The Kohler Family’s German-Themed Oktoberfest Meal

Enjoying Oktoberfest used to be one of my husband’s and my favorite activities. We would go to a beer garden or even travel to Hermann, Missouri, to partake in all the German festivities. But with little kiddos these festivities sound stressful now, and not so fun. So, for the past three years we’ve been celebrating Oktoberfest at home, and it’s been a super-fun tradition that we hope to keep going for a long time. I enjoy eating all the food, setting up the tables outdoors, stringing lights and arranging flowers in vintage beer steins. My husband, Ben, is a beer and pretzel fanatic, so he focuses on brewing his own beer and making homemade pretzels.

I think you really have to be a science nerd to like brewing beer and making pretzels. There’s an absolute science to both. We like to brew one specialty beer to serve and then we try and pick up some local beers so we can sample some different ones as well. This is a fun activity for guests, and for us. A must on the menu is Mother’s Brewing Company’s traditional Märzen lager. It’s a not-so-sweet Oktoberfest brewed with Munich malts and German Spalt hop. German Road Oktoberfest lager by Piney River Brewing is one of my husband’s favorite spiced beers made with German Hersbruker hops.

For pretzels we do the real deal. That means we use lye—also known as sodium hydroxide. Lye is an alkaline compound used in some food production like cured fish, olives, hominy and yes, pretzels!

Now, if you’ve ever eaten a pretzel in Germany you know that the Germans take their pretzels very seriously, so to create the perfect pretzel texture and color, lye is a must. But it must be food grade lye, and you must read up on how to use it safely! We work together to dip the pretzels and always wear protective gear. Once pretzels are baked, they are safe to eat, but you don’t want to get the solution in your eyes or on your skin.

You also don’t want it on your nice surfaces. Our favorite pretzel recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen. We serve our pretzels with cheese and mustard dipping sauces, but honestly they’re so good you don’t need to dip them at all. Pair a traditional German pretzel with an Oktoberfest brew, and you’ll feel like you’re right in the center of Berlin.

We like to make a meal to serve as well, and grilling up brats and sausages always feels right for the occasion. We love shopping at Hörrmann Meats in Springfield for German sausages, specialty brats and our personal favorite, Thüngen sausages. These authentic German sausages are named after Thüngen, a market community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. Every year our guest list grows, and every year we reminisce about our Oktoberfest shenanigans during our childless years, but I must say I’ve grown to love having our very own Oktoberfest at home.