Munich city price list puts the 1-liter stein between €14.80 and €15.90; in one tent, mineral water reaches €15.33
Munich's Oktoberfest, which began on September 19 and runs until October 4, has a contrast this year that has become a talking point in the German press: in some tents, people who order water pay more than those who order beer. The official price list, published by the Munich city government's Department of Labor and Economic Development, puts the one-liter stein of festival beer, the Mass, between €14.80 and €15.90, compared with €14.50 to €15.80 in 2025. The average rose 2.38%, from €15.25 to €15.61.
The most talked-about case is Kufflers Weinzelt, the wine tent, where a liter of mineral water costs €15.33, more than the cheapest beer at the festival, at €14.80, sold at two smaller venues, the Familienplatzl and the Museumszelt. At the exchange rate used by G1, which published a Deutsche Welle report on the subject, that is about R$ 90 versus R$ 87. At the Bräurosl, a liter of soft drink costs €15.80, ten cents less than the beer stein in the same tent. Across the festival, water averages €11.13 per liter, and Spezi, a mix of cola and orange soda common in Germany, €12.84.
Another detail of the price list: alcohol-free beer costs, on average, slightly more than regular beer, €15.73 per liter versus €15.61. In most tents the two cost the same; at Kufflers Weinzelt, which does not list festival beer, the alcohol-free one reaches €18.40.
The city does not fix the prices. Each tent operator sets its own, and the municipality only checks that they are in line with those charged by the city's large restaurants and breweries, the Deutsche Welle report explains. Among the big tents, only the Augustiner-Festhalle comes in below €15, with the Mass at €14.90. At the Paulaner-Festzelt, the stein costs €15.80, the same as at the Hacker-Festzelt and the Hofbräuhaus-Festzelt; the Armbrustschützen-Festzelt, Bräurosl and Löwenbräu-Festzelt charge the ceiling of €15.90. Paulaner, present at the festival since the 19th century according to the brewery itself, has labels on sale in Brazil, such as Paulaner Münchner Hell and Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier.
For those who don't want to pay for water, there is a way out: the festival has ten free drinking fountains, where unbreakable containers brought from home can be filled, according to the newspaper Sonntagsblatt. Glass bottles are not allowed.
Sources: City of Munich, Oktoberfest 2026 price list (September 30, 2026), G1/Deutsche Welle (September 29, 2026), Sonntagsblatt (September 15, 2026), Paulaner (September 30, 2026).
