Region & History

In Passau, the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers converge so closely that the city has water on three sides. It's an old bishop's city, and its most famous beer still has ties to the church today. This refers to the Hacklberg Brewery on the hillside above the Inn.

A baptismal record from the cathedral parish dating to January 1619 names a godmother whose husband was a master brewer in Hacklberg. So brewing was already taking place there by 1618 at the latest. In 1675, Prince-Bishop Sebastian von Pötting had the prince-bishop's brewery relocated to Hacklberg. The brewery bases its claim on these dates, and they form the foundation of its long history.

In 1849, the brothers Jakob and Bartholomäus Hartl bought the then-royal brewery. On May 13, 1897, the cathedral chapter decided to buy it back, for 850,000 gold marks along with the Stelzlhof estate. The profits were meant to benefit the St. Stephan seminary foundation, which trains priests. In 1913, the brewery was rebuilt above the lagering cellar in Fuchsloch, which had been established in 1796, and took on its present form.

On the other side of the Inn lies the Innstadt district. The Innstadt Brewery traces its origins back to an episcopal estate from 1318. Between 1876 and 1880, it is said to have been the first brewery in the province to supply beer to Munich. At the end of 2013, Hacklberg took it over. The Peschl Brewery, first mentioned in Passau city records in 1259 and family-owned since 1855, stopped brewing at the end of 2008. Its brand has since belonged to the Aldersbach Brewery, while the Peschl Terrace remains open as a restaurant.

Beyond Passau, the Bavarian Forest begins with its small breweries, such as the Dampfbier Brewery in Zwiesel and the family-owned Falter Brewery in Regen, said to have been in family hands since 1649. There is no dedicated protected designation of origin for Passau beer; it falls under the "Bavarian Beer" designation from 2001.