Oktoberfest Sept 2014

stargazer 68

Apologies if there is already a thread - couldn't find one!

Oktoberfest starts 18th September in the Docklands. We have never been before and would love to go some evening. How does it work? Any tips?

Thanks

BeerNut

Dovies wrote: »

Any tips?

Go early. You get people on here complaining that they rocked up at 7pm on a weekend evening and it was loud and crowded with huge queues. Of course it was. I usually go at lunchtime when it's much more civilised.

Dovies wrote: »

How does it work?

There are bars selling beer -- usually just Erdinger and Fischer Helles -- and there are stalls with food. You pay cash.

blankblank

Also will be the first year attending ! Should be good fun!

I passed through it two years and it looked like a great laugh, sadly I was new to Dublin at the time and was billy no mates !

KTRIC

Its silly, over priced and not even close to being worthy of taking the name of the real thing.

stargazer 68

BeerNut wrote: »

Go early. You get people on here complaining that they rocked up at 7pm on a weekend evening and it was loud and crowded with huge queues. Of course it was. I usually go at lunchtime when it's much more civilised.

There are bars selling beer -- usually just Erdinger and Fischer Helles -- and there are stalls with food. You pay cash.

Great. We will go midweek so hopefully it wont be too packed. There is a piece on booking tables but only tables of 10 so I wasn't sure how the rest of it worked. Fantastic!!

ProudDUB

Give it a miss if it is raining, as there is very little shelter. There is a tent set up over the water that has more beer taps and long tables (and incredibly annoying music) but they are very strict on the numbers that they let into to it. Crowd control and all that.

BeerNut

Dovies wrote: »

There is a piece on booking tables but only tables of 10 so I wasn't sure how the rest of it worked.

Yeah, like the Munich original it's quite skewed towards the corporate bookings, especially in the evenings, but it has always been open and public, at least during they day. I think they have a cover charge in the evenings, as part of their licensing arrangements.

bigar

The venue is too small for the people attending. Lines to the toilet are incredulously long.
Also when you happen to be in the tent and go out for any reason (like going to the toilet), don't expect to just be able to get back in. I had to wait 20 minutes and my friends, who were inside, called me worrying that something happened to me.

I will give it a miss this year.

LFC Murphy

Heading to the real deal in Munich this year......

Any tips

DLMA23

LFC Murphy wrote: »

Heading to the real deal in Munich this year......

Any tips

Plenty of €'s, dioralyte & Solpadol :eek:

hfallada

LFC Murphy wrote: »

Heading to the real deal in Munich this year......

Any tips

Pick your tent wisely. Augustiner is the best and hacker pschorr is also really good. But everyone knows they are the best and you have to queue really early to get into these tents. Buy Oktoberfest souvneirs in places like Muller. It's like a mixture of boots and tesco. It's super cheap and really good.

But the most important thing is to have your e111 or travel insurance on you at all times and an ID with you. They won't look at you in a hospital in Germany without insurance and a way to verify its yo

thomur

LFC Murphy wrote: »

Heading to the real deal in Munich this year......

Any tips

Dance on the tables in the German tent. Nothing like it.

JeffKenna

thomur wrote: »

Dance on the tables in the German tent. Nothing like it.

Memories of dancing to 'time of my life' and 'country roads' on the tables last year...can't wait for it this time around!!

suicide_circus

The Dublin one is overpriced and under facilitated.

Cienciano

I used to go every year. They always do something to make it that little bit worse. Haven't gone in about 3 years, but last I heard there was plastic glasses :mad:
That's enough to make me stay away. It's always good fun, but get there early (I used to get there at about 4:30 on a friday) and you can be kicked out of your seats because some company has booked them.

stargazer 68

Hey folks. Just to let you know we went in on Tuesday night and had a great night. We are going back in next week and taking my son and a couple of his mates with us. It was fairly busy but we got seats by the bar on the platform and then went back up for food and came down to the platform again and had no trouble getting seats. The tent though was absolutely jammed so gave it a miss. Food was great and beer even better -a bit pricey but we enjoyed ourselves.

Moist Mittens

The beer "selection" last year really turned me off ever going again.

grimm2005

Went on Tuesday and had a great time. Got up there around 4:30pm and the place was pretty dead but picked up soon enough. Strolled into the tent and had a table for 3 of us for the whole evening. Steins were €10 which is pretty decent, pints were €6.50 so definitely stick with the steins! Plastic glasses and the fact you have to pay a €5 deposit for the "glass" was a bit annoying but you get it back at the end of the night. Beer selection is pretty much non existent, it's Erdinger or Fisher Helles which was fine with me as I love Erdinger. Would be a totally different story arriving at 7pm on a Friday night though I'd say so my advice is go mid-week and go early and you'll have a great time.

Caliden

LFC Murphy wrote: »

Heading to the real deal in Munich this year......

Any tips

We to Munich for the last 4 days last year. Get in there early-ish (before 11am) to get a nice spot (much earlier if going on a Saturday/Sunday).

1 litre steins last year were €10 (no deposit reqd.) and they had food as well. Each tent only serves 1 type of beer so choose wisely.

Overall I didn't find it too expensive as realistically you'll be doing well to have more than 6/7 steins.

I wouldn't bother getting lederhosen, they're expensive and the ones they sell there are just for tourists really. I mean you can if you want but they start at about €150.


The beer won't give you a killer headache but stay hydrated and have a decent breakfast each day.

