Throughout my travels in Europe, some of my most memorable experiences have taken place in the massive beer tents at Oktoberfest in Munich. In the three times that I’ve attended, I have racked up countless (and some very fuzzy) hours knocking back steins of beers and dancing on tables to oompah bands, amongst a crowd of thousands. There is just something about Oktoberfest that seems to bring out the best in everyone – people from all over the world bond over their love of beer and oompah bands. There truly is nothing like it. So, to celebrate the fact that Oktoberfest is currently underway in Germany, B and I decided to hold our own mini-Oktoberfest. (Sorry for the poor quality photos – these were taken with an Iphone).
First stop for some supplies was Oyama Sausage at Granville Island so that I could stock up on some absolutely amazing German würst (sausages) and some freshly made sauerkraut. I chose a weissewürst (a white sausage filled with pork and veal), a beer bratwürst and a German salami, all of which perfectly matched our theme. The sausages were practically bursting with flavour! When cooked, they were juicy and had the right amount of seasoning and herbs to make each bite even better than the last. The sauerkraut was definitely the best that I’ve had – it wasn’t overly vinegary and tasted extremely fresh. It’s no wonder the German’s can’t get enough of it!
Whole Foods was our next stop, where we picked up pretzel bread made by the Swiss Bakery (so good!) and also a bunch of radishes. Something that I found quite odd whilst at Oktoberfest was the beer fraulein’s that walk around hawking bunches of radishes – but they are actually a great addition (and provide some much needed veggies). Surprisingly, BC Liquor stocks quite a large number of German beers and so I bought a few different bottles so that we could sample some different flavours. We even had frosted steins (albeit not as big as the real ones) to sip our beers from, whilst devouring our German delicacies.
Eating sausages and gulping back excellent beers certainly brought back some Oktoberfest memories. So, if you (like me), can’t afford to get to the real deal this year – it ends on October 4th – try creating your own drunken Oktoberfest memories at home. Pröst!!
The Culinary Adventures of a Greedy Guts 
Any restaurant or pub recommendations for Oktoberfest?
Here locally in Vancouver? Unfortunately, no. Alibi Room, Six Acres, and Biercraft on Cambie have great beer selections but I’m not sure if they are doing anything specifically for Oktoberfest.