Munich’s small breweries grow despite beer slump

While beer consumption is falling across Bavaria, a growing group of small organic, craft and regional breweries is finding customers in Munich, BR reports. The businesses are focusing on local roots, traditional production and close ties with consumers.

Bavaria now has 588 breweries, 13 fewer than a year ago, according to figures released in early August. The decline in alcoholic beer consumption is a major reason, and Munich’s large breweries are also feeling the effects.

Small breweries focus on character

Outside the six major Munich breweries, however, a stable small-brewery scene has emerged around the Munich Oktoberfest, known locally as the Wiesn. Its producers emphasise organic ingredients, regional identity and craft production.

Ten years ago, Marta Girg and her husband founded Haderner Bräu in the Munich district of Großhadern. The brewery, Munich’s first organic brewery, operates at the listed Stürzerhof and produces about 3,000 hectolitres a year, far less than the city’s large established breweries.

Haderner Bräu offers a broad range of beers, including a non-alcoholic variety, with more planned. It sells mainly in the surrounding area and through organic shops.

Girg said she had noticed little of the crisis. She believes small breweries benefit from their distinctive taste and the stories behind their products. “Beer is emotion. It is not just tradition, it is passion,” she said. More people, she added, wanted to enjoy their drinks and know where their beer came from.

Regional brands gain ground

Several other small brands have emerged in and around Munich in recent years, including Tilmans Biere, Germeringer Brauhaus and Munich Brew Mafia.

Stefan Stang of the Association of Private Breweries said the new brands were revitalising the market. He described the beer market as saturated, partly because large breweries were present almost everywhere and their products could seem interchangeable to consumers.

That situation was creating space for new producers, Stang said. Munich and the surrounding region had realised that consumers needed something regional again.

Giesinger targets the Oktoberfest

Steffen Marx, who founded Giesinger Bräu about 20 years ago, said his brewery was also largely unaffected by the crisis. It expanded in 2020 and has since had its own deep well that meets a key requirement for serving beer at the Oktoberfest.

“We are growing comfortably. In Germany’s declining beer market, that is unusually good,” Marx said. Giesinger Bräu is recording high single-digit growth rates, he said, adding that craft-brewed beers still had strong appeal.

The brewery has involved its customers closely. Parts of its expansion were financed through crowdfunding, and it presents itself on social media as an approachable brewery. Giesinger also organised a citizens’ petition to build support for its own Oktoberfest appearance.

The brewery said it was in good talks with the city. A possible date for its Oktoberfest debut is 2028.

Another brewery revives an old brand

Munich Kindl-Bräu is also preparing to enter Munich’s brewing market, likewise with its own deep well. An entrepreneurial family from Traunstein is reviving the historic Munich Kindl Bier brand, and a new brewery is being built on Tegernseer Landstraße.

Because the future brewery will also have a deep well, Munich Kindl could eventually join Giesinger at the Oktoberfest. For now, that remains speculation: Munich Kindl must first begin operations and establish itself in the market.

The examples show that Munich’s brewing scene remains active even as falling consumption puts pressure on the wider market. Breweries that focus on regional identity, organic products and craft quality continue to find customers in the city.