Beer Monestary in Bavaria/Austria

I think the greatest beer I have ever had in Germany was in Freilassing last year. I don't exactly remember the name; I think it was Wieniger, and it was brewed in Traunstein (or maybe I was just in the mood for beer that night). I have also had Klösterbrau, very popular in the northern Black Forest, brewed in Alpirsbach.

Weihenstephan brewery (www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de), in Freising, just north of Munich, near the airport, is the oldest brewery in the world.

Andechs is a neat place. We were there in June but the weather was terrible so there were not too many drinking beer outside. It's amazing that monks ran such a profitable entity....beer. But they did and this place booms on the weekends with hords of beer drinkers. The inability to get there via any form of transporation is bad however. If one does not arrive at the train station at the right time you'll either have to wait a ton or get a cab.

I went to Andechs in October '07. I had planned to take a certain S-Bahn which had a connecting bus, all for the same 4 zone fare (I think I used a Gesamtnetz Single Tageskarte for about €10. Due to mechanical difficulty, that S-Bahn was canceled and I had to take the following one, 20 minutes later, so I missed the MVV bus. However, there was a private bus waiting for the train. That bus was not covered by the MVV Tageskarte. The fare was €2,20. I didn't have to wait or call a taxi. Before you start, check the Bahn or MVV schedules and leave downtown on one of the S-Bahn that will be met by the bus. There are 70-74 min connections leaving at 7:06, 8:31, 9:06, 10:31, 12:51, and 13:26. Some people walk to the monastary from the Herrsching station. It's not far.

Just went to Andechs last month... wanted to point out a mis-print in Rick's book. The correct S line is S8, not S5 as indicated in the book. We ended up taking a cab up and back to the station, had missed the bus and didn't have a lot of time to wait around. As I recall it was 11 Euros. Best roasted pork amongst the many we tasted during our entire stay in Germany!

Actually, Monica, the correct line IS the S5. Andechs is just outside of Herrsching, on the SE side, and Herrsching is the last station on the S5 line. I believe there might also be buses from Geltendorf, end of the S8 line, but you would go right by the Herrsching station. (There are also buses from Starnberg, on the S6 line. In fact the bus from Herrsching Bahnhof to Andechs goes on the Starnberg.) See the map at www.mvv-muenchen.de/web4archiv/objects/download/5/schnellbahnnetz_2010.pdf.

Monica might be on to something. Although the official MVV Schnellbahnnetz plan shows the line to Geltendorf as S8, and the line to Herrsching as S5 (and it was S5 in 2007 when I took it, other plans on the MVV website are now showing S8 going to Herrsching and S4 going to Geltendorf. They seem to be changing the numbering system but not done yet. Sorry Monica. You were right, but so was Rick's book when it was written.

The interesting ramification of this change is that the other end of the S8 line goes to the airport. So, are they going to keep the time of departure from Herrsching, which will mean changing the times of the S8 at the airport, or will they keep the departure time at the airport the same and change the arrival time at Herrsching. This would also mean shuffling the times on the line to Geltendorf, which is also the line that the regional train to Füssen uses.

Alas, a phone call for me allowed Lee to perform his own self-flagellation ;-)...............It doesn't help things when Andechs' website still says 'S5', either. This was discussed here a few weeks ago - there's now only S1-4, S6-8, S20, and S27 - for the time being...they DO like to change routes and numbers up with some frequency. Another good reminder to ALWAYS get new city and transportation maps when you arrive in town!

One point for a rental car!

I did like Andechs as well, and actually stayed the night at a hotel in town. Real nice place. In my humble opinion, Augustiner Brau brewed in Munich is the best beer in the world.

Minus one hundred points for drinking and driving. BTW, when I was there a few years ago, I got to the food counters a little before lunch time. There were no lines. I got a piece of the port, a pretzel, and a beer, then went over and sat at a bench, back to the counters, to eat it. When I finish what I had, I thought, "I'd like some more, in particular, another beer". I turned around and the lines were now monstrous. Lesson: get what you want the first time through. You might not get a second chance.

If, like us, you don't drink you can really enjoy the atmosphere and nosh at Andechs, then get back into our car and continue the drive to Salzburg or Wurzburg. We really enjoy pit stops at Andechs.

Lee ain't lyin' about the lines at Andechs, but it's worth it. Take your nearly-finished beer with you as you stand in line...And is a 'piece of the port' similar to a 'piece of the rock'? ;-) [note to self - must never misspell on the 'Helpline'] And to follow after Nigel - the scenery there is GORGEOUS (in my humble opinion) with great views. Even the super-thick fog was very 'atmospheric' on our last visit. Patricia, my husband broke his Andechs stein; please being him another one ;-)......Two (among many) places on our 'Next Time' list for Munich are Forschungsbrauerei (http://www.forschungsbrauerei.de/english.html) and Bräustüberl Tegernsee (http://www.braustuberl.de/). On the last one you'll have to keep hitting the 'Google Translate' button to read it in English. The first one is in Munich; the second one in Tegernsee, about an hour (they say) south of Munich. The first one serves only their beer there, and both are mainly full of Germans/locals. There's a video on the Tegernsee site of people eating weißwürst in a hot air balloon; I thought I was going to have an attack - How great THAT would be!!! The second one is IN an OLD monastery...but no monks today. Both are very highly rated for their beer and food, and friendliness...OH - those two, and Weihenstephan, and Augustiner Bräu (Salzburg) are brewed on the premises...yum...

"Tegernsee, about an hour (they say) south of Munich". Yup. According to the Bahn schedule, about 1h2m from Muenchen Hbf by BOB (yeah, really, Bayerische Oberlandbahn). BOB goes south to Holzkirchen, then splits into three lines going to Bad Tölz, Tegernsee, and Bayrischzell.

YEA! For once, "about an hour" means "about an hour"! And we all know that Holzkirchen is on line S3 these days...formerly S5...formerly S2...;-)

Rob says: Augustiner Brau brewed in Munich is the best beer in the world. SO TRUE. I loved their Dunkel version. Fantastic beer.

Rob also said, "One point for a rental car" and "and actually stayed the night at a hotel in town". No drinking and driving, just a very unsteady walk down to the hotel. I highly recommend the hotel at the bottom of the hill. They have a butcher shop and make their own venison sausage that was fantastic!

Thank you for all the good information Last year we went to the Augustina Brewery in Munich and my husband enjoyed the Dunkel. I mentioned the Weltenburer Kloster. We went to it via boat up the Danube which was a beautiful trip.So if you go to Regenburg it is not far away. I also mentioned Straubing which is east of Munich on the Danube. They have in late Aug. a festival that is second in size to Octoberfest.Is anyone familiar with Bodenmais in the Bohemian Forest or Staufen in the Black Forest? We are looking at those places to visit. We have a car. Any other ideas in Bavaria?

There's an Augustiner Monastery/brewery just outside the old town in Salzburg that is very good.

Rik..thanks for that input. We'll be in that area next year again and this time we won't miss it.

I can't remember if it was the S8 or the S5 that I took to Andechs, but I got off at the last stop and walked to Andechs from there. It was about a 40 minute walk mostly through forest and it was beautiful! The trail was very nice and it was great to walk off my "buzz" on the way back! :)