Food & Beer Culture

In the Bavarian Forest, Pichelsteiner stew goes hand in hand with beer. It comes from Regen and consists of meat and vegetables that simmer together for a long time. Falter Brewery names its Festbier after it, and Regen celebrates with the Pichelsteiner Festival.

Roast pork with dumplings pairs well with Dampfbier. The mild malt and the roasted notes of the crust reinforce each other, and since the beer is barely bitter, it doesn't overpower the gravy. On a cold cuts board, it's equally good with Leberkäse, radish, and pretzels.

In Passau itself, people gather in taverns or beer gardens. The Peschl Terrace recalls the old brewery, while in the Innstadt district there are restaurants to visit. In spring and autumn, the Passau Dult takes place, a large folk festival with a beer tent.

In the Regen district, there's a long-distance beer hiking trail that, according to the region, is the first of its kind in Germany. It runs in eight stages over roughly 125 kilometers from Viechtach via Bodenmais and Zwiesel to Teisnach, passing breweries, beer gardens, and taverns that are easy to reach on foot along the way.

High above the valley rises the Arber, the highest peak in the Bavarian Forest, and in the Arberland region the trail leads from brewery to brewery. Zwiesel and Frauenau are also known as glassmaking towns, and the Dampfbier Brewery lets visitors watch the brewing process step by step in a glass-walled brewery. The Halbe (half-liter) and the one-liter Maß are the standard measures here, with the smaller Seidel also common in the forest.