Words About Things

The Germans clearly know how to have a good time. They might not be known for their sense of humor but they certainly seem to like their beer. Oktoberfest 2009 has officially begun after the Mayor of Munich declared ‘Ozapft is’ (the beer is tapped). The event is due to recieve 6 million visitors this year making it the biggest beer festival ever.

Girls at Oktoberfest 2009

The first Oktoberfest took place on October 18, 1810 as a celebration of the marrage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxony-Hildburghausen (with a name that long the vows must have taken a while).

During the 16 day fesitval visitors will be able to sample heroic amount of beer and sausages often served by the legendary Oktoberfest girls. During the 2007 festival 6,940,600 litres of beer was consumed along with 909,765 ½ litres of Lemonade.
This year there are at least 15 iPhone applications to help you on your way including a drink ordering dictionary and a Blood-Alcohol-Calculator. I wonder if there is an app to help you retreave your iPhone from the portaloos?

More photos from Oktoberfest 2009 after the jump…

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It’s a well know fact that we should try to drink eight glasses of water a day. Like a lot of well know facts it isn’t correct.

If we actually drank what was recomended we might well have to spend half of the day on the toilet. We would spend the other half of the day completely confused. As well as 8 glasses of water we have been told that a glass of wine a day is good for us. We have also been warned about the dangers of one glass of wine a day.

We are told that too much cafine is bad for us yet Drinking two cups of coffee a day cuts stroke risk by 20%. What is too much coffee? Three cups? Five cups? When my eye starts twitching and I am unable to focus on one thing for more than one minute have I had too much or not enough coffee?

The eight glasses of water a day myth was busted by Snopes years ago but how important is water? An Independant article from last year says:

The review of research by Dan Negoianu and Stanley Goldfarb, from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, found not a single study included the recommendation to drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day.

Although one small study suggested that drinking water could result in fewer headaches, the results were not statistically significant.

The benefits of drinking a pint of water before bed after a night’s drinking to ward off a hangover are, separately, well established.

No studies showed any benefit to skin tone as a result of increased water intake. Dehydration can make skin less plump, but there was no solid evidence to back up the claim water helps people maintain a youthful appearance.

The authors also found no evidence that drinking lots of water benefits the body’s organs.

It’s worth pointing out that 8 cups of black coffee a day (which i’m farely certain is an unhealthy amount) would contain the same amount of liquid as 8 cups of water. Beer and Wine are also hydrating even if the alcohol content can have a slight dehydrating effect.

The English drink Tea in vast quantities, infact i’m sure some of the elder members of my family drink nothing but. Perhaps the best plan is just to drink everything in moderation although if we were meant to drink Beer in moderation it wouldn’t be served by the pint would it?

The credit crunch has hit Germany and it’s affecting beer sales. As the country’s heads towards its worst economic climate since the Second World War the Germans are cutting back on the booze. Last year the average German drank 109.5 litres of beer which is 2.2 litres less than in 2007.

“The times when every German drank more than 150 litres of beer annually are definitely gone,”

Peter Hahn, head of the German brewers’ association.

The price of beer hasn’t actually risen in Germany but there is increasing concern about the ecconomy which is leading to people being more careful with their money. The smoking ban in pubs is also said to have had an impact. In the fourth quater of 2007 sales in bars with smoking bans dropped by 14.1% on the same period the year before. Bars and restaurants that have found a way around the new laws (for example by having a smoking room) have suffered significantly less.

I wonder if the Oktoberfest will suffer this year because of the ecconomic climate? Last year 6,940,600 litres of beer were drunk which is 12,213,743.5 Imperial pints which means that some lightweight must have had a half.