Herbstfest: Dirndl, Dancing & Flotzinger

It is a rainy Tuesday in Manchester, and my inbox is unusually quiet. It dawns on me that half the team are likely landing in Munich as we speak, on their way to Oktoberfest. A pang of jealousy runs through me but then I remember a trip we took just a couple of weeks ago and suddenly I’m not so jealous anymore.

After a bleary eyed 6am flight to Munich and an hour and a half S8 train out of the city, we landed in Rosenheim. Famous for 3 things: its beauty - with the alps backdropping the city like a movie, Die Rosenheim-Cops surprisingly a long running show about police officers in Rosenheim (worth a google) and some of the best Bavarian beer from Flotzinger.

We had been invited to Herbstfest a celebration of the end of the harvest season and the start of autumn. The day began with a walk from Flotzinger’s Brewery, passed a traditional dress shop, (more on that later) to a café in a beautiful square where we ate schnitzel, pork knuckle and mushroom soup. Delicious! And of course, took hold of a selection of cold Flotzingers, perfect to cool us down on one of the hottest days of the year.

At lunch we discussed the traditional dress and how important it was to the festivities and how the trends have changed over the years from attendees wearing their own clothes back to now where traditional dress was the norm again. We talked about which side to wear the bow on to show whether you were taken or single and ready to mingle and how 80% of the attendees were locals who would be in their own lederhosen and dirndl. My mind floating back to the shop we had passed I chatted with Olivia one of our guests from Albert Schloss and we decided to go try some on. So, after 6.5 years at Cave Direct, I tried on my first dirndl. I thought they wouldn’t be for me, I’m not girlie, I live in jeans and a t-shirt… how wrong could I have been. I loved it! If I could wear it every day, I honestly think I would. A revelation. So, I left the shop, in full pink flowery dirndl, socks and trainers still on my feet and my t-shirt and jeans in a brown paper bag and we headed to the festival. I felt at home, comfortable and less like a tourist popping over to see how the Germans drink.

The festival started August 26th and runs until September 10th. Opening day includes a parade to the festival site known as Loretowiese with traditional horse and carts bringing the barrels to the tents. We were joining the festivities on a Monday, 9 days into the event and you certainly wouldn’t know it was a working day. The streets were lined with people all on their way to join the merriment.

My first thoughts on arrival – this is a serious event. We entered the Flotzinger tent and I was taken aback by its size. We were led straight to our table close to the entrance and just down the line from the Oompah band blasting out traditional folk music. We are there for just one minute before menus are handed to us and beers are placed in the centre of the table. We are warned kindly by Gseppe our wonderful host that this is the festival's Marzen, and it is 5.8% and I quote, “So take your time, maybe just have 1 or 2 and see how you feel.” Well… we felt great. It was delicious, frothy, ice-cold goodness. We ate again. By this point my pretzel intake is at a decent 4.

As the night draws in and beers flow, we make friends, talk about our jobs and dance to the music. We are encouraged to stand on tables and sing along. Guiseppe turns up at some point with two soft toys for his children, one under each arm and we laugh about his shooting skills. Everyone has pegs carved with names as family gifts and tattoos of dogs saying Prost! A few of us decided to check out the fairground and take a stroll through the flashing lights. We ride, drink schnapps and have a strange discussion with a local who has big beer opinions.

The night is ending, and we head back to the tent to meet everyone just in time to hear Angels by Robbie Williams. We all sing. We are full, tipsy and tired. A perfect end to our first experience of Herbstfest.

No time to nurse our hazy heads in the morning as we are up early and meet outside the Flotzinger brewery. We are again surprised by the scale of the brewery with 30,000 bottles filled in an hour on site. We dodge forklifts moving huge pallets of bottles from storage to trucks and back again. Down in the brewery itself, we get to see their use of reverse osmosis purifying the water which runs directly off the alps and absorbs the charcoal. And finally, we are taken into the depths to a room with rainbow lighting. It’s a little confusing, like being taken to some secret club behind a fridge that is a well-known “secret”. But here we are in a room with pipes leading in and out and inside are three huge tanks, one of which has a tap. Everyone is handed a half stein and one by one we step up to pour a Flotzinger Marzen straight from the tank. It is as special as you can imagine. As fresh as possible, bright and floral and the perfect cure for most of the team. We are then treated to an aged version and everyone leaves with big smiles and settled stomachs.

Finally, we head to Fischkuche for lunch. We are seated and asked if we would like meat or vegetarian and 20 minutes later huge pots are brought to the table by two servers holding a handle each and placed in the centre. They contain several types of German sausage, and these are cut and are shared between the team. I ordered the vegetarian which can only be described as a plate of mountain cheese and spaetzle – amazingly indulgent. We got up to leave three times but are held by people finishing and then ordering just one more beer. It is my time to leave and head home, so I leave the team, old and new friends, at the station and head to the airport as they head back to Munich to visit Paulaner and learn how to tap a barrel like the pros.

It is suddenly quiet, and I get to take it all in for a few more moments. One of the best trips I have been lucky enough to take with Cave Direct and one I won’t be forgetting for a long time. I highly recommend Herbstfest – if you have been to Oktoberfest, it is great to see a different version of a similar celebration or if you think Oktoberfest might be a little too much this is a great introduction to German festivals.

Now, how many opportunities can I find to wear that dirndl…?

Why not try a Flotzinger yourself? You can sign up for a permenant line or just grab a keg or two, we are pretty confident your customers are going to love it!