Top 10 Breweries in Munich
Munich is the world's undisputed beer capital — not because it produces the greatest variety or the most technically innovative beer, but because it has maintained a living brewing tradition of extraordinary depth, quality, and cultural integration for over five centuries. The city's biergartens, beer halls, Masskrug-carrying waitstaff, and the seasonal rituals of Oktoberfest and Starkbierzeit are a functioning culture, not a heritage performance. These ten breweries define what Munich beer actually is.
1. Augustiner-Bräu, Munich
Augustiner is Munich's oldest brewery (founded 1328) and by common accord among locals, the best. Still family-owned — unlike most of its Munich peers — Augustiner produces the Helles, Edelstoff, and Dunkel that serve as the city's reference points for each style. The Edelstoff export lager in the distinctive amber bottle is the beer served at Augustiner's Oktoberfest tent in traditional wooden casks — the only brewery at the festival still using this format. The brewery's Landsberger Strasse site in the Neuhausen district is the production location; the Am Dom beer hall on Neuhauser Strasse and the Augustinerkeller beer garden on Arnulfstrasse are the primary drinking venues. Among Munich's beer-knowledgeable residents, Augustiner loyalty approaches devotion.
2. Paulaner Brewery, Munich
Founded in 1634 by the Order of Paulaner friars in Munich's Au district, Paulaner established the Salvator doppelbock tradition and the Starkbierzeit (Strong Beer Season) festival held in March. The Nockherberg beer hall, where the annual Paulaner Salvator tapping ceremony takes place with political satire performances, is one of Munich's great cultural institutions. The Münchner Hell and Hefe-Weißbier Naturtrüb are among the most widely distributed German beers internationally. Paulaner is now majority-owned by Heineken but operates with Munich independence and maintains its festival presence.
3. Spaten-Franziskaner, Munich
Spaten (founded circa 1397) and Franziskaner (1363) merged in 1922. Spaten's Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger invented Märzen in 1871 — the amber lager that became the foundational Oktoberfest style and one of the three great nineteenth-century lager templates. The Franziskaner Weißbier remains one of Germany's best-distributed wheat beers. Spaten's Münchener Hell and Optimator doppelbock complete a core range that has held quality despite AB InBev ownership since 1996.
4. Hofbräuhaus, Munich
Established as a court brewery by Duke Wilhelm V in 1589 and opened to the public in 1828, the Hofbräuhaus on Am Platzl is the most visited beer hall in the world — a designation that generates mixed feelings among Munich locals, who tend to regard it as a tourist venue. The theatrical scale, the brass band, and the liter steins do deliver a genuine beer hall experience, even if the crowd skews heavily international. The Hofbräu Original and Oktoberfest Märzen are well-made festival lagers; the Maibock is one of the better spring seasonal lagers in the city.
5. Weihenstephaner, Freising (near Munich)
Weihenstephaner's claim as the world's oldest operating brewery — brewing rights granted in 1040 to the Benedictine monks of Freising's Weihenstephan hill — is accepted by most authorities. State-owned since Bavaria's 1803 secularization, the brewery now operates alongside the Technical University of Munich's brewing and food science faculty. The Hefeweissbier is the global reference point for Bavarian wheat beer; the Vitus Weizenbock and Korbinian doppelbock are among Germany's finest examples of their styles.
6. Schneider Weisse, Kelheim and Munich
Georg Schneider the First secured permission to brew wheat beer as a private citizen in 1872, breaking centuries of royal monopoly. The Kelheim brewery on the Danube is the heart of the operation; the Schneider Weisse Tap House on Tal street in central Munich serves the full range including rare cask and seasonal varieties. Tap 7 Mein Original and Tap 6 Unser Aventinus (wheat doppelbock) are the benchmarks — beers of genuine complexity and power that demonstrate the wheat style's range beyond the lighter hefeweizen standard.
7. Hacker-Pschorr, Munich
The merged product of two breweries tracing roots to the 1400s, Hacker-Pschorr maintains one of Munich's most atmospheric Oktoberfest tents (the Himmel der Bayern, or Heaven of the Bavarians) and produces a reliable core range including the Münchner Gold and the Anno 1417 Kellerbier. The brewery is now part of the Paulaner group, making the ownership tree of Munich's major breweries increasingly concentrated.
8. Löwenbräu, Munich
The lion branding of Löwenbräu (founded 1383) is Munich's most recognizable brewing emblem — the illuminated mechanical lion atop the Oktoberfest tent that raises its stein at intervals is one of the festival's iconic images. Löwenbräu Original and Premium are clean, reliable examples of Munich lager; the Original Hell is the most widely exported Munich lager under the AB InBev ownership that acquired the brand.
9. Tegernseer, Tegernsee (Munich day trip)
The monastery brewery of Tegernsee, on the Bavarian lake of the same name an hour south of Munich, produces one of Bavaria's most beloved Helles lagers — a beer known simply as "Hell" that has attained near-mythological status among Bavarian drinkers who make the journey to the lakeside biergarten. The Tegernseer Spezial and Helles are brewed with lake water and local malt in a tradition maintained by the same Benedictine monastery since 1166.
10. Crew Republic Brewery, Munich (Unterschleißheim)
Crew Republic represents Munich's contemporary craft dimension — a 2011 startup founded by former corporate brewers who wanted to make American-influenced IPAs and stouts within Munich's restrictive Reinheitsgebot framework. The 7 Roots IPA and Drunken Sailor imperial stout are technically accomplished examples of American-influenced styles constrained by the purity law. Crew Republic is the evidence that Munich's brewing culture can accommodate innovation alongside tradition.
Explore on the map
Munich's brewery network is navigable by U-Bahn and foot across the city center. Open the map to find all ten Munich breweries, their addresses, and the biergartens and beer halls attached — then plan which neighborhood to center your visit on.