Food & Beer Culture

Munich's beer garden culture rests on a royal decree. On January 4, 1812, King Maximilian I Joseph allowed brewers to serve their beer in the gardens above their cellars, but forbade them from selling anything beyond bread. That's why guests still bring their own Brotzeit today, and the Beer Garden Ordinance of 1999 protects this right wherever the innkeeper doesn't sell food. Guests spread a cloth over the table—it's as much a part of Brotzeit as the mug itself.

Brotzeit is the Bavarian between-meal snack: pretzels, radish, Obazda, sausage. Obazda is a spread made from ripe Camembert, butter, onions and paprika. The radish is cut in a spiral and salted, which draws out water and mellows its sharpness. Both pair well with Helles, since the beer's sweetness and carbonation balance out the bite.

Hearty dishes include Schweinsbraten (roast pork) with dumplings and dark gravy, as well as Schweinshaxe, roast pork knuckle with crackling. The meat's roasted notes meet the bread-crust character of Dunkel. Weisswurst, as the saying goes, shouldn't be eaten past noon, traditionally served with sweet mustard and pretzels.

At the Wiesn, roast chicken and Steckerlfisch join the menu—grilled fish on a wooden skewer. Oktoberfest began in 1810 with a horse race celebrating the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Therese. Today, the mayor taps the first keg at the Schottenhamel tent at noon with the cry 'O'zapft is!' ('It's tapped!'). Beer is served in the Maß, a full liter. Come spring, Nockherberg also kicks off Starkbierzeit, the strong beer season, with Doppelbock.