Beer hug

Wolfgang Sesser. [Photos by Mike Peters/China Daily]

"Munich people can't live without it - my friends there go every single day. There's no normal life during those two weeks," he says, comparing the atmosphere to China's Spring Festival celebrations.In other parts of Germany, and in his Austrian hometown 140 kilometers east of Munich near the border of Bavaria, Oktoberfest casts a smaller shadow, he says. While many German communities seize the opportunity to make money and join the fun, the festivals tend to last over a weekend.

But the Munich party draws fans from all over, he says.

One is a good friend of Sesser's, originally from Munich, who lived in Beijing for 20 years. " He always took his vacations in Munich during the Oktoberfest, then came back to Beijing to enjoy the Oktoberfest parties here!" He's now retired, Sesser says, and no prizes for guessing where the friend lives these days.

The German embassy has traditionally brought a group of its Chinese followers on Sina Weibo to the Kempinski hotel for a night of the festivities, and German businesses entertain many Chinese customers there as well.

The Oktoberfest at Beijing Kempinski runs from Oct 10-26.

Sesser's own beer-drinking habits have changed with time.

"I started in the beer business late, in my 20s, as a buyer not a brewer. When I started making it, I enjoyed learning the background," he says.

The job makes you appreciate beer quality more, and the differences, he adds. "Young brewers tend to embrace darker and stronger beers. As I get older, I drink less - I have more sense! But I also take more pleasure in savoring a good beer in the mouth."

Meanwhile, there is work to be done. Sesser watches as his colleagues scoop pellets of powdered hops into the vast beer kettle, then clamber down a two-story-tall ladder back to the control panel on the ground level.

Soon he takes a break, offering his visitor a tall, thin glass of light wheat beer, a summer treat he won't be making much longer.

"Weissbier," he sighs. "It's like milk in the morning."