Travel will be this summer, late May. Trying last minute to decide if it's worthwhile to book lodging at one of the activley brewing monastaries around Munich vs adding an additional night to the Obersee Bodensee leg of the trip. Possibly considering Ettal, Andechs, Weihenstephan. Background: we are young-ish adult homebrewers with a love of history and the back door experience. Don't mind non-fancy lodging, but place great value on people, food and beverage. This is our second journey to Europe (Austria, Germany and Switz) after having done Belgium-Ireland-Scotland last year. I like to think we appreciate trying to pack in all the fun we can in the limited time available. If we did stay in one of these monastaries, it would be for one night - breaking a rule! - but if its worth it I'd be ok. Any thoughts?
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2338 posts
Weihenstephan is not a monastery brewery, it's run by the state of Bavaria. Andechs and Ettal do, as far as i know, not host visitors in the monastery. Ettal runs a hotel opposite to the abbey (Ludwig der Bayer). Both Andechs and Ettal offer guided tours to their breweries. Personally I'd prefer Ettal since the Andechs brewery is pretty big and modern and at a certain distance form the monastery an has nothing romantic in it. Your interests, however, might be met by Kloster Weltenburg at the Danube near Regensburg. Visits to the brewery (one of the oldest in Europe) are organized by a tour company in Regensburg:
https://stadtmaus.de/english-program/weltenburg-brewery-tour.html .
Of the other remaining monastery breweries in Bavaria the benedictine Abbey Scheyern has a hotel but I'm unsafe whether they offer tours to the brewery, Reutberg does not offer accomodation, and Mallersdorf and Kreuzberg are out of your way.
Posted by
TX
980 posts
I'd say that in general if you are not a religious pilgrim it is best not to go through the hassle of getting pilgrim accommodations for just one night (http://andechs.de/en/weitere-bereiche/service/visiting-groups/pilgrims/). If the brewery is your target interest this is more easily done with a day trip from Munich. Andechs is probably the most famous but I always enjoy Reutberg more (take S-Bahn to Holzkirchen and then it's a short taxi or bus ride to the brewery).
DJ
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2338 posts
but I always enjoy Reutberg more
Reutberg is a gem. Still, it's not a monastery brewery. It has been run by a cooperative since 1924. Nor can the remaining four Franciscan nuns, all over 80 years old, provide accommodation.
Posted by
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
425 posts
I loved our visit to Andechs. The beer is great. I long for the potato salad as well! We stayed in town at a small hotel. It actually had a meat market on the ground floor where we bought venison sausage to take on the rest of our journey!
Posted by
94 posts
If you go to Andechs, make sure you take in a meal at their restaurant on the outdoor patio. There's two restaurants- one that is more cafeteria style and a nicer one. We opted for the nicer one and thought it was amazing. The view of the surrounding area was beautiful and the food was great. It was a memorable experience for us.