Breweries and Beer Hikes in Murnau

We arrived in Murnau to a golden autumn afternoon perfect for wandering through this landscape famed for its light and colours. Since all good beer hikes need a certain beverage to make them what they are, we made straight for the shimmering Staffelsee lake on the edge of town to stock up on electrolytes. Beers from the kiosk in hand, we found a spot on the terrace near a small beach alive with quacking ducks and kids splashing around in the shallows.

The light falls differently here, more vivid and crystalline. Looking out over the cobalt-blue lake reflecting the red and yellow fall foliage, I could see why Expressionist artists in the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) orbit prized the light in this part of the world they called “the blue land.” Wassily Kandinsky and Gabrielle Münter, two of the founders of the Blaue Reiter, were so captivated by the colour palette of the landscape that they moved to Murnau in 1908.

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Murnau is only an hour from Munich by train but worlds away from the bustle of the city. There’s the light and the landscape in this Upper Bavarian town in the shadow of the Alps. Then there’s the beer. Small as Murnau is, it’s home to two breweries. And for folks who like to combine imbibing with wandering, Murnau is ideal. The hike around the fascinating Murnauer Moos wetlands is worth the trip alone, while the shorter Drachenstich loop with its rewarding views of the Murnauer Moos makes for a nice afternoon walk.

The Drachenstich Hike

We finished up our Hopf Weissbier, a deep yellow beer that went well with the saturated colour of the late afternoon sky, then left Bucht 27 on the Staffelsee to pick up the scent of the dragon. Dramatically named, this pastoral amble passes the site where an evil dragon memorialized on Murnau’s coat-of-arms was slain.

Near the market street of the old town we found the dragon trail. The signs for the 6.5-kilometer Drachenstich-Rundweg took us through a park, then across the train tracks past a field of placid horses. From there the trail climbs gently and arcs around to the Münter-Haus, where Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky set up shop to paint. The view from here of Murnau’s steeples and mountain backdrop is an enchanting vista that beguiled the artists of the Blaue Reiter.

We topped a short rise and headed toward the setting sun through meadows dotted with old huts. Soon we came to a splendid promenade lined with prodigious oaks on either side — some 140 in all. If you close your eyes, it’s not hard to imagine ladies with parasols and gentlemen in top hats strolling along this perfectly nineteenth-century promenade planted on the initiative of Emeran Kottmüller (1825–1905), a local politician and owner of the Pantelbräu brewery.

By now the light had turned burnished gold, refracting through the autumn leaves in a kaleidoscope of light and shade cast upon the green meadow rising up toward the train tracks. At the end of the Kottmüllerallee, the trail descends to the ridgeline above the Murnauer Moos with stunning views of this spectacular expanse, a landscape spare but not quite desolate, sublime in its austere vastness.

We banked right after drinking in the Murnauer Moos panorama and doubled back uphill through the cool, dark woods exhaling the scent of autumn leaves. As the trail starts to climb through the woods, you’ll pass a modest clearing where a small cascade streams down toward the moorlands. This is where the big, bad dragon once committed his reprehensible deeds. Even if this mythic spot isn’t quite as impressive as the name of the trail would lead you to believe, the scenery is suitably sylvan.

The woods open out onto a meadow at the top of the ascent, where the trail crosses a country road lined with farms, then skirts the edge of a children’s clinic through yellow-dappled woods down to the lake. Back on the banks of the Staffelsee, we watched the last of the sunshine dancing on the waves and ripples of the lake before returning to town for a hearty meal and stellar beers at Brauerei Karg.

Murnauer Moos: The Hike and the Phenomenon

The 18-kilometer Murnauer Moos hike, which retraces the first part of the Drachenstich trail, isn’t the most strenuous beer hike you’ll ever do, but it’s one of the most wondrous. On a mid-autumn day near sunset, it’s a palette of green hills, blue skies, and golden fields. On overcast days, the moorland’s ochre, terra cotta, beige, and russet blend together into the most beautiful fifty shades of brown. It’s the kind of sight that stays with you, an uncanny landscape not often seen in twenty-first century Europe.

One of the first things you notice about the landscape is its diversity. Craggy limestone peaks shimmering dreamlike in the distance. The marshland bog with a boardwalk passing through it. The rustic hay huts that dot the landscape, storing the previous years’ harvest and recalling a time when the Moos was a major hay source for the surrounding villages and towns. And a multitude of grasses, straw, and reeds.

A short distance down the hill toward the moor, you’ll come across a tiny church on a small rise. Founded in the seventh century, the Ramsachkirchl is known locally as the Ähndl (ancestor, forebear), and is the oldest church in Upper Bavaria. The old bell is a local treasure, a trusted chime that once called people to mass and rang out as a fire alarm or a portent of bad weather. These days, this valiant little church with its peeling plaster looks like it could use some TLC.

Before you set foot on the Murnauer Moos proper, call in at the Gaststätte Ähndl for a refreshing Weissbier from Brauerei Karg and an unforgettable view over the moorlands.

Interlude: The Murnauer Moos

The Murnauer Moos is the largest marshland in Central Europe, home to a rich diversity of plant and animal species. But how did this vast expanse come to be? At the peak of the last ice age, the moorland was covered by the massive Loisach glacier, its thickest point reaching 1200 meters above the valley floor. The basin carved out by the glacier filled with water as the glacier retreated. Over time the glacier’s meltwaters and the streams from the surrounding mountains carried enormous amounts of silt with them, gradually filling this lake with sediment. The Murnauer Moos formed atop these waterlogged deposits.

