Favorite German brewery

Beyond festbiers, which I only tend to drink in season, the only German brews that make regular appearances in my fridge are Weihenstephaner Original and Korbinian (and more rarely the Hefe), Jever Pilsner, Hofbrau Original, and Ayinger Celebrator.

Over the past year or so I've started picking up more lagers after have been pretty ale-centric for years. (Thanks Jack's Abby!) I've got a lot of catching up to do.

 

Weinhestephaner
Andechs

Cheers!

 

And you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Look at that badass growler! Your posts usually leave me pretty jealous, cheers!

 

My 3 as well:

Hefe: Weihenstephaner
Doppel: Ayinger Celebrator
Dark Weizenbock: Schneider Aventinus

 

Kloster Andechs is my favorite. I can't think of anything they brew that isn't amazing. The view doesn't hurt, but I find myself even hitting up their Am Dom hall in Munich just for the beers, too. I think they make my favorite versions of doppelbock, weiss, and strong hell.

Mahr's would probably be next. Like herrburgess, Mahr's U is probably my 2nd favorite beer of all time, only behind the Andechser Doppelbock. Their weiss, helles, & weizenbock are also terrific.

I'd say Weihenstephaner, Ayinger, Augustiner (Munich), Spezial, and Klosterbrau are probably all tied for 3rd.

Even though they're common and old hat, there's nothing really wrong with the common Munich breweries like Spaten, HB, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, etc. either. They're a slightly lower tier than those above, but they're still all unbelievably good when fresh.

 

Ayinger and Weihenstephaner. Unfortunately I've been to Europe but not Germany yet, so my favorites list feels significantly premature.

 

Speaking of Weihenstephaner- my local store just got in a display of their Pilsner. I had no idea this beer even existed! I haven't gotten it yet (so many other distractions this time of year) but I could just sense the awesomeness coming off of those cases; and I will make sure to get some damn soon. Just another style that will make them difficult to ignore.

Ayinger and Heller-Trum are also tops for me, especially if you are talking reliability in a variety of styles. Hard to pick just one.

 

Anything in ober franken, but especially Bamberg.

 

A little Mahr's montage from this past June. Nothing like that first crunch of the pea gravel underfoot as you make your way into the beer garden. Hope you (and the others looking to make the trip/return) enjoy:

 

I could rotate between Weihenstephaner's pilsner, helles lager, and hefeweizen from May through September and be (almost) completely satisfied. And each only costs $7.99 a sixer. They really make some terrific beer at a very reasonable price. Kind of like the Sierra Nevada of the Fatherland!

 

I already answered on Twitter, but I'm going Aecht Schlenkerla. I'm a fiend for smoked beers and celebrate their entire catalog.

 

Ayinger - Oktoberfest and Celebrator
Weihenstephaner - Hefe
Mahr's - any lager on cask
Schlenkerla - rauchbiers
SchneiderWeisse

 

Weihenstephener - Best Hefeweissen hands down, Korbinian is an amazing dopplebock, the helles lager is also pretty damn good

Ayinger - my only gripe with them is that their beer doesnt come in 6 packs, but the Octoberfest is top notch, Celebrator is most excellent, the Munich Dunkel is really good adn their hefe is solid.

Wish I could get my hands on some Andechs beers

 

Spaten - First German Love!
Augustiner
Hofbrau

 

Uerige is probably the coolest brewery that I've been to. Definitely need to get back over there. For lagers, Heller-Trum and Schönrammer are probably my favorites.

 

I'm guessing here... Yes, really!

And yeah, Schell hits the mark pretty often.

If you've followed a lot of the talk about good German-style beer around here, you'll note that most US breweries aren't using the right malts or taking the time with brewing practices.

 

I guess I'm gonna side with Dan Carey. Your beer is competing with the experience of being in Europe, and you're going to lose. There's a reason why Dancing Man is as big as it is.

 

New Glarus's beers "lose" to very, very few of my favorite beers, Germany-based or otherwise. Same goes for Olde Mecklenburg.

However, I'm soon to be back in Koeln and Duesseldorf this Xmas, so my opinions, and my aforementioned lists, may be subject to change. (Been far too long since I've been in Paeffgen.)

 

I'm not saying they lose; Dan and crew do an outstanding job. But it's hard to compete with the ambiance of having a beer at Spezial.