Beerfest: Fact Or Fiction?

Beerfest is a 2006 comedy film about two American brothers who travel to Germany to spread their grandfather's ashes during Oktoberfest. The brothers discover an underground drinking game tournament, Beerfest, and decide to enter. The cast of the film did drink beer on set, but it was non-alcoholic O'Doul's. When darker beers were required, the filmmakers added Diet Coke.

The cast drank non-alcoholic O'Doul's beer

The cast of Beerfest drank non-alcoholic O'Doul's beer for most of the filming. While O'Doul's is a non-alcoholic beer, it does have an alcohol content of 0.4 percent, compared to 5 percent for a regular Budweiser and 4.2 percent for Bud Light. This means it would take at least 10 bottles of O'Doul's to get the same intoxicating effect as one bottle of Bud Light.

O'Doul's was likely chosen because it looks and tastes like beer, without the same side effects as alcoholic beverages. This is important, as the cast consumes a lot of liquid throughout the movie. However, alcoholic beer was sometimes consumed towards the end of the day.

To create the appearance of darker beers, the filmmakers added Diet Coke to the O'Doul's. This was necessary as the movie is set in Germany during Oktoberfest, and drinking is central to the plot. The film also features a drinking game called "Das Boot", which involves drinking from a huge boot-shaped glass. This is a reference to the 1981 German film "Das Boot" ("The Boat"), in which actor Jürgen Prochnow, who plays an evil baron in Beerfest, appeared as a captain.

Actors drank real beer towards the end of filming days

The cast of Beerfest drank non-alcoholic O'Doul's during most of the filming. However, towards the end of filming days, the cast sometimes consumed real, alcoholic beer. When scenes called for darker beers, the filmmakers added Diet Coke to the O'Doul's to get the desired effect.

Director Jay Chandrasekhar, who also stars in the film, revealed that the idea for the film was conceived in a beer garden in Australia. The cast, comprised of Chandrasekhar's fraternity brothers, were in their police uniforms when they challenged the top five drinkers in the room to a drinking contest. Although they were winning, cast member Paul Soter started drinking and they quickly lost.

The beer pong was real

The 2006 comedy film Beerfest is about two American brothers who travel to Germany and compete in an underground beer-drinking competition during Oktoberfest. The film features many drinking games, including "Das Boot", which involves drinking beer from a huge boot-shaped glass.

While the cast did consume alcoholic beer towards the end of filming days, during filming, they drank non-alcoholic O'Doul's. When darker beers were required, the filmmakers added Diet Coke to the O'Doul's.

Every beer pong shot in the movie, except the final acrobatic shot by Jay Chandrasekhar, was a successful beer pong shot made by the cast.

The cast were fraternity brothers

The cast of Beerfest were indeed fraternity brothers. The comedy troupe Broken Lizard, comprising Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske, first met as members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Colgate University. They performed a combination of live stage sketches and short videos under the name "Charred Goosebeak", a name that still exists at Colgate today.

After graduation, the group reunited in New York City, performing at various clubs under the name "Broken Lizard". Over the next few years, their interests shifted from live material to filmed content. They wrote and acted in "Dante's Levels of Hell", a series of interstitial shorts for Comedy Central. They also made their first foray into long-form film, shooting the absurdist media spoof "The Tinfoil Monkey Agenda", which earned them a trip to the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival.

The group then wrote and starred in their first wide-release movie, "Super Troopers", which was released in 2002. The film enjoyed moderate theatrical success and later developed a cult following. This was followed by "Club Dread" in 2004, a parody of slasher films set at a tropical resort. In 2005, Chandrasekhar directed "The Dukes of Hazzard", in which all members of Broken Lizard appeared. This led to a deal with Warner Bros. for their third feature, "Beerfest", which was released in 2006.

The film was shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The 2006 comedy Beerfest was shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film's director, Jay Chandrasekhar, explained that the idea for the film came from a night in an Australian beer garden when he and his friends, wearing police uniforms, challenged the top drinkers in the room to a drinking contest.

Although the film is set in Colorado and Germany, Albuquerque stood in for both locations. Specific locations in the city included the Albuquerque Press Club, 123 Walter St NE (Great Gam Gam's House), 1312 Florida St NE (Drinking Party House), 1209 Florida St NE (Landfill's House), and 1208 Florida St NE (Todd's House).

The cast of Beerfest did drink real beer on set, but it was non-alcoholic O'Doul's. When scenes called for darker beers, the filmmakers added Diet Coke.

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