Spend any amount of time walking through the Murnauer Moos and you’ll notice the ubiquitous tiny wooden huts dotting the pastures. Before the 1950s, the straw that grew in the wetlands was in such high demand for cattle stall bedding that farmers came with ox-drawn carts from miles around. Many of these small barns have been laid low by time’s ravages, but several have been restored of late. Today, few areas of the Murnauer Moos are cultivated for straw. Even still, nature conservationists are interested in preserving as many of these straw meadows as possible, since such meadows serve as habitats for rare animal and plant species.

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Now that you know a few things about the habitat surrounding you, head west along the gravel path beneath the Ähndl and follow the signs for the Murnauer Moos Rundweg. The path dips south toward the mountains before looping north and into the woods. The trail banks west again, passing along a boardwalk through a fascinating and other-worldly marshland bog area. After you exit this wonderland, you’ll meander through a few hamlets near the train tracks before beginning the final stretch of the hike past hay huts and cow pastures. By now you’ll have likely worked up a prodigious thirst and a hunger to match.

The Breweries and Their Beers and Food

Brauerei Karg

Brauerei Karg is one of those rare Bavarian breweries like Schneider Weisse, Erdinger, Kuchlbauer, and Hopf that focuses its attention on wheat beer. And it does so to great effect.

Karg has been a family enterprise since its founding in 1912, when Andreas Karg took over the Hirschvogel brewery and turned it into a wheat beer brewery. Now in its fourth generation, the brewery and its Wirtshaus is a fixture in the center of Murnau’s old town.

Karg’s unassuming ochre façade conceals a cozy tavern within. The Alpine theme is subdued and the white-washed walls sparely decorated, but the Kachelofen adds a touch of rustic charm.

Served on draft, Karg’s terra cotta-hued Weißbier Hell echoes the colours of the Murnauer Moos sleeping in the darkness a few kilometers away. The aromas bursting out from beneath the mousse-like foam are the epitome of Weissbier balance: banana custard drizzled with honey and spiked with vanilla, along with scents of allspice, clove, and orange zest. Rich, creamy, and lightly peppery all at the same time, this fine beer layers Swiss milk caramel, spiced crême brûlée, and orange essence into an elegant ensemble.

Karg’s Weißbier Dunkel is another tour de force. Chestnut brown in colour, this beer, too, is exquisitely balanced between the banana esters and clove phenols typical of Weissbier yeast. Dark brown sugar, spice box, autumn honey, and fresh cream come together with a hint of rum-raisin and milk chocolate in this off-dry beer with a subtle bitterness and a touch of residual sweetness. This is my kind of dark Hefeweizen: deft on the palate, elegantly spiced.

The food here is par for the Bavarian Wirtshaus course. The Griebenschmalz (pork fat with cracklings) is out of this world, the obatzda on point. The scrumptious Schweinsbraten comes smothered in a rich and deeply flavoured Weißbier sauce made with Karg’s Weißbier Dunkel.

All in all, the superb beer and hearty food was just what the doctor ordered on this crisp autumn evening after going in search of dragons.

Griesbräu zu Murnau

Griesbräu traces its history back to 1808. The building that houses today’s brewery, tavern, and hotel was rebuilt after a fire destroyed much of Murnau’s upper market in 1836. As happened often in Germany’s first great wave of consolidation in the wake of industrialization, Griesbräu shuttered in 1920 after it was acquired by the larger Thomasbräu of Munich. Fast forward to 1999, when the current owners restored the historically registered building. Today’s brewpub combines vaulted cellars that exude an air of the past with late-twentieth century touches like a copper-kettle brewhouse visible from the dining area.

If Karg is world class, Griesbräu is more pedestrian — and also a bit of a paradox. It’s a popular local hub, to be sure. But while Griesbräu’s beers are a serviceable way to quench your thirst after a day out on the trails, they’re a few rungs removed from the upper echelons of Bavarian beer artistry. The Griesbräu Weiße is clove forward and honeyed. The opalescent and citrusy Griesbräu Helles hints at newer hop varieties. And the Werdenfelser Ur-Dunkel (named after a castle that once secured the trade route running through the Loisach valley) mingles molasses and chocolate with a slight tang. Griesbräu releases a steady stream of seasonals ranging from craft offerings like St. Nicholas Stout to Drachenblut (dragon’s blood). I have yet to try any of the seasonals, but friends have enjoyed them. As for the food? The less said, the better.

To end on a positive note, Griesbräu pays tribute to its history as an inn with rooms tastefully renovated in an “upscale rustic” aesthetic, rooms that are a welcome respite after hiking around the Blaues Land or nearby towns. Our room overlooked Murnau’s lively pedestrian street and afforded beautiful sunrise views of dramatic pink and orange skies lighting up the Alps.

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Speaking of inns, Murnau makes an excellent base for exploring the mountainous Upper Bavarian towns of Mittenwald, Oberammergau, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, all of which are within a half an hour of Murnau by train. Another advantage of staying a night or two: You can get an early start and combine the Drachenstich hike and the Murnauer Moos hike into a loop of about 22 kilometers. Head out from the center of town as you would for either hike, follow the Moosrundweg loop till you’re back near the Ähndl, then head up into the woods along the Drachenstich over to the Staffelsee and back into town.

~Prost, and happy beer hiking!~

Sources

Daniela Schetar, Oberbayern (Dumont Reiseverlag, 2016).

Rich Carbonara, Beer Hiking Bavaria (Helvetiq, 2019).

Markt Murnau, interpretive panels.

Markt Murnau, official website.

All photos by F.D. Hofer.

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