Oktoberfest

[Gourmondo]

Me and my favortite fräulein went to the Deutsches Haus Oktoberfest last night. We went early so we could leave early and catch most of the game. It was crowded as usual, but not packed to the gills. The weather was perfect of course - this is a crucial element for any beer garden outing. Despite the threat of closure, the Deutsches Haus continues to rock on and adds a little something new every year. A nice addition this year was a monitored parking lot a couple of blocks away.

Inside, it is all about the beer of course. There are several good beers on tap and several by bottle. We tried three this year. Bitburger has a softly rounded Pils that I have always enjoyed. I don't mind strong hops, but a Bit mutes the hops notes somewhat. Second was Warsteiner dark. This was a disappointment as I found it inexplicably bitter, which a dunkel lager should not be. But Fr. Gourmondo liked it - my friends in Bavaria always said dark beer was good for the ladies. Warsteiner's light lager is my choice for the best mass-market export, but I passed tonite. The best was last: a pitcher of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. I am a weizen lover since my days living in Lower Bavaria, where Schneider Weisse was (is) king. Paulaner puts out a respectable weizen and we were not disappointed. Very smooth and yeasty.

The food at the Deutsches Haus Oktoberfest has never been super, but I usually always try everything just for old times' sake. The schnitzel was OK. The red cabbage was passable, although not as good as my version at home. The sauerkraut missed the mark, way too pickly, not enough balance of the key flavors. The brats were OK, but again just not anywhere near the best you can get. A new addition this year (at least I had never seen it before) was Flammekuchen, the Alsatian pizza-like dish that I had in Alsace for the first time last year. I was too stuffed by that point to try it, but I will probably be back next Friday to sample it. There are some German wines at the Fest as well, which would be the complementary beverage of choice for the Flammekuchen. I didn't try any wine - I love German and Austrian wines, but like I said, it's all about the beer for me at Oktoberfest.

I have been to many fairs and festivals in the German-speaking world, including the Munich Oktoberfest. There are certainly bigger and more ambitious Oktoberfests around - Cincinnati, Milwaukee, New Braunfels and Tulsa come to mind - but in my opinion, the Oktoberfest at Deutsches Haus on a crisp night like last night is the closest you'll get hereabouts to the atmosphere of a small regional festival in Germany, with the families and kids running about, and for that reason I always enjoy it. The German food could be taken to a whole other level of course, which would be great for the foodie crowd, but then most patrons would likely be disappointed. I have always wanted Coln, Preuss and Pfeiffer to do the food, but have it at the Deutsches Haus for the atmosphere. Now my last critical note and this is a major one: will someone please inform the band that the toasting song Ein Prosit der Gemülichkeit must be played at least every 20 minutes!!

Prost!

[Schuarta]

And then, on the other hand -

- the senior getto (Del Webb), here in Reno, had its Oktoberfest on Saturday, with 120 attending. Entertainment was a German Band, all the same family, featuring:

DAD: accordian and keyboard
SON: drums
DAUGHTER: clarinet and sax
GRANDSON: trumpet, baritone horn, accordians (2), 10-foot garden hose with funnel (1 end) and mouthpiece (other end).

For beverages we had Samuel Adams Oktoberfest, Diet Pepsi or bottled water.

Food included buns, braunsweiger (sp) sausage, sourkraut (sp), spettsliegh (sp), and strudle.

Competitions, run by the band, included holding a stein in front of you at arms length (seperate male and female) and yodelling.

Ran from noon to 3:00 pm.

Probably a good deal at $5.00 per head.

P.S. Ein Prosit der Gemülichkeit wasn't played, ever.

[flyinbayou]

My church parish put on its 1st Annual OktoberFest this past Saturday. I cook for the monthly Men's Club meetings and was tagged (suckered) into cooking for this event. Since it was our 1st the quantity of food to order was a guess, at best.

The menu consisted of suaerbraten w/sauce, herb roasted chicken, bratwurst, saurkraut, German potato salad, garlic fries and the standard fair food.

I was pleased with the outcome of all the dishes with the exception of the saurkraut which was purchased. I don't eat it so I had to rely on other's opinions.

The bratwurst was made locally and wonderful.

We even had a biergarten (did I mention it was a Catholic church?:))
Pualaner Lager, Spaten Premium and Oktoberfest, Warsteiner Dunkel and Pils, Hofbrau Original. Many floating kegs at the end of the day.

Overall, I would have to say the event was a success.