The first check for 2016 has been received!

Schwein Schwert had such a good time with the Hacker Herren that as soon as he returned home, he dropped a payment in to lock in his spot for 2016.  I guess he didn't want to wait until the official date in January when we open up reservations for the 2016 trip.  It got to my home before i did!!  #You think you know...But you have no idea!

Vedo is the worlds fastest beer chugger... And he's a member of the Hacker Herren!!! Prost

Just to show, that you think you know, but you have no idea...  Vedo chugged two liters BACK TO BACK.  I've been going to Oktoberfest for 20 years and I have NEVER seen this pulled off, let alone in 15 seconds!  He had to do it that fast in order to make it Instagramable!!

Mutig Mick wrote a nice letter summarizing his feelings after Oktoberfest 2015

I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you how incredibly grateful I am to have been invited in to the Hacker Herren and how much I appreciate all the effort you put in to making this all come together over the past few months.

 One of my favorite comedy troupes, The National Lampoon, once did a skit where a guy was telling a girl (Trying to talk her in to sex) that if all her life she heard how delicious a steak was and never had one, then when finally she tasted steak, no matter how perfect the cut or how well it was cooked, it could never ever live up to her expectations. I have to admit that as a rookie, reading all of the emails, contemplating in my mind how great it sounded and must be, and keeping the Hacker Herren motto in mind; I was having a bit of anxiety as to whether or not I would be a bit disappointed. Wow, was I wrong. It was far better than I could have ever expected! 

 

 In my 51 years I have had some awesome times, visited some amazing places, and thoroughly enjoyed some unique experiences; last week was by far the best yet. Thank you. 

 A couple of the Hacker Herren and I have already made contact via email and will, no doubt, be visiting one another when we visit our respective parts of the Country.

Midwest Mafia Getting Their Training Off To A Great Start In Chicago

When Bad Monkey comes into town, it is a great excuse for a training session.  Fresh off a three day training session at the All Star Game, Bad Monkey led the boys through their paces in the Windy City.

Training Is In Full Swing Around The USA for Oktoberfest 2015 With The Hacker Herren

The Steinys are the only family with two ROYs.  Will the Vondys or Dickinsons join this elite club?

The Natural and Pocket think they don't need their drinking shoes during training

Doc's lederhosen will be broken in by Ofest 2015.  Spilled beer and brat smoke is good for the seasoning

On looks alone, one of you will win ROY 15!!!

Nice Start Mav!!  

Tampa...Look out!!!  Norski and Wild Bill are training in your town!

Obviously the Rookie will remove the orange slice if he wants any chance at ROY 15

See... a quick learner

Video from security cameras at Hotel 2013

Closed Circuit video from Hotel 2013 ck out 3:00 and 9:00 marks. Click here to view

Here is the star of the video... Rabbit!!

Hacker Herren 2014 Video

Hacker Herren Oktoberfest 2014 video highlight click to view

Rico and his team at Ars Vivendi Hotel are the BEST

Upon arrival in Munich, each year Rico and his team take great care of the Hacker Herren.   We occupy the entire hotel for our three days.  Rico and the team do a great job answering all of our questions, meeting our needs, and greeting us with smiles when our heads are pounding!!!  Thanks to they guys at Hotel Ars Vivendi!  We highly recommend that you stay there for any of your trips to Munich.  Prost Rico!

Hacker Herren has sold out OFEST 2015

As incredible as it sounds, we sold out our entire group of 50 people in ONE DAY!    We are already putting people onto the waiting list for Ofest 2015.

Don't forget the dates for our trip are Sept 24-26, 2015

Rookies, you need to ensure that you buy lederhosen as they are mandatory for our group these days.  You can see a link on this blogsite for a vendor of lederhosen.  We are going to have about >20 rookies this year so another good crop is getting ready to compete for the ROY '15.

Prost!

Who's going to try to run through the gauntlet of Hacker Herren???

