The Total, Inescapable Joy of a German Beer Festival

Living in Germany there are a few cultural events and traditions that are just too difficult to even try to avoid. And one of the most seemingly important parts of German culture is that frothy amber drink: beer.  And what better place to consumer beer than in that most German festival: the beer festival.

I’ve seen it reported that Germany drinks 107 liters of beer per capita—which is a whole lot of beer if you stop to think about it.  A “kneipe” (essentially a dive bar) is one of the most authentic places to get a good German brew (and cheap!), but then there are the drinking festivals.

In Berlin, we’ve got the annual Biermeile where hundreds of vendors set up for a weekend along Karl-Marx-Allee. But in Bavaria, there’s the Oktoberfest. I’ve actually never been to Oktoberfest, but I have been to the Swabian version in Stuggart (and Germany’s second largest beer festival), the Cannstatter Wasen.

Now listen: I like beer. I like it quite a…