Oktoberfest offers family-friendly fun
Sunrise Kempinski Hotel, Beijing, located on the shores of the city’s Yanqi Lake, celebrated Oktoberfest in style at the resort’s Paulaner Brauhaus recently to ring in the harvest season.
Max Zankl’s MunichBavarian Show Band set the tone for the international festival, performing numbers in German, English, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean.
With fresh Paulaner beer direct from the in-house brewery being served alongside a gourmet German feast, guests joined the revelries with palpable enthusiasm, experiencing a taste of authentic Bavarian culture against the backdrop of unique Yanshan mountain views.
Following in the footsteps of the monks who first created Paulaner beer, master brewer Wolfgang Sesser oversees the brauhaus at Sunrise Kempinski Hotel, Beijing.
He produced a special 1,000-liter batch for the Oktoberfest celebrations, which he described as “slightly stronger than a normal lager, (with a) light malty taste and a crisp bitterness”.
An Oktoberfest brunch was also available every Sunday throughout the event.
Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center is home to the very first Paulaner Brauhaus to open outside Germany, with seating for 500 guests.
A hallmark of Kempinski’s luxury hotels the world over, onsite Paulaner breweries provide year-round venues for festivities, fun and family-friendly feasting.
The brand originated in Munich, Germany in the Neudeck ob der Au monastery centuries ago. According to its website, the first official document identifying a Paulaner Brauhaus dates back to 1634.
It records the complaints of local private breweries that were unhappy with the competition from the generous monks who gave away free beer to the poor, and sold their surplus at monastery taverns.
Paulaner brews have been served at beer tents at the Munich Oktoberfest since 1815, and the brand remains an official supplier to the traditional Bavarian festival to this day.