August 20, 2020

Off the Beaten Beer Path near Munich

~Beers, breweries, and beer gardens in Bad Tölz, Tegernsee, Kloster Reutberg, and Benediktbeuern~

Munich has it all for the beer drinker. And if that’s not enough, breweries like Ayinger, Kloster Andechs, and Weihenstephan fan out at various points along Munich’s regional train network. But there’s even more beer bliss in store for the intrepid beer traveler willing to journey further afield. This cluster of historic beer towns, aristocratic breweries, and monastery beer gardens is a short trip away in Upper Bavaria. You can combine a few of these as day trips from Munich, or base yourself in Bad Tölz for some relaxing small-town charm in the foothills of the Alps.

Bad Tölz

Bad Tölz, a spa town along the Isar River in Upper Bavaria, is worth visiting for its magnificent wall frescoes and revivified beer scene. Bright pastels adorn the facades of medieval buildings lining its main market street, some of them still bearing the names of long-shuttered breweries — a legacy of the nineteenth century when Bad Tölz was a brewing powerhouse.

With its cliffs and bluffs rising steeply above the Isar, it’s easy to see why Bad Tölz was a major nineteenth-century Kellergebiet (beer cellar region). Ideally situated upstream from Munich, the town’s twenty-one breweries lagered their casks in Bad Tölz’s network of rock cellars before floating their wares down the Isar to the thirsty beer drinkers of Bavaria’s metropolis.

Bad Tölz lost its preeminence as a brewing center with the advent of refrigeration in the 1870s. Grünerbräu, the last of the old-timer breweries, closed up shop in 2001. But a new generation of breweries has kept Bad Tölz’s brewing tradition alive, two breweries that present a fascinating study in contrasts.

Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu

It’s early evening as I take a seat at a high table in Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu’s taproom, a chic space with an understated cosmopolitan flair more reminiscent of Munich than Upper Bavaria. Large steel-framed feature windows give the space a light and airy feel, and a gleaming copper brewing system is visible in the back of the taproom. The engaging bar staff is ready to detail the finer points of Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu’s beers or to spin a few yarns of local brewing history.

A few beers into the evening, the bartender asked if I’d like to see the historic cellar beneath the brewpub. As the heavy door swung open on its creaky hinges, the warmth of the late spring evening was replaced by something more elemental, an exhalation of damp stones and minerals from the silent depths. For a moment I was transported to times past when the cellars cradled casks of beer for weeks and months on end.

The banks of the Isar in Bad Tölz — *The banks along the Isar were perfect for lagering beer*

Opened in 2008 on the grounds of the former Grünerbräu, Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu breathes new life into an old tradition. Even if all of Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu’s beers are brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, the brewers don’t shy away from craft beer classics. You’ll find the occasional pale ale or IPA mingling with intriguing stalwarts like a Hefeweizen hopped with Herkules and Bavaria Mandarina. The Bohemian-inspired Kellerpils is also superb.

Food here is executed with a deft hand. The Bad Tölzer Brotzeit Teller comes stacked with local smoked and air-dried meats, and one of the best Obatzdas I’ve ever tasted.

Tölzer Binderbräu

If Tölzer Mühlfeldbräu charts new territory with its brews and its very concept, Tölzer Binderbräu stays the course. Established in 2015, Binderbräu is a classic Munich-style Wirtshaus that looks back to Bad Tölz’s nineteenth-century brewing heyday for inspiration. The Wirtshaus is a bustling affair, and the food hews in the direction of Old Bavarian home-style cooking.

Beers are par for the course. The Braunbier is executed well enough, but the sweet caramel character makes for a plodding beer bordering on cloying. It’s a style I’ve come across a few times now (including once in Forchheim), and I have to admit it’s not my favourite. (Binderbräu appears to have replaced their Braunbier with a straight-up Dunkles since I last visited.) A better choice is the Helles Naturtrüb, a beer with a yeasty roundness enhanced by smooth bitterness and restrained hop flavour.

Tegernsee

Snow-capped mountains rise up in the distance and hills ring the town and lake of Tegernsee on all sides. Trains stop in Gmund, a picturesque village with a panoramic view of the villages dotting the lake, before continuing on to its terminus in Tegernsee-Ort. Founded in 746 in the shadow of a Benedictine abbey, the town with its Alpine chalets, lakeside promenade, and luxurious hotels is a popular weekend retreat for the citizens of Munich.

Herzoglich Bayrisches Brauhaus Tegernsee

Tegernsee is also home to the Herzoglich Bayrisches Brauhaus Tegernsee (HB Tegernsee for short), housed in the north wing of an erstwhile Benedictine monastery brewery that fell into the hands of the Wittelsbachs after the secularization of the Napoleonic era. The ducal brewery, which brews the much-beloved Tegenerseer Spezial, is one of a handful of breweries in Bavaria still owned by Bavarian nobility. (The current owner, Maria Anna, is Duchess in, not of, Bavaria.)

*Historical footnote: It was a group of Benedictine monks from Tegernsee who brought their skill and expertise to Kloster Andechs in 1455.

HB Tegernsee is a large regional brewery located in the imposing seventeenth-century chateau that once housed the Kloster Tegernsee. A lively umbrella-shaded terrace fronts the Bräustüberl, affording superb views of the lake and mountains on a warm day. The Bräustüberl with its white walls and vaulted ceilings is a classic Bavarian beer hall. Smoked trout with creamed horseradish comes from the chateau’s own smokehouse, and is a good option if you want a taste of Alpine rivers and lakes.

