July 24, 2023

Beer Gardens in Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s Southwest

~Freiburg, Tübingen, Stuttgart, Ulm~

Baden-Württemberg is a panoply of delightful beer experiences. Just across the Danube from Bavaria, Ulm is one of Germany’s more underrated beer destinations. The university town of Tübingen, where Goethe once studied, makes for an ideal beer stop en route to the Black Forest. Freiburg is home to a hilltop beer garden surrounded by vineyards. And, of course, there’s Stuttgart, home of an autumn beer festival every bit as enjoyable as Oktoberfest.

Over the years I’ve introduced you to numerous beer gardens across Bavaria. Since many of you don’t confine your travels to Bavaria, and since Baden-Württemberg brews beers every bit as good, I thought you might want to hear about some of the shaded beer groves in this region. Here are a few worth putting on your beer travel itinerary.

Freiburg

Close to France and Switzerland, Freiburg is one of those towns that combines the best of beer and wine. With its soaring filigree cathedral steeple and medieval gates standing sentry at different entry points around the city, it’s a beautiful city worth a trip for more than just the beer.

Feierling Biergarten

Since you’re probably here for beer as well, make your way to Hausbrauerei Feierling. Their fine urban beer garden just across the way from their brewpub is perched slightly above street level and slightly hidden — which makes you feel like you’ve left the city. The white beer garden furniture adds a dash of uniqueness, as does the whitewashed Ausschank building with its mint-green archways, its bistro-style lighting casting a cheerful glow into the beer garden evening.

Feierling brews one beer only in the summer months: Inselhopf, a tasty unfiltered (naturtrübes) golden lager, and that’s perfectly fine. With honeyed malt, meadows in bloom, sourdough bread, and a refreshing mineral character, Inselhopf’s got all the Kellerbier goodness you could ask for. For Weissbier fans, Feierling also serves the Hefe-Weisse from Brauerei Rogg in the Black Forest. This beer’s worth seeking out.

Kastaniengarten Greifenegg Schlössle

Kastaniengarten Greifenegg Schlössle is an excellent find. And actually, it was hard to find. You need to take the lift up to the Schlössle (chateau), or wind your way up the Schlossberg on foot. Either way, you’re rewarded with a captivating view of Freiburg’s rooftops and its cathedral spire piercing the evening sky. To the south you have a view of meadows, vineyards, and the Alpine foothills. Despite my own problems finding the place, the garden was packed with lively groups of students and smaller groups of friends and family enjoying the view.

You’ll find the usual beer garden victuals like pretzels and grilled Bratwurst, along with a regional twist, Flammkuchen. Popular in southwestern Germany and Alsace, Flammkuchen is a flatbread cooked in a wood-fired oven, smothered in crème fraiche, and topped with onions and ham. Fürstenberg from Donauschingen is on tap. It’s certainly not bad beer, if somewhat generic. That said, any quibbles you (or I) might have about the beer will melt into the thin air of that view of the cathedral’s silhouette against the twilight sky.

Tübingen

Tübingen is a mere 30 kilometers from the hustle and bustle of Stuttgart and its fast cars. Timber and stucco houses line the market squares. Escher-esque lanes ascend to churches while stairs descend to the Neckar, punt-boats floating languidly by. With all that greenery surrounding Tübingen, it’s no surprise you’ll find a few beer gardens that are a worthy match for the scenery.

Fischer’s Neckarmüller

Founded in 1992, Fischer’s Neckarmüller is a classic Hausbraurei, one of those independent brewpub-style breweries that sprung up in the 1980s and 1990s to challenge the dominance of big beer. Neckarmüller presides over a spacious terrace with a view of the Neckar River and a full-fledged beer garden one level down.

Once you’ve found a seat under the leafy canopy, your next order of business should involve ordering something like Neckarmüller’s Kellerbier (4.8%). Dreamy aromas of fresh country bread, freshly mown meadows, and a twist of citrus accented by apple blossoms and a peachy yeast note: it’s the kind of beer tailor-made for beer gardens. Like the best Kellerbiers, the last drop of this medium-bodied but satisfyingly rich beer calls forth the next glass. The food here is top-notch, too.

