Oktoberfest 2024: Beer prices, beer mugs and hygienic washing

It is one of the largest festivals in the world: every year, around 6 million visitors from all over the world attend the Munich Oktoberfest on the Theresienwiese. And their favourite tradition when they visit: drinking beer from beer mugs. These mugs then have to be very quickly washed and be ready to use again as quickly as possible. Over 30,000 mugs per hour are used. A normal commercial warewasher cannot meet these high demands. A wash cycle of this kind of quantity takes too long and as the glasses are rinsed with hot water, they come out of the machine hot. Not ideal for a nice cold beer.

Warewashing specialist Winterhalter has addressed this problem and developed a mobile glasswasher for beer mugs especially for the extreme Oktoberfest requirements: the STF Bavaria. It can handle the enormous quantities of beer glasses and mugs and can wash up to 2,800 mugs hygienically clean in one hour. This means that almost every second a cleanly rinsed beer mug comes out of the machine – and it's nice and cool. This is because the STF Bavaria uses cold fresh water for rinsing. The cold rinse means that the mugs can be refilled straight away, the head of the beer stays stable and bar service runs smoothly!

Oktoberfest is a special event and cannot be compared with a normal catering establishment. The biggest difference is that the beer mugs are not stored after washing, but are immediately refilled. It is then possible to use cold water washing as an alternative to hot washing. Using a detergent with a higher chlorine content that is specifically designed for this purpose, cold water can then be used not only for rinsing, but also for the main wash. This means that the mugs are cleaned very quickly, come out of the machine cold and can be used again immediately. And if something goes wrong with the glasswashing technology, the service team can be on site within a few minutes – another difference to normal foodservice operations.

The Vereinigung der Münchener Wiesnwirte ("Association of Munich Oktoberfest Innkeepers") ensures that the cold washing systems meet the highest hygiene standards and that the beer mugs are cleaned and disinfected in accordance with the applicable operating regulations for the Oktoberfest. The City of Munich's Department of Health and Environmental Protection also takes random samples every day to check that beer glasses and mugs are hygienic. This includes an official evaluation by the Bayerische Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit (Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, LGL). You can find more information on this in this statement from the Association of Munich Oktoberfest Innkeepers.

The worst-case scenario for any festival organiser would be a breakdown of warewashing technology or a bottleneck in logistics. Winterhalter customers can relax and concentrate on the essentials. After all, one of the warewashing specialist's great strengths is service – and Oktoberfest is the best proof of this.

Two service teams from Winterhalter are on site throughout the festival. They work a two-shift operation and are available to the festival organisers around the clock. A special service hotline means that the technicians can reach their customers very quickly and provide "first aid" for all glasswashing issues. Repairs can be carried out quickly as there is storage on the premises with all the important spare parts.