But the frosty steins of Spaten and other German brews served are enormous.

FORBES: Will Apple Be More Valuable In Five Years? Ask At The Bars Where Its Future Is Seen First

She says flutes and steins are integral to the flavour of the beer.

BBC: 'Metric' bar told to serve pints

During the festival, participating beer halls keep shorter hours than in Oktoberfest to account for the potency of the beer served in the one-liter ceramic steins.

CNN: Munich's other beer festival

The classic hall and beer garden rewards its pilgrims with an authentic German menu of spatzle, schnitzel, strudel and wurst, tall steins of brew and a long bottle beer list, and on Sunday afternoons, a live lederhosen-clad oompa band.

BBC: The wiedergeburt (rebirth) of New York��s biergartens

Then there is the beer, some 71, 000 hectoliters worth, and for those not sharp on their hectoliters, that is about 1.9 million gallons, or around 8 million of those giant liter steins they serve, each of which is close to three typical beers.

FORBES: Oktoberfest Munich 2011: How to Do it Right

In the farmlands northeast of Austin I drive through a series of comatose old villages with names like Heidenheimer, Schwertner and Walburg, where the only place still trading is an indoor biergarten, bedecked with Bavarian flags, cuckoo clocks, beer steins and military memorabilia.

BBC: The perfect chilli con carne in the heart of Texas

The bicentennial Oktoberfest in 2010 drew over 8 million: imagine everyone in New York City put into a fairgrounds for two weeks to listen to oompah bands and drink beer - nearly 2 million gallons worth, or around 8 million giant liter steins, each close to three typical beers.

FORBES: Festival: Oktoberfest Munich