On the Hunt for Augustiner Beer in Munich

You can’t go wrong with any of Munich’s breweries, be they the “Big 6” or smaller ones like Giesinger or the Forschungsbrauerei. But for me, one brewery stands a few centimeters taller than the rest: Augustiner. What I love all the more about the places where you can drink Augustiner is that each has a unique feel, and many have unique histories.

Augustiner’s Three Locations

I’ve written at length about the places around Munich with a historic connection and current affiliation with the Augustiner brewery. (See Augustiner, Munich’s Retro-Hip Brewery.) Here’s the “CliffsNotes” version before I introduce you to a few new places.

Augustiner Bräustuben

Current location of the Augustiner brewery, Munich’s oldest. The lively beerhall occupies what was once the brewery’s stable for its dray horses. The Lagerbier Hell here is served from a wooden cask, and the food is what you’d expect: Bavarian classics, hearty and satisfying.

Augustiner Stammhaus

Augustiner brewery location from 1817 to 1884. Transformed into a “beer palace” in 1886, Zum Augustiner is among the most architecturally splendid drinking venues in the city. One door opens onto an ornate restaurant that leads to an Italianate arcade garden. The other door leads to a beerhall ringed with nooks and crannies seemingly tailored for deep philosophical discussions.

Augustiner-Keller

One of Munich’s quintessential beer gardens. More than a hundred stately horse chestnut trees cast their shade over a space large enough for 5000 beer garden aficionados. Back in the day, the amply shaded grove wasn’t the only reason the Augustiner-Keller was the talk of the town: People flocked to the Keller to watch the “beer oxen” turn a rope-and-pulley system that hoisted casks of beer from the cellar.

Places Renovated by Augustiner’s Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation

Wirtshaus Bavariapark

Just up the hill from the majestic Lady Bavaria keeping watch over the Oktoberfest grounds, this rustic Wirtshaus with its heavy beams and wooden floors is connected to its polar opposite, the postwar Kongresshalle. Built in the 1950s, the Kongresshalle had seen better days until the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation helped renovate it in 2007—a boon for the Wirtshaus. Snug up to the edge of the woods, the Bavariapark’s beer garden is all the shaded goodness you could ask for in the summer. And it’s right across from the really cool Museum of Transportation (Verkehrsmuseum), making it an ideal place to recharge if you visit the museum.

Das Bad

This neoclassical structure with its octagonal roof and columned portico is a curious place. But an imitation Greek temple it isn’t, even if it looks like one. Inside, a large bar sits beneath the cupola in the middle in the middle of the tavern. Windows on all sides flood the space with light. Not your typical tavern. But what was it before it became a nice spot for a drink on the northern edge of the Oktoberfest meadow? The name gracing the entablature of this unusual building—Das Bad (the bathhouse)—provides more than a hint.

Originally built in 1894, Das Bad served as a public bathhouse for the working-class residents of Munich’s Schwanthalerhöhe district at a time when their apartments weren’t equipped with bathtubs or showers. Later, the bathhouse was converted into a public convenience for Oktoberfest revelers. It serves a more genteel function today.

As part of the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation’s historic preservation efforts in Munich, the architect who designed the tavern incorporated elements that echo its former use as a bathhouse. The result: an entirely singular spot for an Augustiner.

Brewery-Affiliated Augustiner Spots Around Town

Augustiner-Haidhausen

Once a village on the outskirts of Munich, Haidhausen developed into a working-class district during the nineteenth century. Today, Haidhausen is a laid-back quarter that blends urban flair with the atmosphere of a small town. The working class has long since departed, replaced by the usual cast of characters that follow the workers out. Bakeries, cafes, delis, wine bars, and antique shops line streets that converge on leafy squares.

Known affectionately by locals as “Haidi,” the Augustiner-Haidhausen anchors the eastern end of Bordeaux Platz. Always lively, it serves as a kind of bridge between the working-class history of the district and the eclectic neighbourhood Haidhausen has become. It’s rather polished compared with its more rustic cousins in other parts of Bavaria. Still, it’s everything you’d expect a traditional Munich Wirtshaus to be, with hearty food and, of course, top-notch beer.

