We just received an email from the Munich Oktoberfest and it looks like It is going ot be bigger and better than ever.  This year’s festivities start on the 17^th of September and go through to the 3^rd of October- that’s only 10 weeks away!  Beer prices have gone up about 30 Euro cents since last year a Mass or litre of beautiful fresh Munich beer will cost between 8.70 Euro and 9.20 Euro but entry is free.  There are 14 main beer tents including favourites like Hofbrau Festhalle, Café Kaiserschmarrrn and the Hippodrom all serving amazing German dishes and beer.  This year there are two new rides, The Rio Rapidos which is a raft ride and the Monster which sounds pretty scary, a swing which goes 40 metres in one direction before rotating down around its axis. Probably a ride to go on before the beers.  Over 6 million people are expected to attend this year and security has been raised to stop so many beer glasses being stolen, last year over 77000 were collected from people by security. For those planning to attend, start booking your spot in the tents as they are filling up quickly- avoid disappointment… do it today!!!!

We received a great email from Anne who is the co-ordinator of the Finger Lakes Riesling Festival which is held in a town called Canandaigua in New York State USA which is not far from the northern end of the Canandaigua Lake close to the Canadian Border. Anna’s note mentions a fantastic festival in the area which will be held on the 14th and 15th of August this year. Read her note below and if are near the region in August pop in for some of the great craft beer on offer. We would love to hear what you thought of the festival and the beers so be sure to drop us a line.

“I am writing you on behalf of the 2010 Finger Lakes Riesling Festival to be hosted in Canandaigua, NY on August 14th and 15th. Along with having dozens of wineries on board for Riesling sales and sampling, the festival will feature live entertainment, local food and a craft beer tent. We would be thrilled if you would mention this year’s festival in your blog, and would be happy to send you Riesling samples from any of our participating wineries. So far Brooklyn Brewery, North American Breweries, Saranac Beer, Rooster Fish Brewing, Ithaca Beer and Soda Co., Southern Tier Brewing Company, and Ellicottville Brewing Company will be attending the event.”

Thanks Anne and goodluck with the event!

You can see more details about this event at  http://www.RieslingFestival.com

The real Oktoberfest may be well and truly over but that don’t let that stop you celebrating at home. To help you out we are putting together a few helpful tips on how to set up your own Oktoberfest in your own back yard. Firstly you are going to need a fairly decent space outside (a townhouse deck won’t do) a double garage or a party tent would also be handy as your beer hall. For furniture the standard Oktoberfest issue is trestle tables and long benches, remember to beg and borrow as much as you can from party gusts as someone is sure to have  plenty of stuff you can use. Directors chairs are an ideal substitute for the benches as you can borrow these easily. A picnic table with some butchers paper on it is also good for your tables or you can get a fold up trestle table from hardware or party hire shops fairly cheaply. For decorating, streamers or ribbon from one side of your hall to the other are a popular and cheap Oktoberfest choice. Flags are also a great choice as they can be easy to make or even got off ebay cheaply. If you are going to make them the color choices should be black, red and yellow for the German flag or blue and white check for the Bavarian state flag. (avoid making an all red flag and using a Nazi symbol on it, as it can freak out your neighbors and really isn’t that funny). To get an idea of how the real beer halls decorate try googling for Oktoberfest images to get an idea of what you want to do. Hopefully that’s enough to inspire you to get started,  our next posts will discuss Oktoberfest beer and food.

The 45th annual Schutzenfest in Adelaide Australia is about to kick of this Friday offering the Southern Hemisphere’s largest folk festival attracting 10s of thousands to a weekend of German inspired fun for all. The Schutzenfest celebrates traditions which date back to medieval times, its basically a shooting festival with heaps of beer and German delicacies, not forgetting plenty of entertainment including German bands, dance and song.  Run by the South Australian German Association the event is one of the best on Australia’s event calendar.  This years festival will feature over 40 stalls, the famous Strong Arm Beer Stein Lifting Competition will be back and there will be plenty of ice cold beers.  As for  the shooting, well its nothing to worry about around all the beer (and the people drinking it) its more a carnival style shooting arcade and at the end of the weekend a King and Queen Shoot are both crowned.  So head on down to Bonython Park in Adelaide for some beer, plenty of Oompah music and maybe a shot or two.

