Vetter Alt Heidelberger Brauhaus

Popular for a reason. Great beer and food. Location can’t be beat. Whether sitting inside or outside, a wonderful experience!

Located right on one of the main tourist pedestrian routes from the old bridge to the Altstat, Vetters can get very crowded. Don’t let that stop you from pulling up a seat at one of the in or outdoor community tables.

Inside is a pretty nice beir hall and it should get you mood for one of their tasty beers. I did not eat but what I saw looked and smelled terrific. I will make sure I do when I return.

They had 4 on tap while I was there. Enjoyed both the helles and the hefewizen.

I found the servers to be friendly of a bit slow. The patrons are great and most will strike-up a conversation.

Well worth a stop!!

Vibe: I visited this place early on a Thursday evening. The interior of the brewpub looked like an authentic German beer hall and had wooden tables, copper brew kettles, and decorations on the wall. It wasn't overly crowded and we were able sit at tables that were reserved later in the evening, as long as we left before the time of the reservation.

Quality: Beers were served in a variety of glassware at the proper temperatures.

Service: Service was average by German standards and all of the wait staff spoke English.

Selection: A total of four beers were available on tap: Helles, Weizendunkel, Weihnachtsbock, and Vetter 33. The first three beers were available in Kleines (0.3L), Halbe (0.5L), Maß (1.0L), Faß (5.0L) and the Vetter 33 was available in 0.1L and 0.2L serving sizes. A flight of all four beers (0.1L sizes) was also available.

 

Vetter's is a Heidelberg institution, and I have spent many a night here with both locals and tourists. This is actually one of the main drawbacks: it is right along the main tourist stretch and getting a table can be quite difficult at times. Better to come at off-hours. The beer is basic, but pretty decent. They generally serve a Dunkles Hefeweizen, a Helles, their "33" (a high ABV "local speciality"), along with whatever their seasonal beer is. The main draw here is the ambiance and the food. Good, hardy German fare at decent prices (especially for the tourist area). Or, you can just do what many students (and I) do during the off-hours, which is order pretzel after freshly-baked hot pretzel. Even infested with tourists, Vetter's is a great place.

We stopped here after dinner just to try their beers. It was a Thursday evening and the place was packed. Service suffered as a result of the crowd. Tables are placed close together and it was noisy with a large group at a table not far away making most of the noise. There were a few small tables outside at the front of the building, but it was a chilly night.

There were 4 beers on tap, and a 4-glass sampler flight was available, so our choice was easy. Conveniently enough, a Maibock was the seasonal beer, and I was on a mission to try every Maibock that I could find, so I ordered a 0.5 L glass of it in addition to the one on the sampler paddle. I had read about the Vetter '33' beer and was happy to see that it was also one of the 4 beers on the menu. All of the beers were brewed very well to style, and the '33' was notably better than the other 3 beers, so it was our favorite. The maibock was pretty close to just about all of the others that I had on this beercation, so I was happy that I had ordered the larger pour of it.

We ordered a beer pretzel to soak up the alcohol, so I can't provide a rating for the food in this review. I didn't see a bar in this place, so it is like most of the other places that we visited. This place is worthy of a visit, and we would go back.

 

 

Ummmmmmm.. It's a German brew pub. Need I say more?
Burley wooden tables seated family style, plates of pork, and casks tapped at your table. The Germans do it right.
Also... Vetter 33. A 33% beer.
Hefeweizen and so much more.
If you ever go to Heidelberg, take a trip to Vetter..

Incredible!!!!!! The dunkle was crazy good!!!!!!

Located in old town with indoor and outside seating. They had four of their beers on tap. Solid service for being a tourist area. I visited between lunch and dinner to avoid the crowd. The food was good too. Visit if in Heidelberg.

 

 

 

Good food, attentive waitress. Good beer in a nice place with fine ambience. Being in a decent town works too

 

I visited this Brauhaus while visiting a good friend living in Sandhausen, a town outside of Heidelberg. Heard about this Vetter 33 ale that broke records as the world's strongest beer and we came here just for the beer alone!

Coming into this micro brewery, there were vines and an "indoor" biergarten type of feel to it. There are 2 copper kettles behind the bar that add the brewery scene into this place. Awesome feel and vibe the whole night we were here!

The quality of the place was just fine. A bit dirty here and there but I'm not sure this didn't add a brewpub feel they were going for. Almost had a barn/farm type of feel to the place with this old style of place.

While not knowing much German, it was easy just to say what beer I wanted to order but not talk about the beer itself. Other than this, we didn't get waited on much but had to go up to the bar to order our beers. Nothing wrong with this at all and I do need to brush up on my German.

The selection was great as it was a brewpub with the Vetter 33! They had 4 other brews available and this was perfect!

Enjoyed some of their pretzels but can't vote for the food category because this doesn't count in my book. Very good snack while enjoying this beer!

If on your way to the Heidelberg Castle, Bridge, or taking a walk on the main street, this is a must just to stop in and try this Vetter brew! Very strong and will knock your socks off!

Touristy? Maybe. Worth stopping in? Definitely.

