Visited on: Saturday 28th July 2018
Bob Thompson
This is one of the smallest village breweries in Oberfranken (Upper Franconia). It is noted for its summer biergarten found in front of the brewery which is in the centre of this tiny hamlet.
Schederndorf has a population of 160 souls and it is said that the biergarten can hold more than that. It is open from May to October.
The brewery was founded in 1742 yet it is not known if the Will family were involved from the start or whether they bought into it at a later date. What is undisputed is that they are well in control these days.
The brewers and owners are Bernd and Johannes Will. They produce around 2,500 hl of beer per annum on the modern stainless steel equipment that can be glimpsed through a window.
I was with a group of drinkers travelling around these Franconian villages in a hired bus. My thanks are to Paul the organiser.
I normally do not advocate travel to pubs by anything other than public transport but on this occasion these small hamlets are almost inaccessible by bus. Sometimes it is possible to get to a pub on a returning school bus but then you are stuck.
On the opposite side of the road is the Gastätte which was not in use on this day. However I still had to use it because that is where the toilet facilities are. Whilst there I took some photographs of the interior.
The main room in the old building was not accessible but there is an extension built inside an old barn and this looked very nice being decorated in a traditional style with wooden furniture including panelling to head height and scrubbed wood table tops.
One advantage of imbibing inside is that you get waiter / waitress service whereas in the garden it is self service from a window in the brewery building. Next to that is another window serving food. This was Brotzeit which is cold. Here it consisted of Pressack (black pudding), Göttinger (smoked slicing sausage) and dry cured ham, along with Ziebeleskäs, which is a cream cheese with onions and chives. All of it is home made.
Only twice a year is hot food offered and that is Patronatsfest (patron saint’s festival) and Kerwa (the local church festival). The first is on the second Sunday in February and the second is the second Sunday in September. Various roast meats are served with dumplings.
Now to the beer and there is not a vast range. The staple beer for which the brewery is well known for is Landbier (5.2%) (country beer). It’s an unfiltered Dunkel (dark lager). There is also Landweizen (5.2%) (country wheat beer). Occasionally Will Rauchbier (5.2%) is available. This is an award winning smoked beer.
Finally there is Landbock (7.5%) a double Bock which is offered between Allerheiligen (All Saints / All Hallows day) and Heilig-Drei-König (Three Kings day or Epiphany), i.e. all of November and December.
Despite the difficulties of getting here this brewery well repays the effort.
Important Information:
Brauerei Konrad Will, Haus Nr. 19, 96187 Schederndorf/Stadelhofen. Tel: 09504 262 Web: schederndorf.de
Hours: Monday-Sunday: 11.00-23.00
If you are adventurous it might just be possible to get here by bus on school days. Look at the VGN site.
Like the Hotel California, you cannot leave! The bus from the village is at 06.00 on school days only.