For more information: http://www.saadv.com.au

The 2008 Munich Oktoberfest is only weeks away and one of the big tents everyone will be flocking to is the Hacker Festzelt which can cater for 9300 seated guests in any sitting. The tent is huge and is decked out with clouds and really makes you feel like you are in heaven, especially with a few litres of ice cold Hacker Pschorr beers. The blue skies and clouds with traditional Munich skyline were painted by artist Rudolf Reinstander and are huge, with the tent stretching nearly 100 metres by 45 metres. The centerpiece of the tent features a huge revolving band stand which not only features a traditional Bavarian brass band ‘Die Kirchdorfer’ but ‘Cagey Strings’ which are a more rock n roll style band which will perform each night from 6 pm. The cuisine is just what you need to accompany the best of beer, with chicken and plenty of ox, pork and even duck. The tent specializes in some pretty tasty sausages and some of Oktoberfest’s best platters with hams, cheese, breads and other tasty treats. Remember to book your reservation to the tents well before your visit to avoid disappointment!

For more information http://www.hacker-festzelt.de

Yes thats right the Yokohama is the place to celebrate Oktoberfest. German Bier, Sausages, giant pretzels, more bier, Bustly Barmaids (well Japanese ones) and even more beer plus all the things you would expect in Munich can be found at the annual Oktoberfest Celebration in the Japan city of Yokohama. The event started in 2003 and has been a huge hit ever since. It is held at the waterfront at the Aka Renga Soko or old Red Brick Warehouse where huge tents are erected for the event.  This year’s party starts on the 3rd of October and continues through to the 13th.

http://www.nihon-oktoberfest.com/

The tapping of Oktoberfest’s first barrel is only 86 days away so it’s time to talk about another of the major tents at the huge Munich festival. Other than the beer and amazing atmosphere many of the 6 million visitors come for the great food, digging in to the pork knuckles, the oxen and chicken, well that’s not why they come to the Fischer-Vroni hall- it’s for the crisp Augustiner ber and the fish- yes fish- salmon, trout, walleyed pike you name it all smoked and barbequed on long skewers, but the most popular fish is the Steckerlfisch, which is said to be quiet tasty. This beer hall is not one of the huge ones, it only has seating inside for just under 2700 people and 700 outside, but it’s not hard to find, just follow your nose to the bouquet of fish. The Fischer Vroni is also a great place for some of the best oomph music with the Sepp Folger und seine Munchner Musikanten’s entertaining every day. The Fischer-Vroni has been a part of Oktoberfest for over 50 years and is know for one of the more family friendly tents with a quaint and friendly ambience. The Augustiner beer is brewed at Munich’s oldest brewery dating back to 1328 and is one of Bavaria’s most popular beers brewing in excess of 90 million litres of beer a year. Unlike many of the other Oktoberfest tents which pour their beers from stainless steel vats the Augustiner beer is poured from traditional wooden kegs.

For more information: http://www.fischer-vroni.de/de/index.php

Well it might seem like a while away but Oktoberfest isn’t really that far away, and if you are planning to go you better get cracking and book a spot in the tents. Starting next week and weekly until the big event we will feature a different tent at Munich’s biggest party. This year’s event is the 175 annivesary so it promises to be huge, over 6 million people are expected to attend.  The first keg gets tapped on the 20th of September at noon by the Munich Lord Mayor and continues through to October 5.

Being a Sunday we thought we would pause for a religious moment and tell you about good old St Arnoldus or Arnulf or Arnold to his mates. St Arny is the patron saint of the hop pickers and the Belgian brewers. He was born in Flanders in Belgian around 1040 and lived to a ripe old age in those days of around 47 and was a career solder before joining the Benedictine monastery in Soissons France. He became a hermit for a few years before becoming the Abbot of the monastery before becoming the bishop. The abbey brewed beer under leadership at the monastery. Today in Brussels they have a special day in July where they remember Saint Arnoldus with a huge parade which they call the ‘Day of Beer”.