Located on the main tourist thoroughfare a 100 meters or so from the Alte Brucke. Atmosphere is what you might expect from a German brew house, old wooden tables, wooden floor, dark walls, and hops hanging from many places. There are two very large (50 bbl?) copper tanks next to the bar. Service was good as the beer maid was quick, knew here beer, and rescued me from my massacre of the German language. Four or five beers were available all in multiple sizes (except the 33, which only came in 20 cL). Food was well prepared and reasonable for the location (about 13 Euro for the Schwein Haxe). Portions were more than enough. Worth a return visit.

The Vetter Brewpub in Heidelberg is in the busy no-car shopping and tourist area near the university. The brewpub has been there a long time; it is quite warn and has a lot of character. The main room has about 6 large tables and about 6 more smaller ones, and large displays of hops hanging like chandeliers. The 10 barrel brewing system is also quite prominent in the room. A helles is served year round as well as a seasonal. "The world's strongest beer" is their claim to fame, once featured in the Guiness Book. Their "33" beer has an original gravity of 1.033, and is a sweet doublebock.

My wife and I visited Vetter's on our recent trip to Heidelberg. We sought it out because of their claim to have the "strongest beer in the world" (they were listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records). Certainly no longer the case, this proved to not be a wasted trip.

We went for lunch and the place was pretty empty. There were maybe four different groups in the very large and spacious dining floor. Huge bronze colored vats were seen along the back wall, and they had a long counter with several glasses and steins for sale. The tables were all long wooden picnic tables. There were a couple of TVs playing as well.

The atmosphere was rustic, authentic, and pleasant. The service was surprisingly good (not something I would often praise in German restaurants). Our waitress was fast, helpful, and patient with my own sub-par German. She answered all of our questions regarding the food and drink, and, maybe because there weren't many patrons that afternoon, she was fast with our drinks.

At the time, they had three beers on tap: a Helles, a Doppelbock, and their famous Vetter 33: an 11.5% syrupy doppelbock (the BA review page lists this a 13.2%, but their menu lists it at 11.5). I ordered a glass of the Vetter, my wife the Doppelbock. Both were exceptionally made, though I found the Vetter a bit overwhelming in terms of sweetness.

The food is really what made me feel a review was necessary. Neither my wife nor I are particularly excited about traditional German cuisine, but this was magnificently done: by far the best representation of this culinary tradition I've yet tasted. I ordered Schweinskopfsülze mit Remoulade und Bratkartoffeln: a huge pork leg with sauerkraut and german dumplings. The meat was tender and fell right off the bone. My wife ordered the Brauerpfanne ,Tiroler Gröstl" mit kl. Salat
(Bratkartoffeln mit Blut und Leberwurst) which was phenomenal. It was a skillet dish with potatoes and two different types of sausage (blood and liverwurst). It was rich but not too much so; the blood sausage lent a deep complexity that was really fantastic. The potatoes were soft, and all the flavors perfectly blended. I encourage every meat eater to order this dish.

Heidelberg is a major tourist destination, so if you find yourself in town, definitely go have dinner and a beer (or two) at Vetters. It's worth the stop.

This place was packed when I came upon this establishment. It's in a beautiful part of Heidelberg, where you're right near the Neckar River. Since all the tables were taken, a couple of German ladies were nice enough to allow me and my wife to sit at their table, which is normal in Germany. Anyhow, the menus are available in both German and English, and seem to have a good selection, but all I had was some Vetter's 33 and some desert. The waitress was very attentive for German standards; however, she didn't seem to know much about the types of beer brewed and served there. Altogether this was a good establishment and I look forward to go back again someday.

I stopped at the Vetter Brauhaus the other day while spending a week in Heidelberg.

Located on a old and historic street corner this fairly large brewpub caters to locals and tourists. Menus are available in English and German and both other an explanation of their brewing methods, the Reinheitsgetbot, and short description of their seasonals. The English translation is also quite good.

Only part of the brewery is visible but adds a nice element to the experience.

Service there is exquisit. Our waitress spoke fluent and easily understood English but when my friends and I explained that we wanted to speak German that brought a smile and greater hospitality. The Brewery also offers tours and I was told that a table side explanation from one of the brewers can be easily arranged.

The Brewpub is extremely easy to find. Its just on the Altstadt side of the Old Brick (the one with the funny sculpture of the monkey).

My food rating was based merely on beer munchies, but they were some of the best damn beer munchies I have had during my stay in Germany. I had spicy homemade cheese spread served on a three large thick and soft pieces of Rye bread, along with a side of pretzel sticks. The cheese was soft, thick, creamy, and with a touch of spicyness. Prices for food and beer were quite reasonable, especially considering its proximity to one of the citys main tourist attractions.

Selection of beer here is very limited. They typical run two year round's (a helles and a house specialty referred to as 'Vetter 33') along with a seasonal. From what I remember it was a Maibock, Weihnactsbier (Christmas beer), Weizenbock, Keller, Märzen, and something else. I had the privlege to enjoy the Märzen, along with the two other varities and was very impressed.