In Munich next month, need suggestions!

Well if you like hefeweizens, there is good news. Weihenstephaner is only a short(-ish) tram ride away in nearby Freising and Scheider Weisse has a restaurant in the tourist area that serves all their beers. Have fun!

 

The Munich Pub Guide by Ron Pattinson is useful and The Beer Drinkers Guide to Munich is handy also.

You will find good wheat beer everywhere but I would say that in Munich itself your number one priority has to be the Weisses Brauhaus.

 

This is a good point. I'd think you could stop in anywhere and get a good wheat beer.

 

Pretty much true. All 6 of the Munich beer brands have a weissbier (hefe-weizen) and almost all of the surrounding breweries do, too. There aren't many places you can go where you won't find one.
In Munich proper you can find dozens of them within a few hundred yards of Marienplatz, the main central square.
The The Schneider Weissesbrauhaus will have the greatest variety, with roughly 8-10 wheat beers available at any time. The Hofbrauhaus obviously serves their brand. It was especially good to me a few weeks ago. Andechser Am Dom serves theirs. It used to be very fruity, but recently I got a lot more clove and even hop notes.
Ayinger Speis Und Trunk serves their light, dark, and weizenbock.
Paulaner Im Tal serves both their light and dark weissbiers. A few doors down, the new Tegernsee taproom serves Hopf weissbier. Der Pschorr will have both of the H-P wheat beers.
While their lagers are ubiquitous, Augustiner's weiss is usually poured from a bottle instead of served on draft. It's a bit darker and earthier than the others. Lowenweiss is also somewhat uncommon on draft.
Franziskaner is pretty much everywhere. In fact, at some of the Augustiner and Lowenbrau locations they'll serve Franziskaner weissbiers on draft in addition to their own brand in bottles...or maybe not at all.
I don't recall seeing Weihenstephaner on draft in Munich proper, although I'm certain it's around somewhere. Getting to Freising is easy enough, though. It's right off the S-Bahn and actually isn't that far from their airport. Ditto with Aying and Andechs (Herrsching).

 

How great would it be if Weihenstephan opened up in central Munich? They must have considered it at some stage?

 

That and the Augustiner Keller. I have a really soft spot for Nürnberger Bratwurstglöckl, too.

 

You would think so. Most of the other regional places have one now. Ayinger, Andechs, Tegernsee, Schneider, Kaltenberg, etc.
Even the ones that don't tend to have restaurants that carry their stuff. I don't know if I've seen any that have Weihenstephaner sign in Munich proper. That's actually one reason we tend to always make the trek to Freising...beyond their really nice biergarten.

 

I think it needs to be mentioned that if you have any inkling of decent weather while in Munich, you should head straight to a Biergarten of your choice. Get a beer, an Obatzta, clean your glass with a toilet brush and talk politics with the locals.

 

Augustiner Helles and Edelstoff can be found in every supermarket, gas station, and kiosk for 50 Euro cents a half-liter bottle. What more do you need?

 

I thought by merchandise we were talking about glasses and t-shirts etc?

 

Oops. You may be correct there. Had my mind hyperfocused on actual beer for some reason....

 

Well just in case I will answer as such..
Never really go inside any Paulaner places but I am sure they will have stuff at the brewery on in a pub.
Weihenstephan is likely a no.
You can get some nice stuff at Der Pschorr near Viktualienmarkt and from Augustiner, I got a Krug from there, it's one of my favourite things to drink from.

 

True story, Augustiner Helles and Edelstoff are both €1,05 plus Pfand per single 500 ml bottle at my local Getränkemarkt.

Something with that Helles finally clicked with me and I've been buying it up of late.

 

Actually, at the bottle shop at Weihenstephan they have an extensive merchandise shop. For a really nice beer stein though there is an antique stein dealer on the back side of the Marienplatz called Antiquitäten Im Rathaus where you can get a hundred year old stein for about 100 euros. He has the super expensive ones on display, just ask him for the cheaper ones.

 

Am I the only one who obtained Masskruege primarily via five-finger discount?

 

I think the OP just meant in Munich proper.
The antique shop sounds interesting.
Another place you can spend 100 euros on a drinking vessel is the Hofbrauhaus shop, they are not antique, just a rip off!

 

What you should do is search "Getraenkemaerkte Muenchen" and find one that is near where you are staying. Hefeweizen is popular in Bavaria so I'm guessing any Getränkemart or "drink shop" will have a good variety. What they won't have (maybe) are some of Schneider's specialties like the Tap 4 or Tap 5. Those can still be kind of rare.