Pawwed Rig

grimm2005 wrote: »

Went on Tuesday and had a great time. Got up there around 4:30pm and the place was pretty dead but picked up soon enough. Strolled into the tent and had a table for 3 of us for the whole evening. Steins were €10 which is pretty decent, pints were €6.50 so definitely stick with the steins! Plastic glasses and the fact you have to pay a €5 deposit for the "glass" was a bit annoying but you get it back at the end of the night. Beer selection is pretty much non existent, it's Erdinger or Fisher Helles which was fine with me as I love Erdinger. Would be a totally different story arriving at 7pm on a Friday night though I'd say so my advice is go mid-week and go early and you'll have a great time.

Pints are not €6.50. That is for a half litre. That makes a pint €7.40 which is daylight robbery. I stayed for half an hour and headed off.

gg2

Heading down tomorrow afternoon for an hour. Is there a cover charge?

tampopo

gg2 wrote: »

Heading down tomorrow afternoon for an hour. Is there a cover charge?

No.

I was there last Saturday evening and sunday afternoon. I wouldn't bother your hole queuing to get into the centre part. It's little or no different to the bits on the periphery.

On the Saturday evening, the queue went all around the dock, 3-4 deep. Madness.

Cienciano

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Pints are not €6.50. That is for a half litre. That makes a pint €7.40 which is daylight robbery. I stayed for half an hour and headed off.

Usually the german glasses are marked at 500ml, it's not the rim. In ireland when you get a pint it's actually around 500ml when you take the head into account.
Anyway, if you're at the beer festival you should be drinking from a mass

LFC Murphy

Caliden wrote: »

We to Munich for the last 4 days last year. Get in there early-ish (before 11am) to get a nice spot (much earlier if going on a Saturday/Sunday).

1 litre steins last year were €10 (no deposit reqd.) and they had food as well. Each tent only serves 1 type of beer so choose wisely.

Overall I didn't find it too expensive as realistically you'll be doing well to have more than 6/7 steins.

I wouldn't bother getting lederhosen, they're expensive and the ones they sell there are just for tourists really. I mean you can if you want but they start at about €150.


The beer won't give you a killer headache but stay hydrated and have a decent breakfast each day.

Arrived back yesterday, and have to say it was a great experience.... hangover wise we were in good for, although after 3 days the horrors did arrive right on time for the flight back yesterday

We booked a tent on Thursday from 12pm until 5pm, which for €300 for 8 people was well worth it as you get two steins and half a chicken..

I'm a broken man today though

Beaner1

A three day beer drinking binge sounds deeply unappealing. No clue why people get so excited for oktoberfest.

LFC Murphy

Beaner1 wrote: »

A three day beer drinking binge sounds deeply unappealing. No clue why people get so excited for oktoberfest.

It wasn't a binge... it was a nice steady pace :rolleyes:

anto9

>>No clue why people get so excited for oktoberfest. <<

Its the atmosphere ,The brass bands and the waitresses showing their tits ;-).Its the vast crowds that put me off it though .

Beaner1

anto9 wrote: »

>>No clue why people get so excited for oktoberfest. <<

Its the atmosphere ,The brass bands and the waitresses showing their tits ;-).Its the vast crowds that put me off it though .

Beer halls open year round in Munich so oktoberfest is probabky the worst time to visit.

whiskeyman

Beaner1 wrote: »

Beer halls open year round in Munich so oktoberfest is probabky the worst time to visit.

This.
Even in the Oktoberfest museum and tour in Munich itself, they don't really recommend you going to the Oktoberfest as they say it's full of drunk tourists mostly, and a lot of the locals leave the city. That, and it's well overpriced.
sure, if that's what you want, go for it.

It's probably like heading to Dublin for St Patricks Day.
It sounds great, but it's probably the worst time to be in the City.

munchkin_utd

anto9 wrote: »

>>No clue why people get so excited for oktoberfest. <<

Its the atmosphere ,The brass bands and the waitresses showing their tits ;-).Its the vast crowds that put me off it though .

Its the weekends, especially Friday night / Saturday that are insane.

during the week though is grand.
Its still damn busy, but more than manageable.

BTW, the age and state of a lot of waitresses isnt exactly the most erotic or pleasing sight to behold.

GLaDOS

Guys can we keep discussion limited to Oktoberfest in Dublin, anything else is off topic

And less of the sexist remarks about the waitresses too

nxbyveromdwjpg

Not pushed on the one in IFSC at all, a couple of years ago there was one in the Mansion House that was brilliant though. Wonder if that will ever be back.

briano13

Same! I keep checking around for the alternative smaller Oktoberfest experience where it would be less like the IFSC over priced one. I thought there was a 2nd one on this year somewhere in Dublin? No?

FreudianSlippers

briano13 wrote: »

Same! I keep checking around for the alternative smaller Oktoberfest experience where it would be less like the IFSC over priced one. I thought there was a 2nd one on this year somewhere in Dublin? No?

Same with the Christmas market in IFSC, it was good a few years ago, how it's total overpriced garbage.

owen85

friends of mine want to go to this tomorrow. silly question, is cider sold in all stalls there? i cant drink beer unfortunately

neckedit

^^^ Just Beer I fear.....^^^

petronius

I was disappointed by the Oktoberfest in Dublin...
I thought the prices were again over the top
I thought the food options were limited
No Schnitzel unless i missed it
No Applestrudel unless I missed it as well wanted to have a coffee and studel
Currywurst in with a bun (more like a hot dog than real currywurst on a plate of fries)
I did find having a polish stand there unusual but nice offering
-
I did find the security and gardai helpful when a friend "lost" her bag...
Hopefully next year they will improve!
Maybe a change of venue?
Maybe Dublin castle(either main square or chester beaty library) grand canal square and lock?) , smithfield(too many skangers)? iveagh gardens(more cost)? meeting house square(too small maybe)
-
I would recommend if you go to an Oktoberfest or beer festival in germany, don't go to Munich, go to a smaller town with its own
less drunken americans and shorter queues and nice local produce..