August 31, 2021

Augsburg, Historic Beer Town on Munich’s Doorstep

So many great beers and breweries, so little time. It’s no wonder cities like Augsburg get overlooked when you could easily spend an entire vacation sampling the liquid delights of Munich or Bamberg. But not only is Augsburg worth visiting for its cathedrals and cobblestoned lanes, it’s also a beer town rich in history. And you can make it there from Munich in as much time as it takes to reach beer pilgrimage sites like Kloster Andechs.

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Roman Origins, Medieval Influence, and the Reformation

Founded in 15 BCE during the reign Emperor Augustus, Augsburg is one of Germany’s oldest cities. For centuries Augsburg remained one of the key towns along the trade route that crossed the Alps into Italy. When Munich was no more than a settlement of monks huddled along the Isar River, Augsburg was already a flourishing commercial center.

Augsburg reached its zenith in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, rivalling cities like Venice and Antwerp in influence. Around this time Augsburg’s name became virtually synonymous with the Fuggers, a powerful banking family that amassed so much wealth during the Middle Ages wealth that it was able to finance a few impecunious monarchs along the way. The Fuggers also built the world’s first social housing complex, the Fuggerei, which still provides housing for Augsburg’s economically disadvantaged.

As if all of this weren’t already enough to cement Augsburg’s status as a city rich in history, it played a prominent role in the Reformation, giving Martin Luther a forum at the Imperial Diet in 1518 and serving as the venue for the Confessio Augustana (1530). The Peace of Augsburg was also concluded in the city in 1555, temporarily settling religious disputes between Catholics and Protestants.

Augsburg, Historic Beer Town

Brewing has a long history in Augsburg as well. Two years before Munich’s founding by Henry the Lion in 1158, Emperor Friedrich I (Barbarossa) furnished Augsburg with a city charter that not only curtailed the power of the bishops, but also contained the first known beer regulation in the Germanic lands. Beer quality had long been an issue, and the law didn’t mince words: “A brewer or innkeeper who makes bad beer or pours an unjust measure shall be punished.” Brewers could be fined up to 5 guilders, a considerable sum at the time, and have their brewing rights revoked with a third offense.

Augsburg went on to become a minor brewing powerhouse in its own right, aided by a wave of nineteenth-century industrialization. Today, Augsburg is home to several breweries serving beer of the quality you’d find in Bavaria’s more renowned beer oases.

Beer in Augsburg

Thorbräu

Imagine, for a moment, that it’s a crystalline September day and summer’s making its last stand. You’ve just arrived in Augsburg, but you’re already thirsty after the short train trip from Munich. Sure, you could stop at Thorbräu’s cozy Bräustüberl in the shadow of the Wertachbrucker Tor, the medieval city gate on the western edge of the Altstadt, but what better way to send off the summer than in a beer garden? Fortunately, you’re in luck, for Thorbräu’s Freibank Biergarten is in a verdant park just beyond the city gate. The Freibank Biergarten isn’t your typical Bavarian beer garden. Rather, it’s a pleasant cobblestone terrace open to the surrounding streets running through the park, an ideal place for people-watching while you sip on your Kellerbier in the dappled afternoon shade cast by a stately oak and the horse chestnuts nearby.

Thorbräu’s beers are just a touch on the sweet side, but they have enough hoppy bitterness to keep the malt in check. The Kellerbier evokes Alpine meadows in bloom, all buttressed by an intriguing malt character reminiscent of muesli with light brown sugar. The Schwarzbier walks and talks like a Dunkel (indeed, Thorbräu has recently rechristened this beer a Dunkel), redolent of creamy mocha, chocolate, and dried cherries dusted with cocoa. As with the Kellerbier, the yeast contributes a beguiling whiff of sulfur that melds nicely with spicy, perfumed hop notes and malty Vollkornbrot (a dense, whole-grain brown bread). For snacks, you’ll do just fine with the super-tasty Augsburger Bratwurst with a side of delicious potato salad.

Die Drei Königinnen

No one knows how Die Drei Königinnen (The Three Queens) got its name, not even the owner. But the patrons who flock to this lively Wirtshaus (inn) don’t seem much bothered by these arcane details of local history, devoting their attention instead to the beer and satisfying food on offer at this chic tavern.

