Region & History

Ask about beer in Würzburg and you'll first find yourself in a wine town. The Festung Marienberg towers over the Main among vineyards, and the Bürgerspital ages Franconian wines in vast cellars. The Spital was endowed in 1316 and ranks among the oldest wine estates in the country. That beer has also been brewed here for centuries feels almost like a contradiction.

Würzburger Hofbräu traces its roots back to 1643. It was founded by Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn, right in the midst of the Thirty Years' War. According to the brewery's own account, the city previously lacked good beer, so the municipal brewhouse was given better equipment. The prince-bishop's crown still sits atop the brewer's star in the logo today.

Since 1882 the brewery has stood at the foot of the Festung Marienberg. In 2005 it was taken over by Kulmbacher Brauerei, and today it's the only large brewing operation within the city limits. Older still is the monastic brewing tradition: Klosterbrauerei Münnerstadt has documented records dating to 1381.

Kitzingen on the Main wrote its own chapter. In 1807, the town's municipal brewhouse gave rise to two major operations: Brauerei Kleinschroth and the brewery of Thomas Ehemann. Ehemann is said to have developed a method that made beer keep for a long time, and from 1820 he shipped it over great distances. In the 1842/43 brewing year, Kitzingen led all of Bavaria in beer exports, with nearly 11,000 hectoliters.

Around 1900 the town still counted eight breweries; today none of the large ones remain. Mainfranken Bier has been registered as a protected geographical indication by the EU since July 18, 1998. That means only beer meeting the specification may carry the name, whether pale or dark, and between one and seven percent alcohol.