Hacker Herren Reunion Party Slated for Jan 29, 2015

Our annual party is set for Ruby Hill Winery on Jan 29 from 6:30-10:00.  Lots of good hendl, bier, pretzels, and snacks will be served along with lots of laughs and good times.  If you want to attend, RSVP via the evite that you should have already received or give me an email.  All are welcome. Bring your friends.  This will be the FIRST AND POSSIBLY ONLY opportunity to reserve your spot for Oktoberfest 2015.  It will sell out very quickly as usual.

  Prost!

Welcome to Luke "The Luker" Knott- ROY 2032

In Classic Hacker Herren Style, Doid and his wife welcomed ROY 2032 into this world during the Wiesn.  Billable and his wife Sandy are proud grandparents (their 5th). 

Doid and Billable both paid for 2014. Doid backed out about 6 months ago when he did the math... Billable was hoping the baby was going to be on time (a week prior to Ofest) so he didn't cancel until the day he was supposed to fly to Munich. 

Nonetheless, Billable and Doid celebrated Ofest in the hospital with a couple masses and their lederhosen.  We can congratulate both of them in person during Ofest 2015.  Doid told me to keep his money from 2014 and apply it to 2015.

Prost to the new member of the Hacker Herren, Luke Knott.

Who Says White Men Can't Dance???

This must be enjoyed

Chive On, Taylor Steinbeck is 2014 Rookie of the Year

Taylor Steinbeck brings the ROY 14 award back to the 909!  His father was the original ROY for the Hacker Herren.  Taylor made his old man proud by bring the prestigious hat home with him.  He fell in love at least 3x/day (and broke lots of Frauleins' hearts), enjoyed the great Hacker Pschorr beer, and mingled with all of the guys throughout the weekend.   He was up early each day, at the tent at opening and stayed until the closing.  He lived the Oktoberfest Spirit for all three days. Congrats Taylor Steinbeck, ROY 14.

What Does It Take To Become A Rookie Of The Year (ROY)

The committee has been asked this many times. There is no objective answer.  It was originally created to recognize the person who best embodies the spirit of Oktoberfest .

The committee members each cast one vote for ROY. The committee consists of all former ROYs plus The executive committee of Hoff, Pudge, Bad Monkey, and The Godfather (Vondy used to be on the committee but due to lack of priorities he's on the outs and hoping to get back in)

So, what does it take to become ROY?

Here's a chronology with a sentence or two description of each ROY

ROY 03  Der Stinker  Visited with everyone, drank as much as anyone, made friends with the locals, smiled and laughed for 3 days straight.  We created the award to recognize how awesome of a time he had at Oktoberfest. He also came up with the coveted Green Hat as the trophy.

ROY 04 Vondy's dad  70+ years old, had one or two masses  per day, jovial, friendly, funny stories, had a great time all around

ROY 05  LarBud  Larry is a Brain surgeon and on the flight over resuscitated a person on the airplane. If that wasn't enough, he partied like a rockstar for 3 days 

ROY 06 Uberstud  Ronnie is also a brain surgeon.  Have you seen the video of Ronnie's dance?  Nuf said. If not, look for Ronnies Dance on Youtube. It has over 13000 views

ROY07  Seven What do we say about 7?  He dances, drinks, stomps on the tables, meets all the local people and is non stop high energy from 10:00-22:30

ROY 08 Blackout  Met every single cute girl (and some married ones) in the tent, brought them over to the tables to introduce them to the gang, sings like he's in the shower, and can carry 12 masses at one time.  First member of the Midwest Mafia to take the title east of the Mississippi

ROY 09 Vedo  Little Mikey is the only ROY to ever pass out at the table.  He won one for the thumb.Plus he can outchug virtually everyone except his dad!

