Starkbierfest Dates:
Starkbierzeit begins immediately after Fasching, i.e. 9th Febuary 2005. The main Starkbierfest festival in the Nockherberg runs for two weeks at the end of Starkbierzeit, i.e. Friday 4th March til Sunday 20th March 2005 inclusive.
There's a crowd of readers from this website arranging to go on the middle Saturday (12th March 2005). See the chat forum for details: TT does Starkbierfest 2005
About Starkbierfest:
Starkbier is a "strong beer" which is consumed in Germany during Lent. You may think "stark" is refering to the alcohol content. Actually it's not. Instead it describes the concentration of disolved solids: the starch, sugars, proteins and minerals. The technical name for these solids is the "Wort".
Photo from: paulaner.de
This being Germany, the supreme land of rules and regulations, you'll probably not be surprised to learn there are laws governing which beers may qualify as Starkbier. There are two types of Starkbier: Bockbier and Dopplebock. Bockbier must be at least 16% wort whilst Doppelbock must be at least 18%. The famous "Salvator" Starkbier brewed by Paulaner weighs in at 18.3% wort. It's a Doppelbock. This means that for every liter of Starkbier, if you boil away the water and alcohol you have 183 grammes of solids remaining. Or, in layman's terms, one Mass contains roughly the same amount of "Stuff" as 16 loaves of bread. Hence: liquid food. For the monks, fluid doesn't break fasting rules.
Although the "Stark" in Starkbier is nothing to do with the alcohol content, the alcohol levels are indeed higher. A Bockbier is 7% whilst the Salvator Dopplebock is 7.5%. This is in comparison to the 5% for a normal beer.
Don't mention this to a Bavarian or they won't speak to you again, but Starkbier is not actually a Bavarian creation. The first Doppelbock was brewed in 1352 up in Hannover, North Germany (Einbeck Bock Beer). The monks at Munich's Paulaner monastery only caught on in 1773 when the famous Brother Barnabas invented with his Salvator receipe. This same brew has remained largely unchanged for the last two and a bit centuries. Originally the monks were forbidden to serve Salvator to anyone outside the monastery. This particular rule was quickly repealed in 1780 because the monks never obeyed it anyway.
Whilst the Palauner Salvator is the most famous of the Munich Starkbiers, the other breweries also have their own versions. Löwenbräu have a brew they call "Triumphator". The Augustiner have "Maximator". And the Airport brewery, can you guess? Yep... Aviator. Not kidding.
Nockherberg
The Starkbierfest is celebrated at many beer halls throughout Munich. The epicenter, however, is the Paulaner Keller at Nockherberg in Giesing. Here the festival lasts 16 days: from Friday 4th March til Sunday 20th March 2005. Their Festsaal has capacity for 3,500 pissed up punters and is decorated in the style of an Oktoberfest tent. A Mass of Starkbier costs €7.10. A Mass of any other drink costs exactly the same - even Spezi or table water! Entry is €1. After 5pm (3pm at weekends) entry is €7.80 Euro for which you also get a beer voucher.
Munich Starkbierfest
Paulaner-Keller
Hochstraße 75, Giesing
Fri 4.Mar.2005 – Sun 20.Mar.2005
U1/2 to Kolumbusplatz
...then walk up Nockherstrasse to the top of the hill
Website: Nockherberg
If your computer has Flash then make sure you check out the Paulaner website too. It's quite well done and entertaining. Turn your sound up and click the flashing arrow in the middle of the start page.
Other Starkbier Cellars in Munich:
Löwenbräukeller
Nymphenburger Strasse 2, Neuhausen
U1/7 Stiglmeierplatz
27.Feb.2004 - 04.Apr.2004
Unionsbräu
Einsteinstraße 42, Haidhausen
12.Mar.2004 - 28.Mar.2004
Augustiner-Keller
Arnulfstrraße 52, Maxvorstadt
U/S-Bahn Hauptbahnhof
12.Mar.2004 - 27.Mar.2004
I went last year and got very drunk very quickly.
Posted by: Pascoe at February 16, 2004 11:13 AMStarkbier fucks you up very quickly.3 Mass and you're really very far gone. I'll be going - at least once or twice, but it's neither big, nor clever to have a drinking competition using Starkbier....not that it's particularly big or clever to have a drinking contest, full-stop!!
Posted by: Hazza at February 16, 2004 11:21 AMStarkbierfest is as much fun as the Oktoberfest but not as spoilt by millions of tourists.Get the Dirndl and Lederhosen out!!!oans..zwoa... gsuffa
Posted by: bubblylady at February 16, 2004 11:24 AMIf you've not been here before for the Starkbierfest, you'd be wise to heed Hazza's words. It will fuck you up real quick. I've only partaken a couple of times because I just don't see the point in getting blotto after only a couple of beers. Prefer to at least spread it out over a couple of hours.
Posted by: keydeck at February 16, 2004 11:25 AMYes all, please remember these warnings. I have seen some colleagues of mine two days after, and they were still pretty ill. They only drunk 4 maß. Its strong stuff, and will kill.
Posted by: pepper at February 16, 2004 11:27 AMYou can go to more than just Nockerberg, that's just the famous one. All breweries serve strong beer during this period. It's Munich's 5th season.
Posted by: showem at February 16, 2004 11:31 AMEin Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit...
Saturday is the best day to go...
an amount of greasy food before, during and after this event is recommended if one is to remember beyond the middle of the 2nd maß...
