July 21, 2025

Forchheim: Three Breweries and a Forest of Beer Cellars

Forchheim is the gateway to Franconian Switzerland, a beer region with a density of breweries like no other. Yet if it weren’t for beer, you’d probably only know of Forchheim as a stop on the trainline between Nürnberg and Bamberg.

But it wasn’t always that way. Back in the tenth century—in 911 to be precise—the Franconian duke Conrad I became the first non-Carolingian king of East Francia. He was crowned in none other than Forchheim. Also known as the Kingdom of the East Franks, this successor realm of Charlemagne’s Carolingian Empire began its transition into the Kingdom of the Germans with the crowning of Conrad. Now that’s something of historical significance, even if you’d never know it in Forchheim today.

Still, there’s plenty to recommend placid Forchheim for beer travelers visiting Franconia. Lined with half-timbered houses, Forchheim is home to three breweries and a prodigious number of beer gardens dotting the hills in the aptly named Kellerwald above town. And all that ink not spilled on Forchheim in guidebooks? All the better for beer travelers. It’s just you, the locals, and any beer enthusiasts who find their way there.

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Forchheim Amid the Hills and Streams

As you approach Forchheim from the south, the broad plains around Erlangen give way to a hilly landscape. Cut by streams and rivers, it’s this kind of topography that has made Upper Franconia famous for its legions of Bierkellers. Buttenheim, Hallendorf, Oberhaid, Stiebarlimbach: These are just a few of the towns and villages that evoke images of Bierkeller bliss. Forchheim itself is home to the Kellerwald, the highest concentration of beer cellars anywhere. (Nomen est omen: Kellerwald means “cellar forest.”)

Before or after climbing that rather daunting-looking hill with all those Bierkellers,* take some time to wend your way through lane upon lane of quaint timbered houses. Don’t miss the Fischkästen just north of the center. Hanging a few meters above the Wiesent River, these tiny huts once served to hold the catch of the town’s fishermen.

*Bierkeller is both singular and plural. I’ll use the anglicized “Bierkellers” for the plural form here—with apologies to my German-speaking friends, of course. I might occasionally utter the word “beer garden” as well. Sacrilege in Franconia, I know.

From there, head to the splendid Rathausplatz (the town hall square) with its abundance of beam-and-stucco Fachwerk buildings, where you can replenish your energy in the shadow of the Church of St. Martin. Neder and Hebendanz are right next to each other on the square. Greif is about ten minutes away.

Breweries and Taverns

Check opening hours before you go. They’re all over the place. And note that not all of the breweries serve food in their taverns.

Brauerei Josef Greif

A relative newcomer compared with the other stalwarts in Forchheim, Greif has been brewing since the middle of the nineteenth century. For my money, Greif’s beers are the best in town. And if that doesn’t convince you, their slew of awards might.

It’s lively on Friday evening when I call in for a drink, but not packed. Middle-aged couples share after-dinner beers next to tables filled with gents in their 70s playing cards.

Greif doesn’t serve food. And that’s AOK. I’m here for the beer. In addition to tasty classics, Greif offers seasonals for the winter and for Annafest in summer. What’s old is also new again, with a Rauchbier, Märzen, and Bockbier recently joining the lineup.

Greif’s Edel Pils bills itself as “feingehopft,” and finely hopped it is. Aside from the firm bitterness, it walks and talks like a spicier Helles, less peppery than the Pilsners of breweries like Ayinger down south, or even Keesmann’s Herren Pils in Bamberg. Still, it’s a southern German Pils through and through, with a Franconian signature. Clean and crisply bitter, Greif’s Edel Pils packs in complex malt with baguette and country bread layered over crushed grain and freshly cut hay. There’s a beguiling steeliness to it all. My kind of Pils.

I pause to take in my surroundings while I wait for my next beer. The Wirtshaus shows all the hallmarks of a late twentieth-century renovation (tiled floors, linoleum table tops), but the wood wrapping around the airy tavern is slowly taking on the patina of age. Textured windowpanes with dark wooden frames hark back to the postwar period, making common cause with the potted plants lining the window sills to add a dash of Gemütlichkeit.

Moments later my Landbier arrives. Schlöbberla is a beer brewed “nach altfränkischer Brauart.” And that old Franconian brewing heritage really shines in this amber-bronze beer. Dried cherry and hazelnut cascade out from beneath the prodigious foam, followed closely by fresh cream and a fine caramel note, all accented by a mélange of hop aromas ranging from cinnamon to mint. Malt is the keystone, with beguiling Lebkuchen melding with raisin bread. Quaffable but complex, Schlöbberla’s a shape-shifter. And that’s what makes Landbiers so fascinating.

And then there’s the Helles, a beer for the ages when it’s served from a wooden cask like it is at Greif’s Bierkeller in the forest-green shade of the Kellerwald. Rich and wholesome, it’s a canvas of mildly peppery hops and meadows in bloom painted on a backdrop of country bread and rolled oats. Slate-like minerality and a slight stone fruit note add colour. Supple and elegant.

Neder-Bräu

Neder-Bräu is right on the town square. It’s the kind of place I’d never have dreamed of entering in my early twenties: all rugged old-timers and the air filled with Franconian accents as thick as the smoke clouding the tavern. But now that I’m a few decades older, I’ve learned to appreciate these traditional establishments. Older, and yet I still lower the average age of this place whenever I visit.

