Region & History

In 1410, the citizens of Höchstadt an der Aisch were granted the right to brew and sell beer for the first time. The permission came from the Bishop of Bamberg, making it the earliest record of this beer town on the edge of the Steigerwald.

The region was also shaped by its monasteries. In the Middle Ages they dug ponds, since the ground here alternates between sand and clay, and the clay holds the water. Today there are more than 7,000 ponds across roughly 3,000 hectares, making it one of the largest pond landscapes in Central Europe.

For a long time, beer remained the business of innkeepers and small country brewers. In 1926, seven innkeepers in Höchstadt joined forces to found Brauhaus Höchstadt, which still carries the suffix e.G., for registered cooperative, in its name today. It's located on Kellerstraße.

In Uehlfeld, Brauerei Zwanzger is first documented in 1639 and is considered the oldest still-operating brewery in the Aischgrund. In Herzogenaurach, Brauerei Heller brews a Kellerbier whose name carries the year 1747, which, according to the brewery, refers back to its origins.

To the north lies the Steigerwald. In the municipality of Ebrach alone, five breweries with cellars invite visitors in, and in Schlüsselfeld brewing takes place in Thüngfeld (the Hertl family) and at Scheubel, among others. There's no precise count of all the breweries in the area, as many of them are small operations.

There is no dedicated geographical designation for Aischgründer beer itself. Anyone brewing here is brewing in Bavaria, and "Bavarian Beer" has been registered as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) since 2001. The Aischgründer carp, however, has been protected since 2012.