As I watched several good sized regional breweries close in Germany (, I have been pleasantly suprised by the opening of smaller breweries in the German countryside: Example: Ban Bräu in Bad Staffelstein, which opened in the center of town. Rook-Bräu, another recent start-up, is located in a small town south of Rothenburg od Tauber. Both seem to have high quality output and (hopefully) a nice local following. Finally, I have seen an established contract brewery restarting brewing in house - Schmitt Bräu in Schesslitz, which has overhauled their operations pretty nicely and I need to visit them (and possibly stay in their establishment) again soon. Any other signs of life on the German brewing landscape?
This is a great point I love those quaint little breweries. They offer so much more at their Stammtisch than other bigger breweries.
Some good news concerning the two breweries mentioned in the OP. I went to the Ban Bräu website to learn: “Comet & Willamette Hops For our Ban Bräu Hell we use the hop varieties Comet and Willamette. Comet brings mandarin and grapefruit notes with secondary lemongrass, eucalyptus and floral notes. Willamette provides a mild, warm and welcoming character with notes of resin, dried fruits and fresh hay.” https://ban-braeu.de/ Maybe Rook-Bräu is also doing something similar to Ban Bräu? Performing an ‘update’ to traditional German beer styles? Maybe we will read that BA has added new beers styles (e.g., West Coast Helles) to their list soon? Cheers!
I have posted this some where else but in my county there were five breweries/brewpubs four years ago and now there are nine. Most of them you have never heard of. The new ones are underlined. There is hope. Ammergauer Maxbräu, Oberammergau Brauerei Mittenwald, Mittenwald Brauhaus Garmisch, Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmischer Hof Bierbrauerei, Garmisch-Partenkirchen Griesbräu zu Murnau, Murnau am Staffelsee Brauerei Karg, Murnau am Staffelsee Karwendel Brauerei, Mittenwald (Bergstation Karwendelbahn) Klosterbrauerei Ettal, Ettal Uffinger Back & Brau, Uffing am Staffelsee