Imbibing starts early at this brewery founded in 1554. A typical cast of barroom characters adds spice to the homey ambiance spun by the wood-paneled walls, timbered ceiling, and white-washed stucco walls splashed with frescoes depicting sights around Forchheim. You can also get your beer at the “Gassenschänke” (those beer windows common in Franconia) and drink it at one of the wooden tables with a view of the town hall.

As for that beer, it’s plenty fine. And it’s still served the old way from casks propped up on the bar. Deeply hued like a Czech lager, the Premium Pils is full-flavoured and aromatic, its round maltiness tempered by a harmonious bitterness. The Kellerbier is on the caramel-sweet side (a touch too sweet for my tastes), with bread dough aromas and a dusting of cocoa. Food is limited to snacks like garlic sausage from the local butcher. But in a twist not unlike the beer gardens down south, you can bring your own food.

Brauereigaststätte Hebendanz

Hebendanz has been in the same family for over 500 years. An ornate sign dangling from the façade of a half-timbered building marks the spot of this Wirtshaus on the town square. It was once a boozer with its own distinct “charm,” and it still retains a slightly rugged character.

When you enter, you’ll find yourself in a wide passageway. You can buy beer sold through the “Gassenschänke” window directly from the bar if you want a quick sip. Or you can make for the Stube and have a beer while enjoying the edge to the place.

Hebendanz also taps beer at their Schlössla Keller in the Kellerwald, a suitably rustic cellar with sturdy green benches and a terrace ringed by lamps. Word on the street is that the Kellerbier on tap here is the same as their Export Hell in town, except served from casks. And it’s a wonderful Export, with all the hallmarks of a full-flavoured but gently carbonated Kellerbier: country bread, freshly mown meadows, acacia honey, peppery hops, and a touch of slate-like minerality—in short, an ideal Bierkeller sipper.

Stadtlokal (Fränkische Bierstube)

Once a fine address for Franconian food and beer, Stadtlokal has seen better days. The service is still friendly, and the historic Wirtshaus with its colourful woodwork and unique Kachelofen remains unchanged. Unfortunately, the food has tanked. Check it out if you’re a fan of Wirtshaus interiors. But save your food money and just order a beer as you soak up the ambiance.

A Forest of Beer Gardens: Forchheim’s Kellerwald

Now’s the time for a word about the semantics of beer gardens in Franconia. While no one in Munich will look at you askance for saying you’re going to a beer garden, folks in Franconia have a different way of referring to these leafy oases: Bierkellers, or beer cellars. The reason is historical. Cellars were sunk deep into the hills both to modulate fermentation temperatures and to keep beer cool in the days before refrigeration. Soon enough, intrepid brewers set up tables so that locals could enjoy beer served fresh from the cellars.

If you’ve only been to the beer gardens in and around Munich, the Bierkellers of the Kellerwald are different. They’re all perched atop cellars. It’s quite a sight, all these stone-arched cellars with weathered wooden doors—and a vivid reminder of how beer was matured back in the day. Rather than a stand of chestnut trees and crunchy gravel underfoot, you’re in a forest of sturdy oaks and maples that have witnessed several score years of changing seasons. You get the sense that this is how the Germans drank their beer once upon a time.

The woods really come alive during Annafest. But fear not if you’re passing through Forchheim outside of those festive days in late July. On any given day during Bierkeller season (mid-April through September), you’ll find between a half-dozen and a dozen Bierkellers open. Simply hike up and start at the first Bierkeller that’s serving. The cellars are right next to each other, so you’ll never have far to go for your next beer in this refreshingly rustic setting.

Unsurprisingly, beer offerings lean heavily toward Kellerbier, an unfiltered and unpasteurized beer similar to Zwickl. As far as food goes, many of the Bierkellers just sling beer. But some, like Greif Keller and Glocken-Keller, serve food from simple huts that sometimes have indoor seating. Look for Franconian classics like Ziebelaskäs (fresh cheese with onions and pepper) or Stadtwurst mit Musik (thinly sliced Nürnberger sausage and onions marinated in vinegar). Absolutely delish with a Kellerbier.

The Annafest: A Kellerbier Paradise

The Annafest in late July is the perfect festival for lovers of al fresco imbibing. As with other Franconian beer festivals like the Walberlafest and Bamberg’s Sandkerwa, the Annafest got its start in honour of a saint—in this case, Anna, mother of Mary. What began in 1840 as a tranquil pilgrimage festival in honour of Anna’s feast day on 26 July is now an eleven-day showcase of Forchheim’s beer cellars. No matter who shows up to tap beer in any given year, it’s a fine place to get a sense of what Franconian beer is all about, especially Kellerbier. We’re in the Kellerwald, after all.

Odds and Ends

It’s a twenty-minute walk up the hill and into the Kellerwald from the Forchheim train station. Bus 261 leaves the station every half hour. Click here for the schedule. If you’re arriving from points along the trainline between Nürnberg and Bamberg, there’s a brand-new S-Bahn station, Forchheim Nord, that’s even closer to the Kellerwald. (Note that regional trains don’t stop here.)

Cellars open outside of Annafest don’t start serving till after 3:00 pm on weekdays, earlier on weekends. Here’s an interactive map that lists opening times.