Munich Strong Beer Festival

Next on: Mid-March to mid-April
MUNICH STRONG BEER FESTIVAL: To appreciate the Munich love of beer you just have to consider what locals call the “fifth season”. It’s the Starkbierzeit (Strong Beer Time), a three-week frenzy of early-spring stout swigging.
But these ain’t no ordinary suds. Prepare your tastebuds for a fortune of flavour, an abundance of aroma, a trove of textures: Munich Starkbier.

Festive: The Festsaal (festival hall) at Nockherberg. It's the main
venue for the Starkbierfest (Munich Strong Beer Festival).

Beer halls and breweries host their own Starkbierfests across the city.
It’s a fabulous event where you have the surpreme privilege of downing fresh, delicious brew that tastes like it was especially concocted just for you to drink on that specific day.

Rock on: The Paulaner Festsaal pumps up as the evening starts
during the Munich Strong Beer Festival.

Party central

The original and biggest party is at Paulaner “Nockherberg” brewery a couple of clicks south of central Munich. It’s an Oktoberfest-style atmosphere where thousands of visitors - many in traditional Bavarian outfits - pack into a huge hall and dance on the benches along to modern and old-time German hits.

The beer is served by the one-litre ceramic steins called Keferloher. I've been going for the last three years and it's a safe bet I'll be back again this year.

Praise the monks

Just like the city itself, Munich’s Starkbier tradition started with a bunch of monks. The pious Paulaner brothers-of-the-cloth started brewing their Starkbier Salvator in 1651.
They dubbed the stuff “Flüssiges Brot” (liquid bread) as it helped them survive their 40 days of Lent fasting with full bellies and good spirits. Bavarian rulers began joining in the tapping of the first Starkbier kegs in the early 1700s and the first public beer festival was in 1751.

An integral part of the Starkbierfest is the comedic Derblecken which takes place at Nockherberg a day before the main party starts. It’s a chance for the city’s wits to poke fun at local politicians, and mildly insult others by not mentioning them at all.
You’ll notice that Paulaner’s Festsaal (festival hall) at Nockherberg is quite new despite all that history. That’s because the old Paulaner Keller burned down in 1999 in Munich's most ruinous fire in decades. 89 fire engines took two days to quench the blaze and the damage amounted to €15 million (over $US 20 million).

Good times: An Australian visitor at the festival claps along to the music at the
Munich Strong Beer Festival.

Hungry? Have a beer!

You might be surprised to learn that although Stark means “strong” in German, the name of Starkbier doesn’t actually refer to the alcoholic punch it packs, rather the beer’s Stammwürze or "original wort".

This indicates the amount of solids in the beverage. For example, Paulaner’s Salvator has an original wort of 18.3 per cent, so a one-litre Maß contains 183g of solids, about the same as a third of a loaf of bread. Put another way, the same beer contains 706 calories, equivalent to 14.5 chicken McNuggets at Maccy D’s.
So it’s no wonder they call the stuff liquid bread.

That said, Starkbier is also heavy-weight in terms of alcohol percentage, with Salvator coming in at 7.5 per cent. As you can see, when you’re at the Starkbierfest, it doesn’t take long before both your belly and your liver are fully stuffed!

Drink up: That's me getting a little too excitied and a Bavarian guest at the
Starkbierfest (Munich Strong Beer Festival).

The details - “Salvator Ausschank” at Paulaner am Nockherberg

View Nockherberg in a larger map

The oldest, loudest and proudest Munich Strong Beer Festival, Paulaner’s Festsaal has room for up to 2500 punters.

Next on: The next Strong Beer Festival at Paulaner am Nockherberg will run for 17 days from Friday march 9 to Sunday March 25, 2012.
Open: Weekdays from 2pm to 10.30pm, weekends from 11am to 10.30pm.
Location and directions: Hoch Strasse 77 81541, Munich
Take U-Bahn No. 1 or 2 to Kolumbusplatz, from where it’s a 15min walk up the hill to the brewery (see map).
Phone: 089 4 59 91 30
Website: www.nockherberg.com (in German)
Reservations: You can reserve a table by phone or fax. Here’s a link to a reservation page on the Nockherbeg website.
Cost: Entry costs €2. If you arrive after 5pm (or 3pm on weekends) entry will cost about €9, but you’ll also get a voucher for one beer. A one-litre Keferloher will cost about €8.

Munich Strong Beer Festival at the Löwenbräukeller

Next on: Dates for the next Starkbierfest at the Löwenbräukeller are February 24 through to March 24, 2012.
Open: From 6pm until 11pm.
Location and directions: Nymphenburger Strasse 2, Am Stiglmaier Platz, 80335 Munich It's about a 15min walk north of the Hauptbahnhof along Dachauer Strasse. Or you can take U Bahn No. 1 to Stieglmaier Platz.
Website: www.loewenbraeukeller.com (in German)
Phone: You can also order tickets over the phone 089 5 47 26 69 16.
Cost: Entry costs €16.50

Other top picks for Starkbier tasting

Munich Strong Beer Festival events also take place at:
Augustiner Keller
Arnulf Strasse 52
80335 Munich
Phone 089 59 43 93

Unionsbräu Haidhausen
Einstein Strasse 42
81675 Munich
Phone 089 47 76 77

Forschungsbrauerei
The only Starkbier maker which doesn’t stick an “–ator” on it’s potent brew, here it’s called St James.
Unterhachinger Strasse 76
81737 Munich
Phone 089 67 011 69

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