Favorite German brewery

I'm not a savant of german beers but I've had several Paulaner offerings that were awesome (there Hefenweizen if my favorite).

While traveling in Germany (Berlin) I had Augustiner Helles, and that actually blew my mind as I never thought a "crisp/pale lager" could taste so good.

 

Heller-Trum.. just about anything.

 

So what you're saying is that this:




...might somehow be a poor substitute for this:

 

Klosterbrauerei Andechs, just got my first and probably last bottle of Andeschser Doppelbock Dunkel...

 

I think I've been at the latter

 

Too many favorites for me.
Looks like Spezial Keller? Or maybe Wilde Rose?

 

No love for Hacker Pschorr? Think their weisse and.octoberfest beers are top notch

 

Andechs

 

Rothaus
Andechs
Ayinger
Wollnitzer
Kapuziner
Freigeist ... much respect for being an innovator in Germany
Augustiner

so many more The aforementioned were regular rotation in my fridge, until I moved to Portland 2 months ago.

 

I think all of the mentioned breweries are excellent, especially in specific styles. Weihenstephaner reigns supreme in wheat beers, Mahr's with their Kellerbier, Ayinger with both their Marzen and Celebrator Dopplebock, and Aecht Schlenkerla with the rauchbier. So in all, I can't say that I have a favorite German brewery. I just have standbys when I'm in the mood for a certain style.

 

Oh, I misinterpreted the question, which I thought was 'favourite German brewery' but it's come out like 'list your favourite german beers which you can buy in the USA'. Well I've just returned from a fact finding mission to Germany (September 12th to October 4th) where I visited several breweries
Vogelbraeu (Karlsruhe) - brilliant unfiltered Pils
Alpirsbacher Klosterbraeu (Alpirsbach) - very nice Pils, Dunkel, fest - excellent brewery tour
Ankerbraeu, Noerdlingen - visited the Brauerei Gasthof - awesome Pils
Brauerei Rothenbach (Aufsess) - slightly underwhelming Pils, Dunkel very good
Brauerei Krug (Breitenlesau) - utterly gorgeous Pils
Brauerei Stadter (Sachsendorf) - only Kellerbeer, very nice, served a bit warmer it could have been like an English IPA
Brauerei Reichold (Hochstahl) - very nice selection of good beers, Helles was good
Brauerei K Meyer (Kathibraeu, Heckenhof) - only Kellerbeer, very nice
Brauerei Floetzinger (Rosenheim) - lovely Pils, really good Helles, awesome Wheatbeer on tap
Of course, I sampled beers from many other different breweries without fronting up to them.
Other good beers were from Schwarzbraeu (Zusmarshausen) - delicious Helles and Pils, Farny (Kisslegg) - best Pils of the trip, Meckatzer (Lindenberg), Ayinger (good Pils, but not up to Farny or Anker), Paulaner at Oktoberfest (see avatar), Loewenbraeu in the Loewenbraeu beergarden in Munich, Koenigsbacher (Koblenz), Hoepfner (Karlsruhe) - still a great Pils. Many others while underway.
Now that's a little list (not a big list) of real breweries and real beers that I've had at or near the source (i.e. optimal quality, no transport-based ratings thanks).

 

With German breweries, I'm only able to get a few of their beers and they have all been solid brews. But my vote has to go to Schneider. I love hefeweizens in general, but my heart belongs to Schneider Original. And Schneider Aventinus Vintage 2004 is one of the only mind-blowing German beers that I've had.

 

Schlenkerla
Uerige
Rothaus
Radenburger
Schneider

 

Hacker Pschorr isn't a brewery any more, just a Paulaner brand.

 

Ayinger.....love all their beers and the doppelbock is personal favorite

 

Heler-Trum / Schlenkerla... without fail

Being in America many offerings aren't available on tap, however Leipziger Gose on tap is just great from Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof.

 

I'd like to second this. I had great time at Füchshen as well, before heading over to Uerige. That was a fun day. Uerige's alt might be my favorite overall beer here in Germany, although Weihenstephaner's dark hefeweizen isn't far behind. Many other favorites have already been mentioned above...

 

I agree that NG's German-style beers are pretty good -- especially Dancing Man, but it's more than the "experience." For one example, NG's Oktoberfest is far from the typical bready, melanoidin-charactered Bavarian examples. It's roasty and nutty with some vague caramel, but that's the way Dan's made it for years and I doubt he's going to change it up. On the other hand, he's (and Deb) brought us 2 Women that carries that great European malt character I find missing in so many U.S. German-style beers.

 

I have to go with Schneider.

I fell in love with beer upon my first trip to Germany. The very first day, I wandered into the Weisses Brauhaus in Munich, and ordered a Schneider Weisse. My favorite beer before this (I was 20 at the time) was Molson. I didn't know beer could taste like that.

Then, I tried the Aventinus, it blew my mind, and now here I am....

 

I'll see if I can find one, but if someone else has a pic of the new New Glarus Brewery, you'd see great "competition" with this shot!

Here's one: http://swisstown.com/storage/NewGlarusBrewery.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1332107383926

And another: http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/assets_c/2009/09/newglarusoutside-thumb-400x300-1917.jpg

I'll try to extract these and place them later, but you get the idea -- it's gorgeous, and I guess they're expanding again.