Munich
There's no shortage of beer halls in Munich. In fact, the center of Munich is surrounded by them, including the world-famous Hofbrauhaus not to mention Oktoberfest for 10 days at the end of September/beginning of October. Craft beer is also becoming more popular, but still hasn't taken over the preference for traditional lager, pilsners and wheat beers. You are also beginning to see more breweries trying to stretch Reinheitsgebot as much as possible, even though they are facing fines for doing so. But so far, it doesn't appear they are being enforced, so variety is becoming a little bit easier to find outside of the city center.
Weihenstephan
Weinhenstephan is in Freising, approximately 25 miles outside of Munich. If you have early morning flight out of Munich International you should look at the option of staying in Freising. It is about a 15 minute drive to the Airport versus the 40-50 from Munich, depending on traffic. If you can make this a stop you will find an interesting piece of beer history. This is considered the oldest brewery in the world dating back to 1040. A quick check on the internet confirmed this. They are followed closely by Weltenburg, the second-oldest brewery in Europe, founded in 1050. Germany also has breweries founded in 1302 (Gaffel), 1328 (Augustiner), and 1397 (Spaten). The brewery was closed for the evening, so there was not a chance for a tour. However they have a large restaurant with a full beer menu which was was open. The restaurant has two seating areas; the small one has a bar/pub feel, while the other larger area is more like a restaurant. They also have a large outdoor Bier Garten as well, however in December it looks shut down until spring. The beer selection is full of traditional beers; Lagers, Pils, Wheats, Bocks, and a few specials or seasonal types. You will not find an IPA here. However I did see on the web they brewed a Pale Ale, however it was not available at the Brewery. Beers enjoyed:
They offer a great 3 beer flight see photo to the left. Each beer with the correct shaped glass, just a little smaller. It is a bit surreal when you realize that the brewery you are at started brewing beer in 1040AD. You can read about the history on their website. Location: Alte Akademie 2, Freising Nearest Metro: Freising Station, SBahn S1/RB/RE
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Weihenstephan
Flight
Restaurant
Pub Room
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Tap-House Munich
Nice place with a good craft bar feel. They had a long bar with about 20 stools and about 10-15 tables. They also had an amazing selections of beer, about 150 beers from around the world. Most were in bottles, however about 30 beers were on tap. While the focus was on German beers, they had a selection from Europe, the United States and a few from Canada. At the end of the bar they had 6 beer coolers packed with bottles. You could look in and select a beer from their collection. They also had a small food menu. Location: Rosenheimer Strasse 10 Nearest Metro: Ostbahnhof Station, UBahn U5 Updated Apr '16 |
Tap-House
Tap-House
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Red Hot
Red Hot has been open for about five years. Nice small pub feel. This is a busy place, not very big though with only 10 to 12 tables and 6 bar stools. It is a great place (and one of the few places in Munich) to sit at the bar have real German craft beer. I had an interesting conversation with one of the owners about the beer in Munich. Craft breweries cannot brew inside the boundaries of Munich. This makes it difficult for a new start-up microbrewery to be inside the city limits. The traditional beers in Germany are Helles and wheats, or maybe a Schwarzbier. A menu of 20 or 30 craft beers it’s a little unusual to traditional German beer drinkers. Owner is a World Craft Beer judge. Some good news is the craft beer market is improving in Munich, and driven by the younger drinkers. One brewery has made progress is “Crew Republic”. They are building a new brewery just outside the boundaries of Munich. Location: Amalienstraße 89 Nearest Metro: Universitat Station, UBahn U3 or U6 Updated Sep '16 |
Red Hot Beer Cooler
Red Hot Patio
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Augustiner-Keller Beer Garden
I visited Augustiner's outdoor beer garden which was amazing. It was like a park, and as large as 2 city blocks. There were about 500 picnic tables all for beer and food. The temperature was bit cold so it was not very crowded. This would be the ideal place to spend a warm sunny day. I sat down to enjoy a beer and was joined by three locals who were just wonderful. They told me about the various beers/breweries and where to enjoy them around Munich. Even demanded I taste some of their food. This place serves so much beer they use small trucks to collect the empty glasses (see photo to left). Location: Arnulfstr. 52 Nearest Metro: Hackerbricke, Light Rail Station Lines 16, 17, N16 or Hauptbahnhof Station UBahn U1/U2/U4/U5/U6/U8 Updated Apr '16
