THE oldest brewery in the world is still creating beer, more than 1,200 years since it first started.
What’s more, visitors can head to the brew house in Freising, Bavaria, Germany and sample its goods while looking out across stunning local countryside.
The Weihenstephan Brewery is officially the oldest continuously-operating brewery.
Its story begins in 725CE when a man called Saint Corbinian founded a Benedictine monastery.
By 768CE that monastery had started brewing its own beer using hops from a nearby hop garden.
The local monks continued to brew that beer throughout the next few hundred years, until 1040.
It was then that Abbot Arnold received an official license to brew and sell beer, marking the official beginning of the Weihenstephan Monastery Brewery.
Since then, it has continued to make the popular Weihenstephaner beers, which are sold all over the world to this day.
Guests can visit and look around the brewery’s museum before learning about the brewing process and joining in with a guided tasting session.
Tastings in the summer can take place on a beer garden out the back overlooking the town and its surrounding Bavarian countryside, with the brewery sitting atop the Weihenstephan Hill.
The brewery also serves local food, which visitors have said are every bit as tasty as the beers.
A similar experience can be found in the town in the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan, which serves the local tipple along with Bavarian snacks and meals every day.
Included in its offerings is another local delicacy, the obazd’n, a famous local cheese speciality.
Like Weihenstephaner beer, it too was created in the town, albeit much more recently.
Sometime in the 1950s, Mrs. Katharina Eisenreich, a local landlady, decided to mix camembert cheese with some spices and onions, along with a shot of Weihenstephan beer.
The 10 cheapest pints in the world
These 10 countries have the cheapest pints in the world
- Uzbekistan – 70p
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- Ukraine – £1.06
- Belarus – £1.07
- Philippines – £1.25
- Colombia – £1.28
- Azerbaijan – £1.29
- Kazakhstan – £1.34
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The Bräustüberl website claims that it has since “become indispensable in Bavarian beer gardens” and has also “developed into a classic Bavarian bread speciality”.
The industrial production of obazd’n for the world market still takes place exclusively in Bavaria.
Getting to Freising is pretty straightforward for Brits, who need only to take the S1 train from Munich, which takes between 20-45 minutes.
A night in the town for two can be booked from £71 but the visit is worth it if you’re interested in sampling some traditional and historic German beer.
The brewery brags on its website about “one of the most innovative” breweries as well as being the oldest.
It continues: “Behind the historic walls of our brewery lies modern brewing equipment and technology.
“This commitment to quality and innovation, and nearly a thousand years of brewing experience allows us to produce premium beers for all to enjoy.”
One visitor wrote of their visit on TripAdvisor: “The Brewery Weihenstephan met us with unique atmosphere and hospitality. Beer was superb! Dishes as well! You must go there if you like a beer and Bavaria!”
Another said: “The beer was wonderful as we expected. We had NO idea how good the food would be. It was exquisite!”
A third added: “One of the best brewery tours we’ve ever been on – very well organised! Highlight, was obviously the tasting, which was by no means minimal! Wear your drinking shoes.”
Meanwhile, this German town is home to canal tours and a unique smoked beer.
And this historic riverside town is home to Britain’s oldest brewery.
