Inns, beer gardens and traditional brewery tents - Munich breweries - Beer Day on April 23rd
Six Munich beers you should try! ... So off to Munich! ... - the beautiful city on the Isar is always worth a visit with its beer festivals...
Munich has six major breweries: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Spaten (GERMAN)
Munich. In the heart of the city, the beer in a beer garden changes every five to six weeks: in the beer garden on the Viktualienmarkt, visitors can enjoy a different Munich beer in the Stehausschank or in the beer garden every few weeks. You can also enjoy all six types of beer at the Munich Oktoberfest on the Theresienwiese, in the inns and beer gardens or in the traditional brewery tents at the well-known folk festivals. All you can say again and again is: a warm welcome to the beautiful cosmopolitan city of Munich... or as the Bavarian in the beer tent says to the tourists: "Sit here, then you'll have more!" And: the barley juice flows like “gold” into the glass “safes”. A wonderfully golden wheat beer and a cool light beer... Investing in beer is always a safe investment for palate enjoyment... Link to our article: April 23, 2024 - "German Beer Day" - The Purity Law - April 23, 2024 - "German Beer Day", Purity Law and beer test with lederhosen: If the bench stuck, the beer passed... So off to Munich! ... - the beautiful city with its beer festivals is always worth a trip... Apart from water, malt, hops and yeast, nothing is allowed in the brewing kettle - beer sommeliers know all types
A beer mug in the Munich beer tent, photo: Helga Waess |
Augustiner-Bräu - The Augustiner Brewery is the oldest beer brewery in Munich
The brewery was founded in 1328, making it the oldest still existing brewery in Munich. The Augustiner-Bräu always avoided advertising and always used a bulbous bottle, while other breweries used the narrow NRW bottle for bottling. The Augustiner Brewery is located in the south of the railway tracks on Landsberger Straße at Hackerbrücke. Anyone who drives by knows the long brick wall.
But back to history: the monks of the Augustinian Order produced the first beer in 1328 that was popular throughout Bavaria. The "Augustiner" was privatized in 1817. The Augustiner Hell is still used today as a label decoration for the bulbous Augustinian monks.
Book cover - Peter Hince, QUEEN INTIM, shows Freddie Mercury with a bottle of Augustinian beer, photo: A. Waess |
Freddie Mercury, who also lived in Munich for almost 10 years, is shown on the book cover "QUEEN INTIM" with a bottle of Augustiner beer. Peter Hince, the photographer, author and head roadie for the rock group QUEEN in Munich for many years, took the photo in the Musicland studios in the Arabella House. Queen with Freddie Mercury by Peter Hince, Munich - book tip - music history rock group QUEEN.
Our artikel in this blog - read: Peter Hince "QUEEN INTIMATE. Groupies, Gin and Glitter - On Tour with Queen" - The photo exhibition with Queen photos by Peter Hince begins at the end of October 2023 at the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in Munich. From the opening act of "Mott The Hoople" to the most successful rock band of all time - Peter Hince accompanied QUEEN for over 10 years
The waiter brings a few beer mugs to the guests at the Munich Oktoberfest, photo: Helga Waess |
The Hacker-Pschorr brewery was founded in 1417, in the late Middle Ages
Hacker-Pschorr beer was first mentioned in a document in 1417. Back then, the brewery was already located on Sendlinger Straße not far from the town hall (Old Town Hall - today the toy museum). Today the “Altes Hackerhaus” restaurant is still located here.
2 Maß Hacker Pschorr im Festzelt auf dem Münchner Oktoberfest, Foto: A. Waess |
From the 18th century onwards, the Munich couple Joseph Pschorr and Maria Theresia Hacker led their COMPANY to the top of the Munich breweries. Due to the division of inheritance, the Hackerbrauerei and Pschorrbrauerei split up and two types of beer were created. Incidentally, since 1972, brewing has been carried out again under the double name "Hacker-Pschorr".
