THE above could be you – and it will earn you free beers at Albert Schloss’s upcoming version of the Oktoberfest Beer Festival. Dress up in your Dirndl or Lederhosen, any trad German dress will do. The special offer lasts throughout the festival from September 16 to October 19 at the heart of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival as the self-styled ‘Bohemian pleasure palace’ imports some special limited edition beers from Bavaria. And once they are gone they are weg!
Guest beers include Spaten, the beer traditionally tapped open first to launch Oktoberfest, by the Mayor of Munich as well as the special brews from Bavarian brewers such as Hacker Pschorr, Lowenbrau, Paulaner and Hofbrau. To accompany your frothing Steins, expect a specialist sausage menu, sauerkraut, pretzels and fancy pink cupcakes (OK we made the last one up).
The Bier Palace are hoping the customers will ‘go wild for wieners’ by hosting a sausage eating competition every Thursday during Oktoberfest in what has been dubbed ‘The Manchester World Series’.
The honour of opening a keg of beer is at stake for any sausage lovers who think they have a stomach big enough to take on the challenge. To enter entrants just need to turn up at Albert’s Schloss before 6pm on any Thursday between September 15 and October 9 to register their sausage entry.
Musical entertainment will also be available throughout the three-week extravaganza, ranging from Balkan Beats to German Disco, from Kraus Rock to Afro Beat.
Sure, all this not going to match the Munich original, which attracts six million visitors a year, but the Schloss knows how to party on the evidence of a sensationally successful first year.
Adelaide Winter, creative director for Albert’s Schloss said: “Oktoberfest is massive and our beer brewery friends in Munich have very kindly allowed us to create our own Oktoberfest here in Manchester with their special and incredibly rare beers.
“Since we opened Albert’s Schloss a year ago we poured hundreds of thousands of pints and firmly established ourselves as a bier palace. We can’t wait to celebrate our first birthday and Manchester Food and Drink Festival with our own spin on Oktoberfest…”.
Albert’s Schloss, 27 Peter Street, Manchester M2 5RQ. 0161 833 4040. Tables are now available to be booked online at http://albertsschloss.co.uk/book, or by calling 0161 833 4040.