181st Oktoberfest - Sep 20, 2014

I met a German exchange student in college who did not have good words to say about oktoberfest.

He just said its a shit show with people vomiting and passing out everywhere. He pulled up a website dedicated to pictures of hammered people during the festival who were passed out in random places after getting sick or having sex in public.

I'd like to hear what someone else has to say because i want to believe that he's only telling part of the story.

I don't know very much about this but i believe he was specifically talking about the one at hoffbrau.

Someone please prove him wrong.

 

I imagine if you ask around in the Germany forum, you'll get plenty of replies of firsthand experiences.

 

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I thought it would be cool to try to drink a different Oktoberfest style beer (both German and American) every day of the official celebration. Even bought a clay krug and a dimpled mug for the occasion. I'll try to avoid repeats, but that might be unlikely. Anyway, I am going to start it off with the Ayinger Oktoberfest/Marzen. Prost!

 

My wife and I are amist our Eurotrip. We are in Brussels now with Oktoberfest coming up tomorrow. I have also heard many negative reviews however, as a beer enthusiast it's a must do for me. I will try to fill you in with the details once I experience this myself.

 

@creepinjeeper already helped me along this Fall. My neighbor goes to Munich every other year. My ex-fiance went last year. I have over 200+ German Catholic family members in Iowa. I don't need anymore Oktoberfest! I'm Good!

 

@302BeerGuy has helped me as well, adding some Yuengling, Blue Point and Old Dominion to my Oktoberfest diversity! Thanks again, Kevin!

 

Some go every year. I went once, that was enough.

I didn't see any of the fights that are always talked about, but we were setting outside, and we started early, and were done early.

 

I went two years ago, I'm dying to go back with more friends and my fiance, it was a ton of fun. German food was great, I miss the schnitzel and pretzels. Yes, some people do throw up, but they have garbage cans full of saw dust to combat this. You do have to start early at hoffbrau, we got there around 10am, due to tables being reserved $$$ in the afternoon, but as long as you drink plenty of water and eat a bunch of food, it'll be a blast.

I can confirm we were done early as well, it's a crazy environment where people hop up on the tables and chug the whole 1 liter beer, while being cheered on by the hundreds within the tent. If you couldn't finish the beer, you have to pour it over your head, while being booed by everyone there. It was an amazing experience listening to the chants and songs being sang by the entire tent. Its hard to drink 1 liter beers all day, plus they're about 10 euro each, so make sure to take a break, walk the fest, grab some humungous pretzels, wiener schnitzels and come back once you've sobered up a bit. It's also wise to tip your waitress nicely for the first round, as they'll come back around to you all day after that. We met other Americans from NY who couldn't even get served in the tents, so we went back to the hoffbrau tent because the waitress knew us well by then. I highly recommend going at least once, its an experience unlike any I've ever enjoyed. Everyone was really friendly, we never experienced any hostility or violence. The German's were gracious hosts who stopped to help whenever they saw us standing on the street with a map in hand looking lost. Good luck, have fun, and make sure you get a business card from your hotel, it'll make getting back to the hotel a breeze for the taxi driver as you'll be too drunk to pronounce the difficult words.

PROST!!

 

I went with friends back in 1990. It was part a multi- city Germany trip. It was crowded. But I did not see anything terrible. Yes there were drunks around. But I don't have any negative memories of Oktoberfest. Perhaps fewer people attended back then. Of course the beer was good.

 

I went last year. Cannot wait to go again. As for the shenanigans you spoke of: some people are just going to be stupid when there is that much beer and people in a (relatively) small space. On the whole, the attendees were well behaved I thought.

 

I thought I was going to hate Oktoberfest, but I had an amazing time. A group of my friends from L.A. went to visit some friends we have in Munich, and kicked our Germany tour off with (only one day at) Oktoberfest (because that's all I could handle). You haven't lived until you've danced on a table in the Hofbrau fest hall with a liter of intensely delicious Hofbrau fest beer in your hand to an oompah band's rendition of (I've Had) The Time of My Life next to an Irish kid who claims his name is Sven even though you know it's not true but it doesn't matter because the only thing that matters is fuzzily trying to memorize the lyrics to Ein Prosit.

I know, it kind of sounds horrible, right? But it's absolutely amazing!

Coda: The entire city of Munich is full of puke during Oktoberfest. The parks. The train station. The metro. The markets. The trash cans. You get desensitized.

 

Never been myself, but my Mormon buddy ended up break dancing towards the end of his visit there.

 

I've been quite a few times, and can only recommend to avoid the place on weekends when most of the drinking warriors are present. Also, I think it's worthwhile to walk the fairgrounds, get a feel for the Oktoberfest culture and not necessarily spend 6-8 hours in a tent boozing.

If you really want to go to a traditional fest, try the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart or the Starkbierfest in Munich the springtime.

 

I've been. As a huge fan of German beer, I would recommend going for the experience over the beer. The tent beer is good, but not the best beer I had in Munich. Definitely something one should experience in their lifetime.

I went on a Wednesday and a Friday. The first day we went inside the Paulaner tent, and it's quite an experience. Food is delicious (but not anything you can't get at restaurants around Munich) and you sit there socializing and pounding liters.

But it's also a festival that people bring their families to, with rides, and carts selling t-shirts and mugs....etc. It can be as rowdy or calm as you want it to be.

The second day I went to the Hofbrau tent, and walked through. I had heard it was the craziest tent, and it didn't disappoint. Pure insanity. We sat outside in the garden and casually drank a few liters on a gorgeous September day. Much calmer. And just for fun, swing by the grassy hill behind the tents in the afternoon to see all the people passed out from drinking all morning, I consider it also part of the "sights."

 

Problem with Cannstatter Wasen is the beer. It's even worse than what the Munich breweries have to offer.
I haven't been to it yet, but I imagine Annafest in Forchheim (late July/early August) must be the ideal Volksfest in Germany. A huge, traditional fest, good beers from Franken, no huge tourist crowds.

 

That's assuming the Munich beer is bad -- having been to both (albeit, some years ago) I enjoyed them and the beers. Cannstatter reminded me of what the Munich Fest was when I first visited.

 

Well, that would be a matter of perspective, yes ?