Weihenstephan


	The small city of Freising about 45 minutes North of Munich is the location of the Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, said to be the oldest brewery in the world. There is documentation that shows that beer was made at that same location since 1040! The city also hosts the most renowned Brewing University in the world, Tecnische Universität Weihenstephan.

I got to Freising on a sunny day of June. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. Diplom Eng. Hans Wolfinger brewmaster from Weihenstephan was waiting for me and Willy Buholzer (Anheuser-Busch Europe). Hans was very kind and gave us a very special tour.

A view of the brewhouse building.

Even though brewing at this location started almost 1000 years ago, most of the equipment currently used is very modern and efficient. Weihenstephan utilizes very advanced techniques to produce a fine variety of beers. The styles produced year round are Hefeweissen, Krystal, Dunkelweiseen, Pilsner, unfiltered Pilsner (just available in the Braü-Stüberl) and a seasonal beer which was the Korbinian during my visit (a strong bock bier). They also have a special distillation equipment to produce their Alkohol-Frei beer.

Two views of the beautiful brewhouse floor

The brewery produces a total of 200,000 hl per year. The capacity of the brewery is much higher, but the production reflects the reality of Germany, a decaying brewing market. The brewery is overcoming this by trying to get into the american export market. Its not hard to find a Weihenstephaner in specialty stores and some good pubs in the United States.


	The special brewing techniques used by this brewery include the use of a lactic acid culture for pH control of the mash. Use of two yeast strains for their different products (an Ale for all weiss biers and a lager for all others). Long maturation periods (6 weeks) at very cold temperatures (1 - 3 C). Filtration is done by the use of sheet filters and PVPP as chillproofing agent.


		Bottom of new Fermenting cellars (Unitanks).



			Filtered Beer Tanks




	Marco "Dr. Cerveza" Malaga with Weihenstephan brewmaster Hans Wolfinger.

The packaging facility is very modern and features an intelligent robot to palletize and depalletize kegs, which represent 40% of their total volume (the rest is returnable bottles).

We ended our tour at the restaurant by the brewery, where we tasted some fresh produced beers and some exquisite Bavarian dishes. I truly enjoyed my short visit to Freising. And if you happen to be close by, go and take a look at this place. Its an icon in brewing history. And if anything, you will be enjoying a MaB (Liter glass) of an authentic Bavarian Beer at the place where it all began.

To learn more about Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan go to: www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de


	[Home] [Skateboarding] [Snowboarding] [Sandboarding] [Beer] [Products] [Coming soon!] [Messages]


	Pesnow Inc. St. Louis, MO 1997- 2000 All rights reserved