Sunday 22nd February 2015

Bob Thompson

Altomünster is a small market town, north-west of Munich. It is at the end of a meandering single track branch line railway that is now part of Munich’s S-Bahn suburban network. The trains take just over an hour to get to the town, crossing pleasant but generally uninspiring, farming countryside.

What is notable about this town is that it still supports two breweries, thus making it a bit of a magnet as a destination for BeerVisits.

So I duly travelled out of the city and walked up from the station to the hill-top town’s marketplace to find that one of the breweries was closed for family holidays! This was the brewery tap of Maierbräu, the larger of the two.

It was set to re-open on 24th February, two days time. Anyway I wasn’t going to be deprived of a beer and walked on a hundred metres to the tap of Kapplerbräu.

I entered the pub and found myself in what was the main corridor. This had been opened out and all of the separate rooms were now one. Although it had a modern feel, the area to my right was more traditional and this was where the patrons were finishing their Sunday lunch.

There is dark wood panelling up two-thirds of the walls with some deer skulls displayed above. Considering it was February the pub looked good with flowers on each table and plants in pots on the window shelves.

I settled in the corridor, or what was once the corridor, and went to a tall table with stools. I wasn’t eating so this seemed to be the best place to go. Because of the interior alterations the bar and serving area is now an island in the middle of the pub with waiters and waitresses hurrying to and fro.

This building and was once the brewery itself. That was relocated to the back of the tap some time ago.

There was a brewery on this site from 1561 and it was connected to a monastery. It was purchased by Simon Schmidt, passed to his brother Anton and then sold to Johann Kappler in 1671. This is where the breweries name comes from and the brewery and pub was built in the Baroque style during 1707.

It passed through the hands of many owners right up to 1922 when it was inherited by Wilhelm Wiedemann of Thannhausen. It was he that moved the brewery out of the main building in 1937 to a purpose-built structure in what was once the bird garden at the rear.

Hans Wiedemann, the next generation, collected many artefacts of the old brewery and established a museum here in 1985.

The pub was completely rebuilt and refurbished in 2009 and this included all the accommodation rooms. The pub and brewery is now in the hands of the third and fourth generation of the Wiedemann family. In 2012 they celebrated its 450th anniversary.

They offered four draught beers and these were: Export Hell (5.2%), a standard south German light beer; Export Naturtrüb Hell (5.2%), an unfiltered version of the first beer; Zunftbier Dunkel (5.3%), a dark lager and Altomünster Hefe Weisse (5.2%), a wheat beer top-fermented as is normal for this style.

All of the others are bottom-fermented and lagered for a considerable time. I had the Hell and the Dunkel and they were both good.

Relatively easy to get to, Altomünster must be considered to be a good retreat from the crowds of Munich, especially during Oktoberfest. There’s a full menu and it is possible to stay here, the pub is recommended.

Important Information:

Brauerei-Kapplerbräu, Nerbstrasse 8, 85250 Altomünster. Tel: 08254 777

Hours: Monday / Wednesday-Friday 17.00-24.00; Tuesday / Saturday 10.00-2400; Sunday 10.00-16.00

As mentioned above Altomünster can be reached by S-Bahn train from Munich.
It is the terminal station on line S2. Service is hourly for most of the day, every day.

Update October 2017. Sunday: Closed; Holidays: 10.00-16.00. Other times are as above.