The beer gardens are ready to go, but Peter doesn't play along. The innkeepers in the Würmtal check the weather forecast three times a day, open at every opportunity - and yet more rarely than they have for a long time.
Würmtal – If you go to the beer garden now, you usually need a thick jacket and have it almost to yourself. "It's bitter for everyone who runs a beer garden. It can only get better, it doesn't get any worse," says Klaus Zörner from Waldheim in Gräfelfing.
Johann Barsy, innkeeper at the Forsthaus Kasten, explains: "May 1st and Mother's Day are the best days of the year, they're gone." But the innkeepers in the Würmtal seem relaxed. Like Karl Valentin from Planegg, Barsy says: "I'm happy when it rains, because if I'm not happy, it's raining." Sabri Konxheli has been the landlord of the Kraillinger Brewery for thirteen years and says: "I've never seen a spring like this before." But he remains optimistic. "It can still be." Zörner says: "We'll tick off May and get started in June."
Two beer garden days so far
In fact, due to the wet and cold weather, the innkeepers had to write off more than just a month this year. Konxheli says he has only had two full days in his beer garden so far. "Normally, you already have them in February." Since April, the beer garden of the Forsthaus Kasten has been ready to welcome guests. The balance sheet is poor. "We've been open a few times, but only for a few days." It was a very good day, plus three and a half good days, Barsy said.
On Mother's Day, a beer garden host usually does very good business. Konxheli: "Mother's Day was fully booked inside, we could have filled the restaurant five times. But we couldn't take anything, nothing worked outside." Because the weather forecast for last Sunday was so bad, Barsy also decided not to open the beer garden at the Forsthaus Kasten in the first place. One family was lucky. She met Barsy on the spot and got a round of drinks.
"You need a certain amount to make it worthwhile to unlock," explains the innkeeper. Like his colleagues, he currently studies the weather forecast three times a day and decides accordingly whether it is worth opening. Barsy always announces on his website at noon whether he opens or not.
No to patio heaters
The innkeepers in the Würmtal reject patio heaters for climate protection reasons, and only some have blankets. "People put their zamperl on it, who is going to wash the blankets?" asks Zörner. Depending on the weather forecast, the innkeepers buy and order the food for the beer garden. Peter Schweizer from the Pe.Es. Kottmeier in Planegg is glad that he has been in the business for 40 years. "When you're just starting out, it's difficult, you can despair." Zörner says he currently goes shopping every day – and then smaller quantities than usual. "That's an extreme amount of extra work, but how else are you going to regulate it?"
Konxheli has high hopes for next Thursday, Father's Day. "This is one of the strongest days of the year," says Barsy. He has knuckle of pork and burgers – even if the weather isn't that nice. "On that day, people's pain threshold is somewhere else, you have to get out of there."
For next Sunday, May 21, the landlord of the Forsthaus Kasten also wishes for dry weather, because from 13 p.m. he expects around 400 motorcyclists in the beer garden. "It's a spectacle," says Barsy. The participants of the "Gentleman's Ride" would come finely dressed in knickerbockers and tweed on classic motorcycles.
The landlords of the beer gardens in the Würmtal remain optimistic. Barsy learned 47 years ago in a beer garden: "We know this situation." Peter Schweizer says: "We had three years of super nice weather." But he also knows that May is not so pretty. He hopes "that people will long to go to the beer garden," and everyone will come as soon as it's warmer and the sun is shining. "We are well equipped, the staff is there," says Johann Barsy on behalf of his colleagues.
The beer in the beer garden in the Würmtal is also much cheaper than it will be at the Oktoberfest this year. Usually less than ten euros, often less than nine and in the Waldheim in Gräfelfing even less than eight euros per measure.