The former brewery site was south of the Hackerbrücke. Today Hacker-Pschorr belongs to the Paulaner Barauerei Group. The 13 beers from Hacker-Pschorr, some of which are only brewed seasonally, are bottled exclusively in swing-top bottles.
The Munich Purity Law was celebrated at the Oktoberfest in Munich, photo: Helga Waess |
Löwenbräu was founded behind the Frauenkirche in the Löwengrube
It was first brewed in the Middle Ages (late 14th century). The title "Löwenbräu" as a trademark appears in the documents for the first time in 1746 (Munich beer brew directory). In the 19th century, the Brey family brewery became the largest brewery in Munich. The Löwenbräu festival beer later came from Nymphenburger Straße, where we can still find the Löwenbräukeller with a beer garden on Stiglmaierplatz. By the way, the famous strong beer festival and the “Night of the Costume” are big hits here.
Lion in the gable of the Löwenbräu festival tent on the Theresienwiese - in the background the Bavaria with the Hall of Fame, photo: A. Waess |
Since 1997, the Spaten-Franziskaner-Löwenbräu Group has operated under the brewing group Interbrew, now InBev.
Brewer on the gable of the Hofbräuhaus on Platzl in Munich, photo: A. Waess (cover art-culture blog) |
The Hofbräu from the internationally famous Hofbräuhaus am Platzl in Munich
The song “There is a Hofbräuhaus in Munich…” is world-famous and promotes the beer from the heart of the city. The beer has been brewed since 1589, when William V founded his ducal brewery. The brewery has been located on Innere Wiener Straße since the 19th century, where the spectacular, famous Hofbräukeller with a fabulous beer garden attracts visitors.
Hofbräu festival tent at the Munich Oktoberfest, photo: A. Waess |
In 1939 the Hofbräu came into state hands. The Staatliches Hofbräuhaus brewery in Munich is probably the best-known beer brand and was once founded in the Alter Hof. The well-known Hofbräuhaus on Platzl not far from the Viktualienmarkt is now one of the most important sights. Brewing is now taking place just outside the city, near the exhibition grounds.
Hofbräuhaus am Platzl in Munich, photo A. Waess |
The Paulaner Brewery with the monk "Brother Barnabas"
The Paulaner Brewery was founded by monks in the Au district of Munich. The year was 1634 when the monks of the Paulaner Order brewed a beer that went down in history as the Paulaner festival beer and is still served at the Oktoberfest today.
Paulaner Munich is transported to the Oktoberfest on floats, photo: A. Waess |
What was initially only enjoyed by the monks soon flowed down the throats of beer lovers in Munich as bock beer based on Brother Barnabas' old recipe. The headquarters of the Paulaner brewery moved a few years ago (2016) from the famous Giesinger Nockherberg, known for the strong beer festival with the famous politician Derblecken (ridicule), to Munich-Langwied.
The brewery's headquarters are still in the Au on Ohmüllerstrasse and above is the Paulaner am Nockherberg, a popular beer garden and venue for the annual strong beer festival with a speech and a musical play. The Paulaner Brewery is one of the sponsors of FC Bayern Munich.
Paulanerturm and Löwenbräuturm during the construction of the Munich Oktoberfest, photo: A. Waess |
Spatenbräu - The “Spaten” brand tapped the first “Münchner Hell”
The famous Spaten brewery also came into being in the Middle Ages: founded in 1397. It all started in Neuhauser Gasse. Then the brewery moved to Marsstrasse - today the administrative headquarters - Like Löwenbräu and Franziskaner, the Spaten brewery belongs to the international beer group AB InBev.
Spaten brought out “Münchner Hell” in 1894, which quickly became a bestseller. There is now a visitor museum on the former brewery site and the beer is brewed in the former brewhouse of Löwenbräu AG.
LINK _ Our article about the Munich breweries in the art culture blog: OKTOBERFEST: The Oktoberfest beer 2022 flows into the beer mugs. The Munich OKTOBERFEST beer: The Oktoberfest beer 2022. Six large Munich breweries deliver the beer to the Munich Oktoberfest