For generations, only six Munich breweries have been allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest. Now that system is being challenged in court. We’ve that “Words to Drink By” and more.

Munich’s Oktoberfest Beer Monopoly Faces Legal Challenge

One of the beer world’s oldest traditions is facing a modern legal challenge in Munich.

For generations, only six Munich breweries have been allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest, while many of the festival’s massive beer tents have remained under the control of the same families for decades.

Now that system is being challenged in court.

Alexander Egger, CEO of Munich restaurant Münchner Stubn, sued the city after unsuccessfully bidding to move from operating a smaller 440-seat tent to one of Oktoberfest’s enormous beer tents, some of which can accommodate thousands of guests.

Egger argues that Munich’s selection process unfairly favors longtime operators and effectively prevents newcomers from competing for the festival’s most lucrative locations. According to WSJ, he wants the bidding process opened to applicants from across the European Union.

The lawsuit also raises questions about Oktoberfest’s famously restrictive beer policy.

Only beer brewed within Munich and meeting the festival’s requirements can be served at Oktoberfest, effectively limiting the event to six traditional breweries, including Paulaner, Spaten and Augustiner.

Even Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, whose ancestors helped launch the original Oktoberfest celebration surrounding the 1810 wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese, has been unable to serve his family’s König Ludwig beer at the festival.

Munich brewer Giesinger Bräu has also been pushing for greater access, including an effort to bring the issue before voters through a citizen referendum.

Traditional Oktoberfest operators warn that opening the festival to EU-wide competition could fundamentally change an event built around more than two centuries of Bavarian tradition.

Christian Schottenhamel, whose family has operated at Oktoberfest since the 19th century, has even warned of a potential “horror vision” in which traditional Munich lager gives way to Kölsch, pizza and döner kebabs.

A Bavarian court has already rejected an emergency attempt to halt construction of the 2026 Oktoberfest tents while the dispute plays out.

The larger legal challenge is scheduled to be heard September 11, just eight days before Oktoberfest opens in Munich.

Words to Drink By

“We don’t just write about beer at ACB. We write about what people might be thinking about on any given day while they’re drinking that beer.”― Tom Bobak, Founder & Editor-in-Chief American Craft Beer

Sapporo Shifting Canadian Beer Production To US

Sapporo is shifting some Duvel of its North American production from Canada to the US as it looks to limit the impact of new tariffs.

The Japanese brewing giant plans to move production of non-alcoholic beer destined for the US from its Canadian operations to an American facility by the first half of 2027.

The move comes as Sapporo faces a 50% US tariff on Canadian beer exports, adding significant costs to beer currently produced by its Ontario-based Sleeman Breweries subsidiary, which Sapporo acquired in 2006.

And the company, which recently sold its Stone Brewing property to Firestone Walker and Duvel USA, may be planning a bigger US production presence.

Sapporo is reportedly considering building or acquiring a brewery on the West Coast, as well as using a third-party contract brewer.

The shift is part of Sapporo’s larger push to expand outside Japan, where an aging and shrinking population has made international growth increasingly important to the company.

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