A friend of a friend, is a friend of mine

Last year in Durango at the Oktoberfest event I meet Gustav Brünn and native of Bavaria and we have stayed in touch since then. While traveling in America in his R.V. he happened upon our event and thought it would be fun to see how we celebrate Oktoberfest in Durango.

I told him I was coming to Durango for the Oktoberfest event in Munich and we made plans to meet. I was not sure what to expect thinking I might just be sitting drinking while Gustav and his friends talk amongst themselves. However that was not the case for they were fantastic company and knew quite a few people running the event. I first get to meet Rudy who is the head of security in the Ochsenbruterei tent and not long after he introduces us to Herman Haberl the owner of the tent. Herman sits with us for the next half hour talking about the place and his attempt to do something similar in America. Herman found that the different way the two societies view beer was the biggest problem he encountered where in Germany it is classified as a food and in America it is a drug.

After a few rides in the carnival section of the festival we make our way to the Lowenbrau tent where Rolf greets us. Rolf, who is head of marketing at Lowenbrau, is a friend of Gustav’s friend Franz and seats us at his personal table. I get to talk to him for quite a while on the making of beer and why it is hard to find an Ale Beer in Germany. This seems to be partly due to the Bavarian brewing laws and the preference of the Bavarian’s taste in beer, they would prefer a great Lager from the area. Rolf also say while growing up he recalls when his grandfather would send him to the pub to pick up a stein of beer for him how he would consume the head of the beer on the way home, he said it was his ice cream - very delicious.