Interbrau, Bertesgarten and the Oktoberfest

The project has been given final approval, we have a date and I am shipping out on October first. From that date on I will be living in Singapore (and no doubt working my booty off). But, before I ship out to begin work in Asia, I am meeting some of the other APB staff (and a few brewer friends) in Munich Germany to attend the 2005 Drinktech/Interbrau exhibition, and the opening of Oktoberfest. Drinktecc/Interbrau is the world's largest beverage trade show, and it happens only once every four years. It is huge by anyone's standards, over 137,000 qm of show space (Dude, that's like 8 football fields of stuff !) 1,400 vendors from 50 different countries, and almost every booth serves free beer. And, of course, it would be considered an egregious insult not to accept some generous vendor's kind offer of a refreshing drink.

On the weekends before and after the trade show we will be visiting several breweries in near by towns including (but not limited to) Augustiner, Schneider, Forschungs, and the legendary Andechs. We will also be taking a trip to Salzburg with a side trip to the Bertesgarten and Hitler's famous Eagle's Nest. The view from the Eagle's Nest is reported to be one of the most beautiful in Germany. Through our travels we hope to learn the secret ways of German brewing, scrutinize the inner workings of the reinheitsgebot, and corrupt the minds of the brewers we meet by suggesting they use unmalted barley products (and we hope to sample some of their wares).

And then there is the opening day of Oktoberfest (the music, the dancing, the pageantry, and the beer) - well, after all we are already in Munich, and who amongst you would deny us our half a roast chicken and 5 liters of beer?

(pictured: SingBrewer & Garrett Oliver on their 5th liter of beer - each)