Favorite German brewery

I'm a Schlenkerla/Heller-Trum affectionate.
A close second is Brauerei Fritz Gutmann, a weissbierbraurei like Schneider. They make just a Weizen, a dunkelweizen and a weizenbock but all of them are awesome and readily avialable at my local bottle shop

 

My first favourite, since I had it first, I think, was Dortmunder Ritter Brau, especially the dark.

 

To expand upon the question, I'm looking for feedback from some of those who've made the visit to Germany. The wife and I are planning a eurotrip sometime this summer, and while Italy is her must visit, Germany should be easy to convince her on as the second destination because one of her best friends lives in Stuttgart. So what I'm wondering is which cities am I going to get the best bang for my beer buck (or Euro) on visiting. Obviously, we'll be in Stuttgart for a couple of days, but after that I'm wondering which to visit (Munich, Bramberg, Berlin, Nuremberg, etc.).

 

You just can't miss Bamberg, great breweries (not just Schlenkerla, also the smaller ones) and an awesome city even in terms of history and monuments, while not at all busy with tourists

 

I think one of the cool things about Germany is just how common great beer is...at least as long as you like their standard styles like helles, pils, weiss, dunkel etc.
The "worst" beer brewed in Munich is still pretty damned good. I'm not even sure what it would be, but everyone has their favorites and least favorites. With Bamberg, some of the beer styles might be a little more divisive, but there's no question about the quality. Depending on your palate, I bet every brewery in town still makes something you'd like, though. For instance I personally didn't love Keesman's other beers, but Herren Pils is one of my top 2-3 beers in town. Ditto with Ambrausianum's dunkel.
At some point I'd like to hit up Dortmund and see what the local Alt-scene is like.

I think you really only get "bad" German beers if go looking for them. Stuff like Beck's Gold that has been in a train station vending machine for months or a Desperados.

 

If you have the patience you might want to read this thread from the Germany forum: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/went-to-italy-on-vacation-had-epiphany-on-german-beer.32116/

As regards your question on where to visit in Germany for a varied beer experience it seems that the Franconia region is the place to go; Bamburg is located in Franconia.

A number of German regions/cities are sometimes described as not being good places to find ‘good’ beer. One poster in the above thread lives in Frankfurt and he does talk highly of the beer selections there.

Cheers!

 

I wish I could remember who made the bock I had in Badtolz when I was 2 yrs old. Since then, probably Spaten. I loved Hacker-Pchorr, but I haven't seen 'em in a while. Hell, I even like Beck's!

 

Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla

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I like their smoked beer

 

Schneider & Sohn for sure for the same reasons you just stated, blew my mind and my first time was on tap...been chasing ever since. Recently added a wrapped bottle from 2005 to keep the wrapped 2007 company in the cellar. Can't say enough about this wonderful nektar of the gods. Paulaner, Slavator being a personal fave along with many others and I can't leave out Ayinger (Celebrator!) or Weihenstephaner (Vitus!)

 

I'd second that notion.
Not that there's anything wrong with the Spatens, Weihenstephans & Hackers of the world, but they're all pretty sizeable places (some of them "corporate owned") and produce rather homogeneous products. The little guys over there are the most interesting, same as here...
From my votes, I'd list Unertl (Haag), Dachs, Karg & Augustinerbrau Mulln (Salzburg) as among my favorites, at least from the south, all of which are unavailable or very limited in the U.S.

 

Also love Heller Trum...Their rauchbier--especially urbock is my favorite beer in any style.

 

Ayinger Oktoberfest and Spaten Optimator are two really solid beers, I usually keep Optimator in the fridge...Ayinger Oktoberfest is a little more difficult to come up with.

 

Weihenstephan, without question

 

It's obviously Beck's & St. Pauli Girl - 'nuff said.

 

You have a source for German Beck's?!

 

experimental brewery= Braustelle/Freigeist

progressive yet classic brewery= Schneider

large/industrial brewery= Paulaner

 

Ooh, yeah -- brought Forschüngsbrauerei, Perlach, to mind -- another good one.

 

Yes it is!

 

DUDE!!!!!! That's why I didn't see you at Borefts! You moved to Portland, wtf!?!?

 

Since you didn't list a favorite, I guess you did misinterpret the question. It came out like "brag about all the German breweries you've visited."