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Augustiner Beer Garden
Augustiner Beer Garden
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Oktoberfest 2015/2016
This is something all beer lovers should do at least once in their lifetime. I visited Munich for Oktoberfest with my wonderful wife. I will admit, while we were not sure what to expect, we were still a bit surprised. It was a big carnival with the famous beer tents as the center of activity. It is nearly impossible to get into the tents without reservations, which are usually secured up to a year in advance. Oktoberfest runs for 16 days and ends the first Sunday in October. We were lucky and were able to find a place to sit at an outdoor beer garden at the Ochsenbraterei tent. We had an enjoyable table in the sunshine, spending the day and most of the night talking with people from Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey. The beer at our tent was Spaten. Location: Theresienwiese, Theresienhöhe Nearest Metro: Multiple UBahn - Goetheplatz, Poccistrasse, Schwanthalerhohe, Theresienweise Updated Oct '15 I had to keep up with Tim, so as luck would have it, I was in Germany during Oktoberfest this year, so I made a quick in and out trip to Munich for a day to see for myself. Unfortunately, as you can see from his photos, he enjoyed some nice sunny weather with his beer. As you can see from the photo at the right, mine was just the opposite. It meant no, or very limited, outside seating and that there was a lot more competition to find a place to sit indoors. I eventually found someplace to hang out and didm't let the poor weather ruin my experience. I'll echo his statement - everyone should do this at least once! Updated Sep '16 |
Oktoberfest 2015
Oktoberfest 2016
Lowenbrau Tent 2016
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Hofbräuhaus
This is another must-visit place if you are in Munich. This world-famous place is in the center of town and is always packed. You may need to walk around several times before you find seating. It's easier to find seating for small groups, especially 2 people. When you find a table, usually just as someone is leaving, grab it, sit down at one of the large wooded tables, order your 2-pint beer mug, and enjoy your beer along with great conversation from your neighbors who more than likely are from somewhere else. It's a great time for all. Location: Altstadt-Lehel, Platzl 9 Nearest Metro: Marienplatz Station, UBahn U3/U6 or SBahn S1-4/S6-8 Updated Oct '15
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Hofbrauhaus
Hofbrauhaus
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Ratskeller
This is a traditional German town-hall restaurant. A much quieter place to relax for dinner and beers than the larger beer halls. The Ratskeller is at Marienplatz, the plaza in the center of Munich. As the name implies it is in the basement of the building where the famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel is located. Location: Marienplatz 8 Nearest Metro: Marienplatz Station, UBahn U3/U6 or SBahn S1-4/S6-8 Updated Oct '15 |
Der Glockenspiel
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Zum Augustiner
Just a block away from the center of town. It is a nice beer hall with a good German menu. We had lunch there on Sunday and saw many groups dressed in their team’s soccer gear - the red for Bayern-Munchen and the yellow and black for Borussia Dortmund. Some groups would periodically start chanting cheers for their team. We learned there was a huge football match that evening, Bayern-Munchen won 5-1. Location: Neuhauser Str. 27 Nearest Metro: Marienplatz Station, UBahn U3/U6 or SBahn S1-4/S6-8 Updated Oct '15
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Zum Augustiner
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Erdinger Weissbräu
Erdinger is known world wide for their great Weissbier. The town Erding and brewery are only about 10-15 minutes from the Munich Airport. I choose to stay my last night in Erdinger to have beer and dinner at the Erdinger beer hall. Location: Lange Zeile 1/3, Erding Nearest Metro: Erding Station, SBahn S2 Updated Oct '15
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​Erdinger Weissbräu
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Wirtshaus Ayingers
Another beer hall near the center of Munich below the Platzl Hotel This beer hall has much more of a restaurant feel to it than a beer hall feel. I had intended to go to the Hofbrauhaus across the street, but the line waiting for a table was quite long and I didn't have any luck finding an open seat when I walked through it. But Ayinger makes some good beer, so it was a good alternate choice. Good German food menu with some interesting dishes on it. I opted for a pretzel and some beer as I had already eaten at Oktoberfest. Very enjoyable! Location: Platzl 1A Nearest Metro: Marienplatz Station, UBahn U3/U6 or SBahn S1-4/S6-8 Updated Sep '16
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Wirtshaus Ayinger
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