Back to Work Blues?

Greetings Beer & Travel Lovers!
Now that the holidays are behind us, do you have those old back-to-work blues?  If so, there’s nothing better to lose those blues like planning your next summer vacation.  So to help spark your imagination, read on to learn about our exciting Munich & Bamberg Brewery Tours summer tours!

 2018 Munich & Bamberg Brewery Tours
What exactly do we do on our tours?  Well, our Munich & Bamberg Brewery Tours include 2 full days in Munich, 1 day in Kelheim, and 2 more days in Bamberg.  Along the way we take in 3 brewery tours plus 1 malting plant tour, visit several other breweries, beer halls and beer gardens, small and large, old and craft, and we take a ferry up the Danube River to visit the world’s oldest monastery brewery.  If that wets your appetite, keep reading for day-by-day details.

MONDAY

​Weihenstephan Brewery Tour
We start the day with a short trip to the oldest brewery in the world –
Weihenstephan – where we’ll tour the brewery, learn about its history, taste their award-winning line-up, and have a relaxing lunch in their Bräustüberl (brewery restaurant).
 
Officially known as the Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, it is the official brewery of the State of Bavaria.  Its origins date back to the year 725, but in the year 1040, the monastery’s abbot obtained a license from the city of Freising to brew beer, and the Weihenstephan Brewery was officially founded.  Today, they produce several award-winning beers including my two of my favorites, Vitus and Korbinian.

In the Weihenstephan lagering cellar (left) and in the tasting room (right)

Historical Munich Walking Tour
Back in Munich in the afternoon, we’ll meet one of our local partner guides for a historical walking tour of central Munich.  We’ll learn about the city’s 900-year history and get a great feel for the city center in case you want to go out later and explore on your own.

Later we’ll wrap up the day with dinner at one of the many historic brewery restaurants within walking distance of our hotel, including Augustiner, Hackerhaus, Hofbräuhaus Munich, Schneider Bräuhaus, and Wirtshaus Ayingers.

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In front of the Höfbräuhaus Munich (left) and the Schneider Bräuhaus beerhall (right)

The Viktualienmarkt biergarten on a typical summer afternoon

TUESDAY

Lunch at Kloster Andechs
Late Tuesday morning we'll head out to visit the Kloster Andechs monastery brewery – founded in 1455 – for lunch and beer on the terrace which offers a panoramic view of the surrounding Alp foothills.  In addition, the pilgrimage Church of St. Nicholas and St. Elizabeth, built in the Rococo style in 1427, is definitely worth a peak while at the monastery.

In the Kloster Andechs beer garden

Bräukraft Craft Brewery Tour
After lunch, we’ll travel back towards Munich and stop in the town of Gilching for a tour and tasting at the Bräukraft craft beer brewery (founded in 2013).  This will be an opportunity to get a taste for what the German craft beer industry is brewing while staying within the confines of the Reinheitsgebot, the German Purity Law of 1516.

Back in Munich late afternoon, you’ll have some time to explore the city center on your own and/or relax back in your hotel room.  We’ll then wrap up our stay in Munich with dinner at another one of the historic brewery restaurants.

WEDNESDAY

After an early checkout, we'll take a 90-minute trip up to the town of Kelheim, our destination for the day’s activities.
 
Schneider Weisse Brewery Tour
Our first stop is Bavaria’s oldest wheat beer brewery – Schneider Weisse – founded in 1607.  Even if you don’t normally like wheat beer, you’ll be impressed with Schneider Weisse because you’ll see and taste how wheat beer is supposed to be made!
 
Their styles range from a traditional, unfiltered and unpasteurized wheat beer (Schneider Original, 5.4% ABV, 14 IBU), to one of the granddaddies of all double bock beers (Aventinus, 8.2% ABV, 16 IBU).
 
After our tour, we’ll have a hearty lunch in the beer garden or bräustüberl while being led through a tasting of the entire Schneider Weisse beer line-up.

