Celebrating Oktoberfest at Brotzeit

Oktoberfest is time of celebration and raucous merrymaking. Sadly, given the pandemic this year’s celebrations in Munich itself have been cancelled. With the main event itself a casualty of the circumstances, I wasn’t hopeful that I would get to enjoy the fest this year here in Singapore,

To my surprise, Brotzeit is still going ahead with the celebrations, and in a big way. Their celebration, from 15 September to 25 October, is actually a little longer than the festival itself. So, of course, I checked them out to see if I could capture a bit of the Oktoberfest experience I craved.

What to Expect

Oktoberfest is certainly one of my favourite festivals on the calendar.

Part of the reasons is the atmosphere of the fest itself- in which many of the stereotypes are certainly true (yes, there are some incredibly strong servers in lederhosen or dirndl serving 10 1-litre-jugs of beer at once, yes, there are thousands of people in a state of happy intoxication, and yes, the whole beer hall occasionally erupts in song). While we’re still observing social distancing rules, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of song and dance.

With that out of the way, however, I still expect a lot out of the other main reason for attending the fest: the proverbial beer and bagels. There’s nothing that beats having Oktoberfest beer with traditional Bavarian cuisine. To be frank, anything else feels inauthentic. Excluding them is akin to celebrating Chinese New Year without bak kwa or mandarin oranges.

A Fest of Beers

So, first: the beer. Our friends at Spirited Singapore go into some depth about the frothy brew, but the crux is this: Oktoberfest has its own special beer called the festbier, brewed specially for the occasion. Only six breweries within Munich city itself are allowed to make beer for the Oktoberfest itself. Technically, then, very few beers outside of Munich itself would qualify as festbier.

We can get the excellent German weissbier at any time of the year in Singapore, but the festbier is only available during-you guessed it- during the Oktoberfest. Fortunately, Brotzeit and some select German pubs and restaurants seem up to the task of bring the beer to Singapore this year, despite the ongoing troubles.

Brotzeit itself will be offering beer from Hofbräu, one of Munich’s oldest and most respected breweries. Hofbräu, founded in 1589 by Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria, still retains one of the largest beerhalls within the city of Munich. So large in fact, that I’d describe their establishment as cavernous.

Well, if it’s a beer that I can heartily endorse, it’s Hofbräu’s festbier. The festbier is more than a locational appellation, but has its own unique style. In many ways, Hofbräu’s is the archetypical version of the lager.

It’s brewed a little stronger than normal and has a nice malty sweetness. To complement that is a restrained hoppiness, light floral and citrus flavours and a crisp, clean mouthfeel. The freshness and clean flavours make it pleasant for extended drinking, while the maltiness gives it a satisfying heft- perfect for a day-long celebration where the smallest serving sizes tend to be a full litre of beer. I can (and have) guzzled this particular beer for an entire afternoon.

Munich Munching

Now, of course, food is as much a part of Oktoberfest as the beer itself is. After all, one can’t just drink beer for the entire evening. Nor would the Singapore favourites- truffle fries, salted egg chickens or mala– suffice on their own. I was glad to see that Brotzeit’s newly appointed Executive Chef Lorenz Raich put traditional Bavarian fare- with a couple of updates- on the menu.

The Dreierlei Eingemachtes– Preserved and Smoked Spreads ($22++), a pretzel plate with three “dips” of smoked Norweigian trout, duck confit and chicken truffle was, for one, way above what I normally get when asking for cold cuts. The duck confit, in particular, was delectable. Firm, tangy, but still bursting with the game-y, savoury flavours of the world’s favourite waterfowl, it makes for a great accompaniment for the salted pretzels. I’m not ashamed to say that I licked up every last scrap.

Speaking of pretzels, the Riesenbrezn mit Bauernwurst– Giant Pretzel with Farmer Sausage ($28++), was another treat. A huge 23cm by 18cm pretzel stuffed to the brim with custom-made sausage, tart and tangy red cabbage and lettuce that will bring to mind sauerkraut, and spicy mustard. It works well as either snack or main course, though baked goods of such gargantuan proportions are best shared with a good friend- over beer.

As good as those are, the king of the Oktoberfest deserves his place at the table, What is an Oktober-feast without the massive slabs of roast pork? There’s one huge change this year, however. In lieu of the traditional pork knuckle, Brotzeit is serving the Knusprige Schweinsschulter– Crispy Roasted Pork Shoulder ($45++).

To be honest, I find myself preferring the shoulder to the knuckle- while the same crisp, crunchy skin still seals in the juicy, tender pork beneath, the shoulder is quite a lot easier to maneuver around the table and slice into bite-sized portions. While I enjoy the occasional bout of table gymnastics, I find myself much preferring a fuss-free beer and pork experience. So, bravo on the change.

Summing it all up

Well, it seems almost unnecessary to say it at this point, but the Oktoberfest offerings at Brotzeit seemed to have shaped up particularly well- in spite of the challenges of the last year.

If you’re looking for a way to lift your spirits, a night out involving delicious food, flowing beer, and good company seems to be in order. I’d definitely put Brotzeit in the shortlist of places to go this October.