The wife & I will be visiting Munich early April. While checking out places to visit in Munich I found out that we will be there for the last week of Starkbierfest 2025. What a surprise. Didn’t know there was another Octoberfest-style festival in late March. Starkbierfest is a strong beer festival. I would like to attend this but it looks like you can only reserve a table for 10-15 people. We are only 2 who would like to attend. Is there anyway to buy individual tickets for admission? The 3 beer gardens that host this festival are Lowenbrau, Augustiner & Paulaner. If there are no individual tickets for the beer garden is the restaurant or bar inside these halls open for lunch and dinner during the Starkbierfest? I was planning to hit up all 3 beer halls while we’re there. We will be in Munich for 3 nights. Are any of the microbreweries in Munich worth checking out? I’m thinking about bringing some of my local cans to share. We will be taking the ICE train from Munich to Frankfurt and spend 2 nights in Frankfurt. We have a concert one night in Frankfurt. The only time we visited Frankfurt was a layover before flying back to LAX. I need some recs for food and beer for 2 days. Looking for both local and microbreweries. Edit-We are planning to take the train to Neuschwanstein Castle for the day, but was wondering if it might be better to visit Salzburg instead? I don’t think we have time for 2 days to see both places?
This thread is from a couple years ago, but should contain a lot of relevant information: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/munich-starkbierzeit-2023.671586/ When I was there in 2023, you could get individual tickets for Augustiner and Paulaner. I'm guessing Löwenbräu has to have individual tickets as well.
That would be your choice between stunning scenery and beer with decent scenery. The only beer I saw at Neuschwanstein was in a vending machine. But things could have changed. BTW -- Starkbierzeit isn't quite the same as Oktoberfest, as Grant's thread will show you. Still, it's an envious trip.
There was a small cafe/Imbiss at the bottom of the hill near the hiking path and road up to the castle that had Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren beers. Had their Dunkel (really nice beer) after the tour. The kids needed a hot chocolate--it was a cold, windy, and rainy day. Edit: Bottles only--nothing on draft
Sounds like the spot I saw with the vending machine. Wood structure between the parking lot and the road/trail? For some reason I remember it being closed and the machine being the only option. I think I remember H-P Weiß in the machine. Long time ago, though.
I found some decent spots in Frankfurt. I enjoyed the beer scene in that city much more than I expected. You can look at my beerfly reviews for a few of the spots. Have a great trip!
I lived in Frankfurt for 15 years. Beer scene is pretty non-existent. I would highly recommend giving Apfelwein a try and go to either Wagner or Zum Gemalten Haus, both on Schweizer Strasse. That area is good for walking and has some decent gastronomy outside of typical Frankfurt foods.
Yea, I dont expect Frankfurt to be a great place for craft beer scene. But I will check out these places. Thx.
Also, I've been to Starkbierfest a few times, but quite a few years ago. From what I read, as a couple, it's about availability of no-shows. You'll likely have the best chance on an off day (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday) and weekends are usually crazy. It's a very locals-centric event, most visitors will be from Bayern but the "big table friendliness" exists pretty much everywhere. Good luck - hope you get in when you are there!
Here's a link to the Augustiner Keller's Starkbierfest page. https://www.augustinerkeller.de/de/veranstaltung/starkbierfest It looks to me like you can buy individual tickets (lists a ticket price per person). There's a link to the ticket purchasing website-- just search 'Starkbierfest'