The Schneider Weisse bottling line (left) and tasting in the beer garden (right)

After our tasting, we’ll take a short stroll to the Kelheim docks to catch one of the ferries that take us up the Danube River to Weltenburger Kloster.  This scenic ferry ride takes about 40 minutes and provides plenty of photo ops including when we pass thru the Danube Gorge, which is formed by cliffs that rise up to 400 feet above the river.

Passing through the Danube Gorge approaching Weltenburger Kloster

Weltenburger Kloster Brewery
Our ferry ride ends at the world’s oldest monastery brewery – Weltenburger Kloster – founded in the year 1050.  The monastery itself dates back to the year 617 and is beautifully situated on the banks of the Danube.  Our time there is fairly unstructured so we’ll grab a table in the beer garden and tour members are free to explore as they wish, by:

1. Taking a peak inside the beautiful baroque-style St. George Church.
2. Dipping your toes in the water on the banks of the Danube.
3. Looking for souvenirs in the gift shop.
4. Or simply relaxing in the beer garden over a few of Weltenburger’s award-winning beers, including two of my favorites Anno 1050 and Asam Bock.

In the Weltenburger Abby beer garden

After a couple hours at Weltenburger, we’ll continue on to Bamberg, arriving early evening.  After settling into our hotel, we’ll take a short walk to one of the literally dozens of brewery restaurants available to us in Bamberg, such as Schlenkerla, Spezial Keller, or Mahrs Bräu.

Drinking Mahrs "U" in the beer garden (left) and outside the Schlenkerla tap room (right)

THURSDAY

Historical Bamberg Walking Tour
Mid-morning we meet another one of our partner tour guides for a historical walking tour of Bamberg. We’ll visit several historical sites within the city center such as the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus), the Old Royal Residence, Michaelsberg Abbey and more.  Then, after working up an appetite, we’ll grab lunch at another one of the brewery restaurants in the city center.

The Old Courtyard in Bamberg (left) and the Old Town Hall (right)

Weyermann Specialty Malts Tour
After lunch, we’ll head over to the Weyermann Specialty Malts processing plant.  Malt is one of the four basic ingredients in beer and we'll see how Weyermann, founded in 1879, produces it from raw grain (barley, wheat, etc.).  We’ll also learn how they make smoked malt, which is used by Schlenkerla and other breweries to brew their famous Rauchbier (smoked beer).  Weyermann also has an experimental brewery and we'll finish our tour by tasting a few beers that highlight their different malt products.

In the Weyermann Malts courtyard (left) and grain germination room  (right)

After some free time in the afternoon, we’ll wrap up the day over dinner at another one of the many brewery restaurants available to us in Bamberg.

FRIDAY

The Franconia Brewery Path
Late morning we set out for a true bucket-list experience – a day-trip through the Upper Franconia countryside, home to more breweries per capita than anywhere in the world!

View from the Brauerei Hönig beer garden in Litzendorg

We'll stop in several small villages such as Aufseß (population 1,300, 4 breweries), Waischenfeld (population 3,200), and Buttenheim (population 3,400) to enjoy the locally made, small-batch beer.  We’ll have lunch at one of the breweries, and weather permitting, we’ll trek part(s) of the Franconia Brewery Path with short hikes from one town/brewery to the next!
 
We’ll return to our hotel late afternoon and later get together one last time for dinner and to talk about our experiences from the week!

At the Brauerei Grasser in Huppendorf

Original Gravity Tours
We hope this article sparked your imagination and helps you lose your back-to-work blues.  We also hope you’ll join us on one of our Munich & Bamberg Brewery Tours this summer.  If so, we’re confident you’ll have a great time, learn a lot about German beer, and come home with a trunk full of memories.  But if you’re still on the fence remember, you’ll never be this young again!
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Please visit us at Munich & Bamberg Brewery Tours for more information about us, and our tours.

Until next time, thank you and Prost!