Munich councillors seek new rules for Oktoberfest beer suppliers

Munich councillors from the Greens, SPD and CSU are preparing a proposal to let additional breweries supply beer to Oktoberfest, BR reports. The city’s Department of Economic Affairs would be asked to develop a new approval system, while the department is also working on a similar proposal.

Current city rules allow only beer from six established Munich breweries to be served at the festival: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Spaten and the state-owned Hofbräuhaus. The beer must comply with the Munich Purity Law of 1487 and the German Purity Law of 1906.

For years, only those breweries could meet the requirements for beer brewed within Munich, in accordance with the purity rules and using water from a deep well in the city. Giesinger Bräu can now meet those conditions, and the Münchner Kindl brewery has also drilled a deep well.

The proposed review would also consider the conditions for approving additional brewery tents at Oktoberfest. Giesinger Bräu owner Steffen Marx has said that supplying beer would be only a first step, and that he could eventually seek his own tent. He launched a petition in the spring to try to secure approval to serve the brewery’s beer; signatures are still being collected.

The city’s governing coalition agreement says the festival should retain its character as a traditional Munich and Bavarian folk festival, while leaving the door open to other Munich breweries. Any new rules are expected to retain requirements that breweries be capable and established, so they can meet the festival’s organisational, logistical and production demands, city economic affairs chief and Oktoberfest director Christian Scharpf has said.

Oktoberfest served 6.7 million Maß of beer this year. The rules do not currently define precisely what qualifies a brewery as capable. Giesinger has been applying to supply beer at folk festivals around Munich and beyond, including this year’s festival in Hohenwart, in the Pfaffenhofen district.

The SPD also wants breweries serving beer at Oktoberfest to pay their employees according to collective agreements. Giesinger does not currently do so; a company spokesperson said it had only recently reached break-even.