This year, an ounce of gold buys an Oktoberfest visitor no fewer than 240 liters of beer – an absolute record that has never even come close to being reached since records for the gold/Oktoberfest beer ratio began in 1950. For comparison: in 2006, an ounce bought just 63 liters of beer, and even last year, which was extremely bullish for gold, thirsty gold owners got no more than 186 liters. Has a liter of Oktoberfest beer gotten cheaper since last year, then? Not at all: as it does every year, the price of an Oktoberfest beer has risen – though only moderately compared with the previous year, to a still-hefty €15.90.
76 years of the gold/Oktoberfest beer ratio
Numerous ratios have already been created to analyze how the purchasing power of fiat currencies has developed against gold. Among the best known are the Gold-Mac Index, which compares the precious metal with a hamburger, and the iPhone/gold ratio, which tracks the price development of a popular smartphone against that of the precious metal. All of these ratios aim to illustrate the loss of purchasing power of the euro and the US dollar over time – or, conversely, gold's function as a long-term store of value and a hedge against currency devaluation.
93 liters on average over the long term
The trajectory of the gold/Oktoberfest beer ratio shows just how volatile gold can be in the short term: in 1950, an ounce still bought 91 liters, but by 1970 just 48 – though in the meantime the price of beer had also risen sharply. In 2024, it was 148 liters; in 2025, already 186 liters per ounce. Gold performed extremely well in both years, but Oktoberfest beer prices also climbed sharply over the same period. The bottom line: as a long-term gold investor, you get through Oktoberfest more cheaply than anyone else – to the extent one can call anything at the Wiesn "cheap".