It’s our favorite time of year! With Fall comes all good things – sweater weather, pumpkin flavored everything, caramel apples, a steamy beverage on a brisk day, children running through fallen leaves, and of course great wine and beer. Oktoberfest has come and it’s time to celebrate fall.

A Quick Oktoberfest History Lesson –

The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.

By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over “die Wiesen” or the fields, much longer without feeling chilly. Historically, the last Oktoberfest weekend was in October and this tradition continues into present times. Today, the center of this culture is beer, with roughly 7 million liters of it poured at the festival annually.

Almost as iconic as the beer itself, a Bierstiefel (aka a glass or plastic beer boot) is sure to be spotted anytime during Oktoberfest. If you bring a Bierstiefel to a party during Oktoberfest, everyone will scream “Das Boot” as you walk in the door. “Das Boot” translated from German to English means “the boat”. We sincerely doubt Germans yell “Das Boot” when you walk into a beer tent carrying such a “mug”. Also, there was a popular movie in German titled “Das Boot” back in the 60s-70s. It was about a U-boat during WWII. But whatever you are drinking, Oktoberfest is a lot of fun… Folklore has it that Bierstiefels, or beer boots, were invented after a general promised his troops he would drink out of his boot if they won. He commissioned a glass boot so he could fulfill his promise without the smell and taste of dirty socks.

How to Celebrate Fall by Drinking Beer from a Boot

For the past century, beer boots have been included in festive celebrations and passed among friends as a drinking challenge because believe it or not, there is a right–and wrong–way to drink beer out of a boot. (Keep in mind that one boot contains five beers.) If you don’t turn the toe of the boot away from you, a tidal wave of beer will flow towards you as the air bubble reaches the toe part of the boot.

Today the festival isn’t only a smorgasbord to celebrate fall for beer but for food as well, featuring traditionally Bavarian food such as sausages served with mustard and sauerkraut, spit-grilled chicken, warm soft pretzels, potato salad, apple strudel, and honey-dumplings. Yum.

We told you all good things come in the Fall. Stop in soon to check out our Fall beer selection as well as our gourmet market to take your beer drinking experience to the next level!