Higgins Ale Works

I stopped in at Higgins yesterdas to see what Munich has to offer other than the classics we all know and love. They are just across the street from the enormous Spaten-Franziskaner brewery facility.

Inside it’s just what you’d expect at a typical American microbrewery, perhaps not a surprise since the owners and brewer are Americans (as was my very friendly bartender). The space is welcoming but pretty small; there’s a bar with half a dozen seats and several tables, maybe enough to seat 12 or so people. I was the only one when I arrived, but by the time I left there were a couple big groups there havng a grand old time, so the atmosphere felt very convivial. As another reviewer pointed out, brewing is done next door, so you don’t see any fun equipment in the taproom.

They had 6 beers on tap when I visited: hazy pale ale, “Septemberfest” märzen, west coast IPA, another pale ale, a fresh hop cream ale, and a New Zealand pilsner that’s a collab with Yankee&Kraut Brewery. I had the hazy pale and the fresh hop cream ale, and I was not super impressed. Both had some unwelcome flaws; I did pick up a couple cans to go so I’m hoping those will redeem the draft beers once I get to try them. That said, I wouldn’t rule out another trip to Higgins if I ever make it back to Munich.

This was a stop on the beer tour that my wife and I joined. It's a small brewery just across the street from the huge Spaten Brewery complex of buildings. The place is small inside, and has a few tables on the sidewalk. It's walkable from the Augustiner Biergarten about a half-mile away. The vibe is just average. Service was at the bar, and they poured them as fast as they could for our tour group. Five of their beers were available on tap plus a collaboration beer and a guest beer. There were also 5 of their beers plus two guest beers in cans to go. All of the beers are non-German styles. No food is served but they do have some light snacks.

Our group also had a tour of the brewery in the basement of the adjacent building. During the tour we were able to sample a spruce tip ale that was in the conditioning tank. It was very tasty and better than the beer that I had upstairs. This is just an average brewery but you could tell that they are really trying hard to get established here.