Golden splendour in a stein

OKTOBERFEST has taken 208 years to accumulate a slew of interesting elements, and you can rest assured we are doing our best to meet its calibre at this year’s TOPS at SPAR Bierfest at Suncoast to be held on Friday, August 31 and Saturday September 1, proudly poured by CBC.

As an annual beer celebration that attracts millions of revellers, the Munich Oktoberfest has taken on an almost mythical character for beer lovers the world over.

Understandably, this fantastic fest has made history in more ways than one – here are a few fun facts to help us understand the full scale of this gigantic celebration.

Due to increased spending on security, the beer at Oktoberfest, which is served in a 1 litre Stein, will, for the first time in 2018, cost more than €11 (about R183.12).

But it’s not only the beer steins (or the cost) that’s big at this world-renowned festival – the largest tent ever, the Pschorr-BrauRosl-tent held 12 000 people in 1913! Today’s Hofbrau-Festhalle is no slouch at 10 000 seats; regardless, you usually can’t find a seat in there by noon, so Oktoberfest easily becomes a stand-up-and-drink experience.

While there is a variety of food on offer – from Brezn (large breadtype pretzels to you and me) to Steckerlfisch (braaied fish on a stick), it is the humble Hendl (roasted chicken) that outsells them all with around 500 000 chowed down per festival in recent years. They are everywhere, sold whole or halved and, considering their popularity, they are clearly as delicious as the beer.

Oktoberfest brews are required to be brewed within the city limits of Munich and according to strict purity requirements, making it arguably some of the best beer in the world.

For Bierfest in Durban next weekend, we have our own German Master Brewer working on the beer and our very own mayor of Munich to tap the keg. – Staff Reporter