Last year the beer was poorly served at Oktoberfest. 31 percent of the measures that the district administration department (KVR) checked showed so-called undersink. It then spoke to the Oktoberfest hosts – and they wanted to train their staff better.
And this year? What is the standard of serving in the Oktoberfest tents? We spoke to an inspector who has been testing anonymously at Oktoberfest for 15 years and therefore does not want to be recognized. This is what he says about…
… this year’s dispensing morale: “It’s always ups and downs, sometimes the bar morale is worse, sometimes it’s better. I can’t say why that is – whether it’s because it’s just been served or whether it’s because of the carbon dioxide.”
… the process of dispensing controls: “You always go into the bar with two people and wait until the waitress comes out with at least five measures.” It is important to position yourself so that you can see which waiter served the beer. When the waitress comes out of the bar, she is stopped and asked to put the drink down again, “if possible somewhere where the others won’t run over you, because the traffic continues.” Stopping the waitresses isn’t always easy in the hustle and bustle of the Oktoberfest, says the inspector: “One waitress simply pushed me and the beer mugs back into the tent. She had a lot of strength. I then had to push her back.”
Bar waiters and staff know that inspections can take place at any time. Once the waitress has put the beer down, the first thing to do is wait. “At least four minutes for the foam to settle. During this time we write down the time and the name of the cupboard waiter and then measure the filling levels.” Measuring is very precise. “You hold the measuring stick to the calibration mark and measure the filling level. There are jugs where the calibration mark is set a little lower, in others it is a little higher.” The numbers are passed on and the events office of the district administration department then decides which level is still within the tolerance range. Where exactly the limits are is secret.
… communication with the bar waiter and manager if the beer is poured poorly: “If the beer is poured very, very poorly, i.e. the bottom bar is very high, then I’ll get the bar waiter over. I already have a bit of experience and tell him: ‘You, be careful!’ If one slips, that can happen. But please not like that.” Sometimes there are discussions, “but the numbers speak for themselves and we won’t be deterred.” It’s important to be confident: “If I start to stutter or anything else, that would be bad. That would make it difficult for me to control the pour, and the bar waiters would try to influence that. You learn that over time.”
… the reasons for Unterschank: Is pouring beer so difficult that a certain amount of drink is unavoidable? The inspector doesn’t see it that way: “The bar waiters can do it down to the centimeter and know how to handle it.” In tents where there is no bar but rather barrels, the foam is a bit more problematic. And then there are the bar systems that have carbon dioxide, but “the bar waiters there know exactly how to pour it to get it right.”
… the consequences if lower leg is detected: “This then leads to warnings. Repeated violations can result in administrative offense proceedings.”
… the number of tents checked daily: “On full days we have two teams on duty, otherwise one team. In total, between six and twelve tents are checked per day and always one tavern per tent. There are always new colleagues there.”
… Oktoberfest guests and their options for defending themselves against not enough beer: Every guest has the right to ask the waitress to refill the drink, said the inspector – “regardless of any tolerance ranges”.
… his anonymity as a mass controller: After 15 years, our inspector is no longer such an unknown person, as he states: “You can actually tell when I go in somewhere that the radio is going around. My presence in the tent increases the bar morale.”