Posted by: noddy at February 16, 2004 11:42 AMMy step-father visited me during Wies'n, and cannot remember anything after the first hour or so !
Posted by: pepper at February 17, 2004 09:18 AMNearly every brewery has Starkbierfestival's. It is not on the Wies'n (meant is Theresienwiese). They all have beer halls and cellars. Officially the Starkbiertime starts right after Aschermittwoch (ash wednesday). Starkbier always has the ending ...ator. Nockherberg is the best known of them as they start off with a huge political event. The"derblecken", where comedians dress up like the highest politicians and really taking the piss about everything they do and how the look like etc. The funny thing is, all these politicians are in the room and have to listen what is said about them and still try to smile.
Posted by: bubblylady at February 17, 2004 11:37 AMget the durdls out ladies !!
Posted by: becs at February 17, 2004 04:17 PMFor the girls and boys who don't know what to wear I only can recommend the Skandaltrachtenshop opposite to the Kreisverwaltungsreferat at Poccistrasse.Tiny shop, but good service and very reasonable prices.
Posted by: bubblylady at February 17, 2004 05:10 PMOr there is always the Kilt for those of you that have one. Introduce a big more culture to the Starkbierfest !
Posted by: pepper at February 17, 2004 05:13 PMI bought my Lederhosen at Skandal.There are no change-rooms, so there's a lot of people there in various stages of getting dressed....Interesting...
Posted by: Hazza at February 17, 2004 05:37 PMEverybody I've met -- either local or foreign -- who has actually been to this just shakes their heads and says.. "never again..." when probed for interest. There must be a deep meaning to this, but not having been there, I've yet to discover it....
This also reminds me -- I could have made it to the old Salvatorkeller before it burned down had I only known it was the ultratraditional starkbier place for all of Munich.. I came home one day to see the smoke from my window and my landlady telling what a crying shame it was that it was up in flames... *Nooooowwwww* someone tells me...
Posted by: Mind's Eye at February 18, 2004 08:44 PMThe starkbierfest at Lowenbrau (Stiglmaierplatz) is not bad either. The bier is a bit thicker than Paulaner Starkbier...but the party is pretty good. Been there for the last 2 years...but 'Nockaberg' is stilll better.
Posted by: canuck at February 19, 2004 11:06 AMWhat a funny web-site (Paulaner). Very entertaining. Good tip for a little bit of work distraction Bob.
Posted by: Ella at March 11, 2004 11:45 AMMy 2 cents:
1 - My favorite doppelbock thus far is the Celebrator by Brauerei Aying - available from Holzfass (wooden barrel) at their pub/restaurant across from the Hofbräu Haus. It´s darker, smoother and richer than the others I´ve tried so far; and it's wisely served in a .3 l glass.
2 - Has anyone been to / want to go to the fest at Forschungs in Perlach?
Posted by: hopfenteufel at March 12, 2004 03:59 PMHerr Indoors was at the Forschungs last night, he though that the beer was excellent (he is Bavarian btw) and that it is worth a visit. Bugger to get back from though due to the S-Bahn.
Posted by: Katrina at March 18, 2004 10:13 AMAnyone has the date of the starkbierfest in 2005?
Posted by: Alexis LussierD at February 11, 2005 12:05 PMI believe the dates are stated clearly in bold at the very top of this page. As you seem to have missed it, here they are again:
Friday 4th March til Sunday 20th March 2005 inclusive.
Prost!
Posted by: Literacy Rulez at February 11, 2005 12:11 PMI've missed Starkbierfest, somehow, but Andechs serves Doppelbeck all year - Do all the Kloster breweries, or just them?
"The technical name for these solids is the 'Wort'."
Actually it isn't. Wort is the name of the unfermented liquid before yeast is added.
Posted by: UpQuark at February 12, 2005 08:17 AMFYI, Aviator has been on tap at the "Airport Brewery" i.e. Airbräu since Thursday. Also only 2€ a glass (0,5l). It´s dangerously delicious. I´d recommend going soon if you want to try it cause only a limited amount was brewed. Zum wohl!
Posted by: Lupo at February 13, 2005 02:07 PMOne other thing...good info on this page, however as was alluded to already, the Wort description above is somewhat misleading. The 18.3% Paulaner mentioned above refers to the original specific gravity of the wort. It still needs to be fermented as UpQuark mentioned. As fermentation proceeds, the specific gravity of the wort will decrease - a process called attenuation. The yeast is converting the dissolved sugars into ethanol, CO2, and other by products. For a Bock or DoppelBock beer, at the end of fermentation, you might get something like 4-5% specific gravity. Thus, "if you boil away the water and alcohol" in one liter you would have approximately 40-50g out of the original 183g of solids remaining.
Posted by: Lupo at March 3, 2005 08:01 PMI had never heard about this festival, and happened to be in Munich last week. The bartender at the hotel recommended I go and WOW it was fun! Had to go back for 2 nights!
Posted by: Steve at March 16, 2005 01:23 AMAYINGER CELEBRATOR is considered the very best, most complex Doppelbock in the world (actually among the 12 best beers, full stop), and is produced very near to München.
Also quite notable, the Andechser Kloster & Weltenburger Kloster-Braüerei Doppels are among the best to seek out.
And certainly DO NOT miss the Schneider Aventinus, the world's premiere Wheat Doppelbock. You'll find it everythere I hope.
Just my thoughts. Cheers,
JK - Toronto.
(PS: You think these are strong, er, do stay away from Belgian abbey ales, 8-12 percent, YIKES!)