“O’ zapft is!”

Or in English, “It is tapped!”, is the Minister-President of Munich’s call that taps the keg at the traditional Oktoberfest festival. Originally Oktoberfest was a wedding party in 1801 for Crown Prince Ludwig and his blushing bride, the Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. All citizens of Munich were invited to celebrate their marriage as well as the nation’s fruitful harvest.

Oktoberfest’s popularity continued to grow with each passing year and festivities expanded to include local faire, agriculture shows, horse races and of course Bavarian style beers. Beer was not originally consumed by the celebratory crowds until around 1818 when local vendors from one of Munich’s Reinheitsgebot certified breweries began setting up stands for thirsty fair-goers.

Munich’s Reinheitsgebot law is a purity act that the German government passed in 1516, that requires all beer brewed in Munich be made to a very standard. The 6 original Munich breweries include: Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu, and Löwenbräu all which are still making traditional style German beers today. Officially an “Oktoberfest” celebration cannot be called so without serving one of the original harvest beers from one of the traditional breweries.

Today the city of Munich draws crowds upwards of 6 million people for their Oktoberfest! Although today’s practices no longer include horse racing, visitors commonly enjoy Lebkuchen hearts. These gingerbread style cookies accompany a love note and a ribbon to wear from someone special. The Lebkuchen heart is the German way of continuing to honor the origins of their Oktoberfest and is considered one of the most romantic days in their culture.

Aside from love and German fair food the 16 day celebration, citizens and visitors from all over the world consumer over 7.5 million liters of beer! Traditions like drinking from a beer stein that holds 32 ounces of your favorite brew, sending cookies to loved ones and beer pretzels there is bound to be people that enjoy the festivities a little too much, the German’s refer to the lightweights as Bierleichen or beer corpses! Don’t be a beirleichen, come check out our awesome selection of Oktoberfest style beers, some traditional and some brewed to honor the great brewmasters of Munich!

Make your own famous soft pretzels made with Oktoberfest beer! Click here for a great recipe.

As the German’s would say, “”Wies’n” meaning nothing other than “welcome to the Oktoberfest”!