Located in a quiet neighbourhood just beyond the southern edge of the Fuggerei, Die Drei Königinnen also conceals a secluded treasure of a beer garden in its courtyard. You’ll feel like you’ve been let in on a secret as you drink in the autumn sunshine shimmering through the leaves of the majestic trees rising up over this small oasis of calm. Near the back of the garden is a covered seating area held aloft by slender iron columns. This was once an outdoor bowling alley, a historical remnant that stands as a testament to nineteenth- and early twentieth-century leisure pursuits.

Back inside the bustling Wirtshaus, globe-shaped ceiling lamps and boldly painted walls lend the place a contemporary flair. The Augusta Bräu beer on offer here is on point, especially the refreshing, lightly bready Helles and the richly satisfying Kellerbier. The Dunkel and Weissbier are decent, too. (Though the eleventh-generation brewing family that owns Augusta-Bräu still owns and lives in the building that houses Die Drei Königinnen, the beer is now brewed elsewhere.) And the food? Just what the cardiologist ordered after a long day of beer exploration. How about Spätzle covered in melted cheese and crisped onions with an onion beer sauce on the side? Deee-lish.

Gasthaus Bauerntanz

The Gasthaus Bauerntanz (Peasants’ Dance) nestled amid the narrow cobblestone alleys behind the Rathaus is an ideal place to recharge with a beer or a meal after taking in Augsburg’s architectural heritage. Don’t let the neon signage on the facade fool you. Inside the Bauerntanz there’s more Swabian Gemütlichkeit than you can shake a dish of Spätzle at. Founded in 1572, the Bauerntanz is Augsburg’s oldest tavern. Low ceilings supported by wooden beams create a cozy atmosphere that brings you back a few centuries, while pine furnishings and wall paneling add rustic cheer.

As with so many Bavarian Gaststätte, Bauerntanz once brewed its own beer. Nowadays, Hasen-Bräu caters to the needs of Bauerntanz’s patrons. The Hasen-Bräu Herrenpils on tap is pleasantly hoppy and bitter with a beguiling trace of honeyed residual sweetness that runs through many of the beers I’ve tasted in the city. If hunger comes a calling, Bauerntanz offers everything from typical Bavarian classics to local Swabian specialties like Maultaschen and Schupfnudeln.

Brauhaus Riegele

Any visit to Augsburg should start or end with Brauhaus Riegele, Augsburg’s venerable old brewery founded in 1386. Now in its twenty-eighth generation of family ownership, the brewery hasn’t rested on their laurels — and they’ve received more than their fair share of those over the years from international competitions like the European Beer Star and the World Beer Cup. With Beers like Simcoe 3, Amaris 50 (a lager inspired by American pale ale), and the hefty Noctus 100 Imperial Stout complementing their traditional offerings, Riegele is among the growing number of pedigreed Bavarian breweries successfully combining the old with the new. You’ve got to give an old brewery credit for trying new things, but for my money, their traditional Commerzienrat Riegele Privat tops the list. Crisp and spicy yet mild and smooth, it’s one of those exquisitely crafted lagers you don’t find every day — like a Mozart violin sonata, profound yet elegant in its simplicity.

I hope this sampling of Augsburg’s beer scene inspires you to visit some of Bavaria’s lesser-known beer towns on Munich’s doorstep. If smaller cities like Augsburg appeal to you, consider venturing further west to Ulm at some point, another city with a small but vibrant beer scene. Though Ulm’s Altstadt is in the state of Baden-Württemberg, the city straddles the Danube, with its eastern half in Bavaria. This means you can get there from Munich or other places in Bavaria with the Bayern-Ticket.

Sources:

Horst D. Dornbusch, Prost! The Story of German Beer (Boulder: Brewers Publications, 1997).

Michael Nadler, “Reinheitsgebot und Staatssäckel,” in Riepertinger, et. al. (eds.), Bier in Bayern, ex. cat., Haus der Bayrischen Geschichte (Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 2016).

Adam T. Rosenbaum, Bavarian Tourism and the Modern World, 1800–1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Augsburg history: the role of Frederick I (Barbarossa)

For more on the Fuggerei: https://www.fugger.de/home/

All images by F.D. Hofer