Oktoberfest is back in Germany after a two-year pandemic interruption — the same bicep-challenging beer mugs, fat-dripping pork knuckles, pretzels the size of dinner plates, men in leather shorts and women in cleavage-baring traditional dresses.
But while brewers are more than glad to see the return of the Bavarian capital's sudsy tourist centerpiece, both they and visitors are under pressure from inflation in a way that could scarcely be imagined the last time it was held in 2019.
