Beery Boisterousness Might Go Plastic

"We cleaned up almost 26 tonnes of broken glass on the floor of my tent," at last year's beer festival, said beer garden owner Wiggerl Hagn. "These cups weigh around a kilogram (2.2 pounds) less than those made out of glass," he said. "The waitresses won't have to carry such heavy loads anymore."

Hagn said he discovered the plastic cups during a trip to Moscow, and thought they would make a good replacement for the huge one-liter (1.6-pint) glasses in which beverages are usually served at the annual Oktoberfest.

However he does acknowledge that there are drawbacks to the new technology. "A dull 'plop', rather than satisfying 'clink', is heard when glasses are raised and touched together, and of course tradition will suffer", he said.

Hagn plans first to try the idea out at his own beer garden before risking it all in Munich in October. "We'll have to wait and see what the patrons think," he said.