Hofgut Schwärzloch

Just a few kilometers west of Schloss Hohentübingen, Schwärzlocher Hof is home to a fairytale beer garden overlooking an idyllic valley. There’s been a manor house on this agricultural estate since 1829, and it’s still a working farm. One of the specialties here is Most, the intermediate phase that apple juice passes on its way to apple cider.

Do what multitudes of Tübingen’s students and Sunday strollers have done before you and walk the 3 kilometers from the old town. The route takes you through a quiet residential area before depositing you on a wide trail, the epitome of a pastoral stroll once the province of women with parasols and men in top hats. Rolling hills dotted with small stands of woods well up on both sides of this wide valley. Soon you’ll spy the farmhouse perched atop a hillock.

When I got here during Saturday lunch the place was packed with cyclists, hikers, and families, the buzz of conversation punctuated occasionally by the cries of a peacock wandering the courtyard of the farmhouse. The wind rustled gently through the canopy of leaves casting a dappled light. I took a seat near the wooden fence with views of farmhouses crowned by orange-brown tiles.

Food was in order after spending the morning climbing up and down the hills of Tübingen. And, of course, beer. The lentils with spätzle is ample, and the beers from Schwaben Bräu in Stuttgart complement this regional dish well, especially the Schwarzbier, a relative rarity in these parts. Das Schwarze is a coffee-coloured beer with a frothy cap of foam. Smoky dark chocolate and coffee make common cause with dark toast and rye bread in this taut-bodied, perfectly attenuated beer. It’s this tautness that makes it thirst-quenching on a warm day.

Stuttgart

Sophie’s Biergarten im Schlosspark

Stuttgart is a study in contrasts. Home of Porsche and Mercedes, it’s also an urban wine-growing region with vineyards clinging to steep hills. Whether you’re arriving for the Cannstatter Volksfest or visiting Stuttgart for its world-class museums, stop in at Sophie’s Biergarten im Schlosspark just west of the Hauptbahnhof. Once you’ve explored the leafy park dotted with ponds and statuary, find a seat at the beer garden with its mix of middle-aged folks, lively groups of friends in their 20s and 30s, and elderly Stuttgarters relaxing with a beer.

Sophie’s Biergarten is a classic, with crunchy gravel underfoot, well-weathered beer garden furniture, and a terrace paved with cobblestones. If you arrive in autumn, the beer garden couldn’t be prettier: blue skies accented by yellow leaves donning their fall colours.

It was still the Frühschoppen hour on this fine Sunday morning, so I availed myself of an order of Weißwurst and an Eichbaum Hefeweizen, a terracotta-coloured beer with orange hues. Elegant baking spice aromas of cloves and cinnamon mingle with banana custard in this silky Weissbier that tastes of light brown sugar and honey with a twist of lemon.

Ulm

Ulm’s church steeple, Germany’s highest, is merely the prelude to a charming city ringed with old fortification walls and lined with medieval lanes perfect for aimless wandering. Venture a bit further afield and you’ll find a few decent breweries, including local powerhouse Gold Ochsen.

Brauerei Schlössle

As for Ulm’s beer gardens, Brauerei Schlössle’s green grove in Neu-Ulm is a particularly nice place to spend an afternoon. Neu-Ulm is technically in Bavaria, but since it’s just over the Danube from Ulm proper, I’ll slide it in here under the Baden-Württemberg beer garden gate. It’s an easy 3-kilometer stroll from the center along the Danube (with a short stretch along the main road). The walk back affords beautiful views of the Altstadt and its spire rising up above the Danube.

Once you’ve found your way to the hidden garden behind the guesthouse, order the Schlössle Zwickel. Hazy burnished gold, it’s a medley of stewed apple and pear with quince layered over white nougat, marzipan, lightly toasted bread, and a perfumed hop character reminiscent of spicy herbal tea. Even if the beer doesn’t quite have that typical yeasty Zwickl roundness, its assertive hop character, creamy carbonation, and refreshing finish make it ideally suited to warm afternoons.

If you have a few favourite beer gardens in Baden-Württemberg, let us know in the comments. Happy beer gardening, everyone!

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