The Spring Festival has begun. And even if the weather initially calls for ski pants instead of lederhosen and a down coat instead of a dirndl, now all those who literally enjoy the Oktoberfest are daring to go to the Theresienwiese again, but also like to enjoy high-quality entertainment want to come to high-priced Bavarian street food.
In 2024, the Spring Festival will also have an unprecedented innovation to offer. Anyone who thinks of strange-smelling cannabis clouds in the beer garden is wrong. The state government, which cares about the festival, has kindly spared us this, as well as the gender star in letters to the authorities. At this point I would like to thank all CSU politicians!
The news concerns the drinking habits at this time-honored cultural event: for the first time, non-alcoholic Augustiner will be available there. For almost 700 years, the monks of the city’s oldest brewery have been working on a suitable recipe in their alchemy rooms, while others flooded the zero alcohol market with their Gwasch.
And now the turning point: One of the most serious missteps at Munich folk festivals was not wearing jogging pants with a lederhosen look or ordering a Moaß instead of a Mass. It was much worse to ask for a non-alcoholic drink in an Augustinian tent. Anyone who tried anyway could be happy if the waitress looked at them with their ass – if at all – or if the pricked carpenters next door didn’t force them to wash down a sour Lüngerl with a measure of apple spritzer as a punishment.
The fat monk and non-alcoholic: it went together like Söder and vegan bratwurst. But now everything is different. On the label of the new brew, a slim couple in traditional costumes prance across a green meadow and are probably more likely to dream of a bike ride together to the nearest gym than of a greasy pork knuckle.
We’ll still have to try out whether you can get the latter down with a non-alcoholic drink and whether you can even endure the Spring Festival sober. But we probably won’t go without the schnapps afterwards. You need something to warm up these days.