ROY10  D Unit  A schoolteacher that called in sick with "pink eye" during the first weeks of school so he could attend.  Traded his plastic Casio watch for a $50k Rolex for the weekend and made friends with everyone in the tent, especially the local talent.  Was going to attend this year but has a baby that is coming any minute

ROY11  Hammer Despite  one NEVER having to get into a taxi or a bus, he wound up on a bus at the end of the night and got a tap on the shoulder from the driver to tell him this is the end of the line.  He speaks no German, but pointed to his shoulder with the hotel on it and managed to find a taxi to take him the 30km back to the hotel

ROY12 Cirrhosis Maximus paraded around Munich with a Roman Emperor's helmet all weekend.  Made friends throughout the tent

ROY13 Drunkenstein  was the first guy who acted like a frat bro and still won the ROY award. He did it with a great spirit, traded shirts with an RAF pilot, and met local people throughout the weekend.

ROY 14  Don't know who, but i expect this person will have a great time meeting the Hacker Herren, the local people, will recruit some local talent to have a few masses with the Hacker Herren, will not be the drunkest dude at the table, will get some food afterward with the gang, will tell funny stories, will help anyone in need, and will embody the Spirit of Oktoberfest

Prost to all the Rookies.  "You think you know, but you have no idea"- ROY10

Herr Hasselhoff accepting ALS Challenge

Hacker ALS Ice bucket challenge

A Mass will cost you just under 10 Euros this year at the Hacker tent

This costs the beer in the large tents

Marquee	Price of beer in 2014	Beer Award 2013
Crossbowmen	10.05	9.85
Augustinian	9.80	9.60
Bräurosl	9.95	9.80
Fischer-Vroni	10.00	9.80
Hacker	9.95	9.80
Hofbräuhaus	9.95	9.75
Beetle Oktoberfest tavern	10.00	9.80
Löwenbräu	10.10	9.85
Marstall	9.95
Ochsenbraterei	9.90	9.70
Paulaner	9.95	9.80
Schottenhammel	10.10	9.85
Protect Marquee	10.05	9.80
Wine Tent (white beer)	15.20	15.00

2013 Hacker Herren Video-created by Dee

You think you know...but you have no idea explained by Bear Man

Thank you notes from Bear Man

(Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for the idea)

·         Thank you, strange man sleeping in my bed, for the great story. And for not stealing anything when you left the room.

·         Thank you, Charlie from Mike’s Bikes, for the excellent tour of Munich.

·         Thank you, bench that pops up on one end when someone gets up, for showing me a new color of green under my toenail after slamming down on my toe.

·         Thank you, Hacker Pschorr, for the delicious nectar!

·         Thank you, songs stuck in my head, for still being there 3 weeks later.

·         Thank you, strange person that gave me a pack of tube socks, for the pillow.

·         Thank you, everyone around me, for putting up with the excited kid that ate all the cookies Christmas morning.

·         Thank you, Hill of Shame, for reminding me to get my ass back to the hotel.

·         Thank you, Chicago Mafia, for including me as we walked thru the airports. Knowing where to go, and where to plug in devices, was really helpful!

·         Thank you, superhot 25 yr old brunette from Colonge, for thinking that I am worthy. I will never ever forget the phrase “You want to make par-tee?”

·         Thank you, United Airlines, for the safe flight. And for seating me next to the HUGE old lady that I shared my seat with on the way over.

·         Thank you, Anna and Sophie. Your patience outshines your beauty, and that is a tough act to follow.

·         Thank you, ferris wheel, for being my guiding beacon as I tried to find my way home from the bar.

·         Thank you, the shakes, for going away.

·         Thank you, police station that closes at 2am, for not keeping me out too late.

·         Thank you, Hammer, for the invitation. And Herr Hoff for the organization.

·         Thank you, former Rookies of the Year, for considering me in your voting. I am honored to be considered among such tough competition!

·         Thank you, everyone that offered me money, I can honestly say that this group does not leave a man behind!

·         Thank you, salt, for being the #1 ingredient in everything I ate.

·         And most of all, thank you HACKER HERREN! You guys know how to do things right. You paved the way for the rest of us, set a fantastic example, and are truly a great group of guys. This trip was like going to the Super Bowl but with 50 yard line seats and a concierge. Ken, you DA MAN.