My local beer garden: the Paulaner am Nockherberg

Munich's beer gardens are beautiful. The leafy chestnut trees provide a lovely cool respite from the humid summer heat. Back in the day, chestnut trees were planted to provide cooling for the beer cellars, so it is safe to say that only the oldest, most traditional breweries are graced with these chestnut canopies.

The Paulaner am Nockherberg is one of these old characterful breweries that used to be a monastery. There is a lush garden at the bottom of the small hill, with a staircase leading up to the beer hall. Its all old and quaint and not the way I would have pictured a beer garden at all before moving to Munich.

Monks started brewing beer here in 1634 - all only for themselves (about two hours out of town, at the Weltenberg Kloster cellar, they referred to beer as some kind of elixer of enlightenment). At some point the Nockherberg stopped being a monastery and a few years ago the Paulaner took over this cellar known at the Salvator-Keller. They brew a strong, dark beer here known as the Salvator, which is very propular.

Of course, as with most true beer gardens in Munich, it is not possible to order any smaller quantities of beer than a Maß (pronounced 'Maz') - which is a one litre mug. I'm getting better at holding the Maß, which is good, because Oktoberfest will be coming up soon and I need to be ready. Though I still prefer to go for the Radler, which is a type of shandy premixed with local lemonade in the barrel. I do like the taste of Bavarian beers, expecially the dark ones, but it's the quantities that get me. Bavarians don't really see beer as alcohol though, it's merely an important part of a good, healthy diet.

Many beer gardens in Munich don't serve food, a long standing tradition that is meant to protect the restaurants in the area. At the Nockherberg, though, they serve large portions of Bavarian delicacies. German sausages, brezen, deer and, at the moment, the delicious seasonal white asparagus. It is also here where I discovered the large, over-sized brezen. They are bigger than an average dining plate and make a good, salty snack to have with beer.

In fact, a beer and a brezel is more than enough of a dinner for the average lady - although, sometimes I still miss my mussels and bubbles dearly. Perhaps its time to explore a little bit beyond the city of beer.

It's all in the wrist of the beer holder

Well, so far I think I make a fairly good Bavarian. I already own a dirndl as well as a Deutsche Fussbal-bund fan jersey - and I am happy to have kraut with everything. However, there is one essential skill that I will need to step up with a bit of practice: holding a beer properly.

I watched Saturday's Germany-Portugal football game with some German friends at the Paulaner am Nockherberg in Munich.  Here the options were one litre beer mugs, or nothing. Having freshly moved over here from the Cape wine country, I am still getting used to drinking beer. Never mind those massive glasses.

When it comes to beer and football it seems the only options are; go big or go home. The problem with that is that I found myself utterly lacking in beer holding skills. While some of the women there were walking around with up to four beers held in one hand, I used both hands to support my beer when no one was looking.

What's more, with my consistency the party would have been over pretty soon if I had to finish a few litres of beer back to back before they get warm. The trick for keeping up with the drinkers and still have a beer at hand for a toast at any given time was to order the Radler, a (more or less) 50/50 mix of beer and German style lemonade. Quite refreshing and, of course, easier on the already high percentage of alcohol typical of the Bavarian beers.

It was all fun and games at the Paulaner am Nockherberg until the German football team set foot on the pitch. There was a lot riding on this game, especially for the Bavarians. Some winning celebrations were still outstanding after that recent doomsday at the Allianz Arena. This Euro 2012 game was a real nail-biting one too and everyone's eyes were silently glued to the big screen right up until the moment when German striker Mario Gomez scored a goal in the second half.

The only other time when I have ever seen that much joy and passion from the normally reserved German people was during the 4-0 win over Argentina in the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town. Perhaps the recent study by a Cologne based research institute is wrong. Germans are not lacking in 'joy genes' or pleasure DNA; they are simply selective about where they find their joy.

Street parties in the city lasted until late into the night and we ended up dancing off the beer (to cancel out all probability of a beer belly, of course) somewhere in the VIP area of a nightclub. While the absence of beer jugs here was a huge relief, my wrist still ached way more than my head today.