve at the official festival, and the bier they pour must be brewed within the city limits to a specific strength. Everything else worldwide — ours included — is an homage, and should be honest about being one.
Bringing people?
Oktoberfest weekends book out. If you are coming as a group, tell us in advance and we will keep a run of table for you.