Then there’s the beer, which is really why I’m here. Tegernseer Spezial is a richly textured and elegantly hopped export-strength beer that’d give Augustiner Edelstoff a run for its money. Freshly baked country bread, crushed grain, meadows in bloom provide the ballast for lightly herbal-citrus hops, leading to a crisp finish. The Tegernseer Export Dunkel is of a piece with the dark beers of Munich and Upper Bavaria: satisfyingly malty with dark toast and chocolate roast notes, but not quite as lush as the dark beers of Franconia.

If you don’t have a train to catch back to Munich right away, take a walk north out of town to the Gasthaus Schiessstätte, a Wirtshaus perched on a ridge high above Tegernsee with exhilarating view of the lake from its terrace. This short side trip is not for the out-of-shape (the road is also part of a regional hiking route to the Riederstein and Baumgartenschneid if you want to keep going). Follow the cascading Alpbach creek up a steep road through a high-walled and shady valley for a good kilometer until you reach the heights overlooking Tegernsee.

The reward more than makes up for your effort: a magnificent tableau of mountains and the lake below glistening in the sun. Cap your efforts with a stellar Hopf Hefeweizen from the Weissbierbrauerei Hopf in nearby Miesbach, a hazy lemon-yellow glass of sunshine. Cloves and allspice take center stage in this beer with the richness of cream of wheat, but banana custard and a twist of citrus lend depth and crispness.

Kloster Reutberg

The panoramic view from Kloster Reutberg’s terrace is one of the best beer garden views in Bavaria. Reutberg is also one of the few remaining cooperatively owned breweries in Germany. The cooperative has become so successful that the members decided to cap the number of shareholders at 5200. Whoever wants a piece of the pie has to wait till a shareholder relinquishes his or her stake.

Kloster Reutberg’s beers issue forth from an old copper system right next to the monastery church. On any given day you’ll have about twelve beers to choose from. Styles run the gamut from Helles, Pils, and Export to Bock, Märzen, Kellerbier, and Weissbier.

The beer garden terrace is irresistible on a fine day, but the rustic Klosterbräustüberl Reutberg is no slouch in the rustic, antler-bedecked Bräustüberl department. The back of the food menu reads like a directory of local butchers, fruit and vegetable farmers, dairy farmers, hunters, and bakers. Even the staff members’ shirts, vests, and dirndls come from local tailors.

For a more in-depth history of Kloster Reutberg and a review of its beers, see “Kloster Reutberg: Magnificent Alpine Views and Beers Worth the Hike.”

Benediktbeuern

Once famous for its library and archives, Benediktbeuern may not be the first place that comes to mind for a beer excursion. But with plenty of hiking in the surrounding Alps, a peaceful beer garden in the shadow of the monastery, and a classic Wirtshaus amid the Alpine chalets in town, Benediktbeuern makes for a pleasant day trip from Munich (by train) or Bad Tölz (by bus).

Set in a valley where the Alps begin to rise more steeply and wildly, Benediktbeuern is a maze of lanes chalk full of farm houses and Alpine chalets, many of which are covered in frescoes depicting religious motifs and peasant scenes. Everywhere you look, flower boxes decorate carved balconies, old tractors plough the fields, and farm houses of dark worn wood shelter pigs and chickens. Around every bend on a Saturday morning, townsfolk line up in front of bakeries and confectioneries selling freshly baked bread and pastries. And then there’s that exhilarating aroma of the countryside, fresh-cut hay mingling with cows mooing about the meadows.

Benediktbeuern is also home of Kloster Benediktbeuern, an opulent Benedictine monastery that contrasts with its modest rural surroundings. Dedicated by St. Boniface in 739, the monastery is a marvel of baroque-rococo architecture. Hans Georg Asam, father of the famous brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin who designed Kloster Weltenburg and other baroque masterpieces around Bavaria, was the court painter at Kloster Benediktbeuern. The peaceful grounds encompass an inner courtyard garden, and tromp de l’oeil frescoes adorn the walls of several buildings.

Once you’ve had your fill of the monastery or worked up a thirst hiking around, head to the airy beer garden in the lane behind the rustic Kloster Benediktbeuern Bräustüberl. The horse chestnuts bloom a pretty salmon pink in spring, birds chirp among the hedges that break up the space into cozy niches, and the monastery church bell regularly tolls the intervals of the hour.

Save room for food at the Gasthof Herzogstand, a tavern in a beautiful chalet. In addition to their Löwenbräu offerings, they serve up beers by Unertl. The copper-chestnut Unertl Weizenbock is a revelation. Elegant layers of clove, cinnamon, and allspice mingle with vanilla, banana pudding, crème brûlée, and autumn honey over toast. Milk caramel, a dusting of cocoa, and an earthy sassafras note round out the cascade of flavours and aromas.

The beer garden at the Kloster Benediktbeuern Bräustüberl — *Beer garden at the Kloster Benediktbeuern Bräustüberl*

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Bad Tölz is just an hour from Munich with the Bayrische Oberbahn (BOB) train, making it an ideal day trip from the Bavarian capital. It’s also an excellent base for visiting the ducal brewery in Tegernsee, hiking to Kloster Reutberg for a beer with a view, or exploring the opulent monastery at Benediktbeuern.