Augustiner-Bräu is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany, established in 1328. It is Munich's oldest independent brewery.

History

The Augustiner Brewery was first mentioned by name in 1328, established within an Augustianian Monastery which had been settled just outside the Munich city walls in an area called Haberfeld (or Haferfeld – "oat field") in 1294. The Monastery complex was the largest sacred building in Munich until the completion of the Frauenkirche cathedral in 1494. The Augustinian monks supplied beer to the Bavarian Royal

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

family until 1589, at which time the Hofbräu brewery was founded. In 1759, the Augustinian Monks of Munich were among the first members of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

. Meanwhile, during this era, Augustiner's annual output reached , three times the amount of an average brewery of the time. In 1803, as part of a secularization movement, the monastery was dissolved, and the brewery was run by the state before passing into private ownership. Then in 1817, as the original building had fallen in great disrepair, the brewery was moved to

Neuhauser Straße Neuhauser Straße is part of the first and largest pedestrian zone in Munich's Old Town. Here, many retail shops and restaurants are to be found. Location and direction The road runs almost straight ahead in the southeast-northwest direction o ...

. Anton and Therese Wagner, a brewing family from the vicinity of neighboring

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

acquired the enterprise and the brewery has continued to be privately owned since. Around 1840, Anton Wagner acquired a storage facility on Rosenheimer Straße in order to expand the brewery and after Anton's death in 1845, his widow Therese Wagner ran the business. Augustiner entered the industrial age in 1852 with the adoption of a steam engine to aid in production. Then in 1857, a further storage facility was acquired on Landsberger Straße, and eventually all production was moved to the new site, while a brewery-sponsored restaurant continued operation at the Neuhauser Straße location. Joseph Wagner ("JW" as marked on the current label), took on the management role following his mother's death. The brewery further expanded in 1862 with the addition of another storage cellar at Arnulfstraße 52, the current site of the famous Augustiner-Keller and Beer Garden. In 1880, Joseph Wagner was recognized as a founding member of the Bavarian Beer alliance, and later in 1887, Augustiner's iconic "JW" trademark with the bishop's staff was registered. As a result of the aerial bombing of Munich during World War II, Augustiner Brewery was 60% destroyed. In 1971, the brew house was completely renovated, adopting the use of stainless steel tanks. In 1996, Edith Haberland Wagner, the last of the Wagner dynasty, bequeathed her share in the brewery ownership to the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation, and the foundation continues to hold 51% of the shares of the brewery to this day. In 2013, Augustiner opened the Klosterwirt, returning to their origins on the site of the original Augustinian Monastery, just next to the

Munich Frauenkirche The Frauenkirche (Full name: , ) is a church in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, that serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is ...

Augustiner at Oktoberfest

It is not known when Augustiner beer was first featured at the

Oktoberfest Oktoberfest (; ) is the world's largest , featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival, and is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, from mid- or late-September to the first Sunday in October. The annual event attracts more than seven milli ...

, but the first record of an Augustiner beer stall is featured on a picture dating from 1867. The first appearance of an Augustiner beer "castle" was later in 1903, and finally in 1926, the Augustiner Festhalle was erected for the first time. The original tent featured a tower, which was later removed from the construction design during the years 1949-2010. The tower was reinstated in 2010 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest, and has continued to be a feature of the Festhalle to this day. Since 1987, Augustiner is the only brewery of the 6 featured at Oktoberfest, to exclusively pour from their wooden barrels.

Distribution and marketing

Augustiner beer is normally found within the Greater Munich area, but in the last few years it has become popular outside Munich, for example in Berlin, where it is one of the most successful beers in

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

, even though the company does not advertise. When most German breweries updated their

bottles A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal st ...

to a slim and more modern design to give their beer a more classy and less old fashioned appearance, Augustiner stuck with its original "classic" form, often nicknamed the "Bauarbeiterhalbe" (construction worker's half litre). The labels have also not changed in over 20 years. The success of the brand has been attributed to the traditional "retro" image it enjoys as one of the last major breweries in Munich that is not owned by an international beer conglomerate; Augustiner-Bräu is 51%-owned by a charitable foundation. Augustiner-Bräu operates a beer tent at the

, as well as owning one of Munich's largest

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

s, the Augustiner-Keller at Arnulfstraße 52, and several traditional bars throughout the city. It is imported into United States b
Global Village Imports, LLC.
of King of Prussia, PA. Since distribution is very limited, only Augustiner Edelstoff, Maximator, and Lagerbier Hell are available. File:2013 Augustiner Bräu Enamel.jpg, Enamel beer advertising sign in a pub in Munich File:Augustiner Weissbier.jpg, Augustiner Weissbier

Beers

* Augustiner Lagerbier Hell (5.2%), a pale

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

. * Augustiner Alkoholfrei Hell, a non-alcoholic pale lager. * Edelstoff (5.6%), a slightly brighter, sweeter, more sparkly and stronger lager. * Augustiner

Dunkel Dunkel (), or Dunkles (), is a word used for several types of dark German lager. ''Dunkel'' is the German word meaning "dark", and dunkel beers typically range in color from amber to dark reddish brown. They are characterized by their smooth, ma ...

, a malty dark lager. * Augustiner Pils, a

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

lager. * Augustiner Weißbier. * Augustiner Oktoberfestbier (6.3%), a

Märzen ''Märzen'' () or ''Märzenbier'' () is a lager that originated in Bavaria, Germany. It has a medium to full body and may vary in colour from pale through amber to dark brown. It was the beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest. The g ...

, brewed for Oktoberfest. Augustiner′s Oktoberfest beer and Edelstoff are the only beers at the festival that are still served from wooden barrels. * Augustiner Maximator, a

Doppelbock Bock () is a strong Beer in Germany, German beer, usually a dark lager. History The style now known as ''Bock'' was first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony. The style was later adop ...

. Brewed to coincide with

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, this is a strong dark lager (7.5%). * Augustiner Heller Bock, a strong pale lager (7.2%), available in May and June. All of Augustiner′s brands are brewed in accordance with the

Reinheitsgebot The (; ) is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by William IV), but similar regulations predate the ...

. This means the ingredients of the beer are just four: water, grain (

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and or

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

and

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

References

External links