With St Patrick ’s Day tomorrow there will be a little leprechaun or two knocking back a Bud Light in their special commemorative green packaging. This flash looking aluminum bottle has been specially made for these years St Patrick Day celebrations and it has been a huge winner. Not only are people buying it to drink the fresh Bud Light but there’s heaps of collectors who are making quiet a collection of these commemorative aluminum cans. You might remember the Daytona 50th Anniversary one we ran a story about a few weeks ago, – its going for huge dollars on eBay much more than the retail price, and it looks as this special St Patrick’s Day bottle will follow.- might be an idea to go grab a few six packs and try not to drink all of them- you might find your pot of gold.  Happy St Patricks Day!

This weekend the Beirfestival Maastricht kicks off for the 8th of March year in Maastricht which is the southern most city of the Netherlands. The city claims to not only be Holland’s oldest city but one of the best beer cities in the Netherlands. The festival is run for local charity and this year “Toon Hermans Huis” is the beneficiary. The festival offers a great deal, 5 euro gets you your own special beer glass and description of all the beers, and each beer is only 1.80 euro a glass. Last year some of the regions best brewers were on hand including Potje, De Keyzer, De Brouwketel, Grunn, Bunder Brau and Brouwerij D’n Hopper who would have to have the best beer label we have ever seen. (see the rabbit on the next page) This year most of them will be back with plenty of new varieties to choose.

For more information: http://www.bierfestivalmaastricht.nl/en/index.php

We had to show you this – It’s all in Dutch we think it a beer lable for Brouwerij D’n Hopper- here’s the link http://www.denhopper.nl  see if you can work it out. It’s a fun site 

If you can find a better label drop us a line here:  http://www.hoppsy.com/send-us-a-tip/

Well the festivities in Munich might be about 6 months away but planning is already underway and the 2008 official Oktoberfest Mofit has just been launched. Dr Gabriele Weishaupl who is the head of the Munich Tourist Office launched the mofit to fanfare last week. The first barrel gets tapped on Spetember 20th and this year will mark the 175th Oktoberfest and it will be bigger than ever with over 6 million people expected to attend the festivities over the two weeks. The Munich Tourist Office extimates Oktoberfest generates nearly 1 billion Euro’s into Munich’s economy with nearly half of it being spent at the festival and 60% of visitors come from outside of Munich.

Adelaide on Australia’s southern coast is home to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest folk festival the Schutzenfest. Schutzenfest’s have been popular throughout Germany for hundred’s of years when towns celebrated with a shooting festival followed by a fun day of beer drinking. Today fortunately the shooting is a fairground style attraction and the beer is icy cold and each year a King and Queen shooter are crowned. The festival dates back to 1865 in Adelaide and became a annual event in 1964. Now held in the city’s Bonython Park there’s Oompah music, Bavarian Foods including plenty of sausages and great beer. Over 40 stalls attend selling food, beer and cultural items. The highlight of the event is the Strong Arm Beer Stein Lifting Competition where the person who can hold a full stein at arms length for the longest wins. The Adelaide Schutzenfest runs from 11th – 12th of January this year.

for more information visit http://www.schutzenfest.com.au/

Well today is Christmas Day which is more than a good reason to enjoy a nice refreshing beer. Well the people at Anchor Steam Breweries in San Francisco have put together the perfect beer for the season, A Christmas Ale. Every year since 1975 the brewery has produced a special beer to celebrate Christmas and this year is no exception. They make a different recipe every year and this year their Christmas Ale is nothing short of delicious. The beer has become not only a great drinking beer but a collectors beer, and are sought over by many people who add them to their beer collection, and the brewery suggests the beer will keep well and even mature with age like a good wine if kept in a cool dark place. Now it’s not to late to get a few of these beautiful crafted beers, as they sell them for a few more weeks, but although Anchor Steam does export it’s beers it might be very difficult getting one outside the USA, but good luck- and of course Merry Christmas!

For more information visit Anchor Steam’s website: http://www.anchorbrewing.com