Augustiner Drei Mühlen

Just south of the boutiques of Glockenbach, the Schlachthofviertel (Slaugherhouse District) is one of Munich’s edgier districts, a place where Munich’s underground cultural scene thrives amid repurposed industrial buildings and erstwhile workers’ apartments. Back in the day, three mills lined a now-covered stream that runs through the district, lending its name to today’s Drei Mühlen, a long-established neighbourhood haunt.

If Drei Mühlen is a Wirtshaus through and through, its interior reflects how the neighbourhood has changed. The wood paneling and wrap-around wooden benches are all still there, but they’ve been painted a cheerful mint green and topped with unadorned cream-coloured walls. It’s an effect that seems to work well. I’ve called in a handful of times now, always arriving to a packed house. Oldtimers still stop by, along with families and a fair share of young and hip folks, starting with the attentive staff.

Augustiner Schützengarten

Nestled in the shadow of a regal Schloss in southwestern Munich, this beer garden is affiliated with the Königlich Privilegierte Hauptschützengesellschaft München founded way back in 1406. You won’t be able to pronounce that after a few beers, but that’s okay. All you need to know is that it’s the name of the centuries’ old shooting club that owns and runs the beer garden and the Wirtshaus tucked into a corner of the palatial clubhouse mansion built in 1892. Find a spot near one of the wrought-iron lamps in the beer garden, then let the beer flow.

Of note: Last time I visited, there was a new row of apartment complexes going up just to the east. Not exactly idyllic. I haven’t been back yet to see how they’ve dealt with the view.

Augustiner Klosterwirt

Of all the Augustiner places, this one’s located closest to the historic Augustiner brewery in Munich’s Altstadt. (The monastery was just across the way.) It’s also a stone’s throw from the Frauenkirche and a host of fine beer spots that huddle in its shadow. Even if the Klosterwirt is housed in a 1950s/60s building that also houses a bank, the Wirtshaus on the ground floor with its traditional wood isn’t overly forced. Still, it exudes that recently refurbished “rustic” feel that’ll take a few years to feel lived in. The vaulted cellar downstairs is both cozy and bustling, and the small patio terrace out front affords a nice view of the comings and goings.

Augustiner am Platzl

Not much to say. Nice and cozy. Good spot if the Hofbräuhaus is too crazy. That said, if you find yourself in this area of Munich and don’t feel like braving the crowds, opt for Ayinger am Platzl instead. You’ll find plenty of other places around Munich to get your Augustiner fix, but not many that serve beer from “Munich’s country brewery.”

Places with a Looser Affiliation to the Augustiner

Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckerl am Dom

This dark old tavern in the shadow of the Frauenkirche dates from 1390. It’s famous for its grilled Nürnberger Bratwurst and for the wooden cask of Augustiner Helles that they tap every afternoon. It’s also one of my favourite spots in the Altstadt for a beer. Arrive early.

Insel Mühle

Situated along the fast-flowing Würm in northwestern Munich, this beer garden and its erstwhile mill is surrounded by woods, meadows, and walking paths. The small church nearby bears witness to a time when these villages and towns truly were on the outskirts of Munich. Iron wheels, pulleys, and gears scattered about the beer garden evoke the old mill, willows dip their leaves into the stream, and fish swim languidly around a small pond near the center of the beer garden.

**

Odds and Ends

*If you’ve visited any of these establishments, chance are you’ve noticed that Augustiner is among the cheaper beers in town. That’s a welcome feature across the Augustiner system.

*Augustiner has become ubiquitous in Munich over the past decade and change. As such, this list of places to drink Augustiner is far from exhaustive. If you have a favourite “Augustiner spot,” chime in with a comment!

Sources

Süddeutsche Zeitung (eds.), Mir San Bier (2013).

Larry Hawthorne, The Beer Drinker’s Guide to Munich (2015).

Franz Kotteder, “Das alte Tröpferlbad ist jetzt ein modernes Wirtshaus,” Süddeutsche Zeitung (15 November 2018).

Related Posts

Augustiner, Munich’s Retro-Hip Brewery

Out and About Near Munich: Beer Gardens, Breweries, Beer Halls

The Augustiner Bräustuben: From Barn to Beerhall

Riding the Rails for Beer between Munich and Salzburg

Images by Franz D. Hofer

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