German Beer...Which Brewery to Visit?

Hi there, We use to stop at a brewery after skiing in the Bavarian alps on our way home. I'm going to ask my German friends if Private Landbrauerei Schönram is the same one! As a college student, I just went along with my German friends and rarely paid much attention, except to the incredible hand made stein the family gifted me that I carried back to the US!

I actually saved a very long, involved thread about German beer a few years ago. Hopefully it adds some other thoughts about beer. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/help-i-m-going-to-germany-and-know-nothing-about-beer

the best German brewery to visit

I guess that nobody knows all approximately 1,400 German breweries. Therefore it is more the question of "your" and not "the" best.

The 2025 awarded breweries of Deutsche Brauer-Bund you can find here.

Couple years ago, we visited the Weihenstephen Braueri in Freising, northwest of Munich. You take the UBahn S8 to Friesing, then a bus to the brewery. I paid in advance for a tour, and it was great, interesting tour through a few buildings, and then a lot of tasting. Then I walked to the Braustuberl (restaurant), where my wife was waiting. We had a great meal, bought some swag, and took the bus back to our hotel in Neufahrn. Weihenstephen is the worlds oldest brewery, from 1040 AD.

Out of all the world's great beers, Heifeweizen is my favorite. But as in the other thread, Belgium is the best country for a fantastic variety of great beers.

Btw: In Bavaria they tried an innovation, the ReUse Brew which people can taste at Munich Spring Festival. The beer is brewed from cleaned wastewater.

"The Technical University of Munich is collaborating with the city of Schweinfurt on recycling and aims to demonstrate what is already theoretically possible in water treatment today. To this end, Prof. Jörg Drewes from the Chair of Urban Water Management had 5,000 liters of wastewater transported from Schweinfurt to Munich to purify it there to drinking water quality, leaving it “trace-free.” Afterward, colleagues in Weihenstephan brewed it into beer. The message: to improve the image of wastewater. But as beautiful as the beer foam looks in the glass — there are emotional barriers to consuming it."

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Source: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/bayern/br-bier-der-zukunft-mit-wasser-aus-der-klaeranlage-104.html

Gotta agree with Mark. There are so many these days - and so much variety too - that the best brewery is probably the nearest one.

The Eisgrub-Bräu in Mainz had a delightful red ale on offer when I wandered in there last week. Some good food too. I'm sure my favorite brew/brewery will be a new one on my next visit.

I'm in the heart of Zoigl Bier culture in the Oberpfalz. Commune Brewery used by several Brewers in several small cities, Windischeschenbach, Neuhaus, Falkenberg and others. The Zoigl Stuben are generally open only one weekend a month and they rotate, so different Stubin each week. One type of Bier Zoigl. They rotate at the Commune Brewery to brew their Bier. Local fare to eat, Schlachtschüssel, Sulz. Obatala, Geräuchertes, Bratwurst etc. People come here from all over Germany, Chechia, Italy, etc. as part of Zoigl tourism. Thick Oberpfalzer dialect. Germans from outside the region have problems understanding when they lay it on thick. Some of the Brewers are also butchers so really good stuff. They are family run and operated. https://www.oberpfaelzerwald.de/fileadmin/opfwald/Dateien/1_Zoiglkalender_25-2026_Internet.pdf

Anyplace with beer can be worth a visit. But a couple that are worth the effort:

Klosterbrauerei Andechs, outside of Munich, an easy walk from the station, beer in an old abbey with a view over the countryside, good beer and good food.

Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg, another abbey, good beer, but the bonus is you can take the riverboat out of Regensburg (if the limited schedule works for you) or from Kelheim (More frequent) and cruise through the Danube Gorge to the abbey.

And then there is that pesky Czech beer mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Czech beer.... Oh yeah. I love that Budvar! The REAL Budweiser! We found a place on Lake Lucerne with it. What a treat.

As to brewing with wastewater: Considering the manner in which water is used in the world, all water is waste water. The only issue is how many steps removed from the .... waste moment.