Oktoberfest: Käfer Wiesn-Schänke
Tuesday 22nd September – Sony Music @ Käfer Wiesn-Schänke
Käfer Wiesn-Schänke is a small capacity tent which belongs to Käfer, a well known German producer of fine quality products, catering and gastronomy. It stays open longer than all the other beer serving tents, running swiftly past their 10:30pm cut-off and onward to 1:00am. This glorious recipe results in a tent that is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get in to without a reservation or without being a well-known celebrity.
So how exactly did I get a look in? Well, the company I program for works closely with Sony Music to code and maintain their internal business systems and I recently had the opportunity to work with them client-side for 6 months in Munich. Towards the end of that tenure I was further fortunate to receive an invite to join the team at their annual Oktoberfest event at Käfer Wiesn-Schänke.
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I met up with the team outside of the tent in the Oktoberfest grounds thoroughfare. Once gathered, we navigated through the even busier reservations side door and were ushered to our tables.
Inside, the rustic wooden charm gave off the atmosphere of being in a cosy Austrian ski-lodge. This intimate experience was further heightened by all the tight spaces, restrictive architecture and plentiful company. It was nothing like your typical Oktoberfest experience of monolithic and “industrial operation” tents filled with thousands of people.
We kicked off our night here with an amazing array of food best described as a gourmet take on the usual Oktoberfest fare. Entrees were sizable gourmet platters of bread, fruits, pâtés and cheese. Dinner was a spread of delicious roasted meats and all the Oktoberfest staples. After creating such solid foundations, much beer drinking could now be done!
The beer flowed freely and I managed to keep pace with my German colleagues, though some were sneakily substituting in their rounds – either for reasons of self-preservation or due to commitments the next day in which they didn’t want to be completely destroyed for. Many tried to hold off on as we were in the unenviable “booth scenario” where you have to ask multiple people to shuffle out to be set free. Exercising this sort of control is not an easy task when drinking many of beer!
The rest of the night played out as it would in any other beer tent: bands playing those well known Oktoberfest favorites like “Sweet Caroline” and people getting up on their benches for a merry jig. was part of the bench dancing vanguard and I shortly provided backup support (very willingly after a few beers). From there everyone got into it and has a good time. Most surprising to me was the music played by the band; there were only a few folksy German numbers that went over my head – the majority of songs were well-worn pop pleasers.
The night ended with a large shot of schnapps provided in a small bottle (which is definitely never needed, but tasty if you are brave) and the claiming of its attached-to-the-bottle-prize: a pin badge with furiously flashing lights. Empty paper bags were then distributed by staff to take home any spoils of the night. I collected my things, caught an empty train and marched merrily home.
I rolled into our apartment as a hurricane of light and noise: wearing my flashing badge, stumbling over everything and laughing.