Munich Strong Beer Festival
The Munich Strong Beer Festival is a celebration of blissful brews
Late February to the end of March (see below)
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.
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FESTIVE: The Festsaal (festival hall) at Nockherberg. It's the main venue for Munich's Starkbierfest (Strong Beer Festival). Pic:© Stuart Anderson - Destination Munich |
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.
Munich Strong Beer Festival
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ROCK ON: The Paulaner Festsaal pumps up as the evening starts during the Munich Strong Beer Festival. Pic:© Stuart Anderson - Destination Munich |
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 had my first taste of the stuff in 2009 I’m totally going back for more.
Munich Strong Beer Festival
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.
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DESTRUCTION: A lot of history went up in flames in a massive fire in 1999. Pic © Paulauner-Brauerei |
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).
Munich Strong Beer Festival
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GOOD TIMES: An Australian visitor at the festival claps along to the music at the Munich Strong Beer Festival. Pic:© Stuart Anderson - Destination Munich |
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!
Munich Strong Beer Festival
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SWEET TOOTH?: A stand sells sweeties outside the festival hall at the Starkbierfest. Pic:© Stuart Anderson - Destination Munich |
Move over, Terminator!
Starkbiers brewed for this time of year tend to bear an "–ator" suffix. There are at least 40 different varieties brewed in Bavaria alone.
The starkest "–ator" of them all is Hacker-Pschorr’s Animator with a mighty Stammwürze of 19 per cent and alcohol content of 7.8 per cent.
Here are a couple of other much-loved libations
▪ Salvator - Paulaner-Brauerei
▪ Trimphator – Löwenbräu / Spaten-Brauerei, Munich
▪ Maximator – Augustiner-Brauerei, Munich
▪ Unimator – Unionsbräu Haidhausen, Munich
▪ Delicator – Hofbräuhaus, Munich
▪ Aviator – Airbräu, Munich Airport
▪ Multiplikator – Edelweißbrauerei, Odelzhausen
▪ Spekulator – Weissbräu Jodlbauer, Rotthalmünster |
▪ Kulminator – EKU Actienbrauerei, Kulmbach
▪ Bambergator – Brauerei Fäßla, Bamberg
▪ Celebrator – Franz Inselkammer, Aying
▪ Rhönator – Rother-Bräu, Rothenberg ob der Tauber
▪ Suffikator – Bürgerbräu Röhm &Söhne, Bad Reichenhall
▪ Speziator – Brauerei S. Riegele
▪ Rariator – Münzbräu, Günzurg
▪ Honorator – Ingobräu, Ingolstadt
▪ Bavariator – Mülerbräu, Pfaffenhofen |
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Munich Strong Beer Festival
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DRINK UP: That's me getting a little too excitied and a Bavarian guest at the Starkbierfest (Munich Strong Beer Festival). Pic:© Stuart Anderson - Destination Munich |
| The Details - Munich Strong Beer Festival |
“Salvator Ausschank” at Paulaner am Nockherberg.
The oldest, loudest and proudest Starkbier celebration, Paulaner’s Festsaal has room for up to 2500 punters.
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| Next on: |
Friday, March 5 to Sunday, March 21, 2010 |
| 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).
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| Phone: |
089 4 59 91 30 |
| Website: |
www.nockherberg.com |
| Reservations: |
You can reserve a table by phone or fax. Here’s a link to a reservation form (in English) that you can fill out and fax in. |
| Cost: |
Cost
Entry costs €1.50. If you arrive after 5pm (or 3pm on weekends) entry will cost €8.40, but you’ll also get a voucher for one beer.
A one-litre Keferloher will cost about €7.50. |
Starkbierfest at the Löwenbräukeller
The second-most famous Starkbier party is a much more elaborate affair with virtually continuous music and a tough-guy stone lifting contest.
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| Next on: |
Friday, February 26 2010 to Saturday,
March 27 (check dates here) |
| 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 Stiglmaier Platz.
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| Website: |
www.loewenbraeukeller.com |
| 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 |
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Augustiner Keller
Arnulf Strasse 52
80335 Munich
Phone 089 59 43 93 |
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Unionsbräu Haidhausen
Einstein Strasse 42
81675
Munich
Phone 089 47 76 77 |
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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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