Kloster Andechs Brewery, also known as Klosterbrauerei Andechs, is a brewery in Germany’s Bavarian region that is run by monks. This stop is one you will find both locals and tourists, come hungry as their biergarten serves traditional Bavarian style food to eat with your beer brewed right on the same sight.
Andechs Brewery
Andechs is a brewery based in Germany. It is ran by the monks of Andechs Abbey. It is to be believed that monks have been brewing beer there since before 1455, and continue to do so today. Many tourists come here as a day trip from Munich, it is 40 kilometers away, which is about a forty five minute drive.
Not only does the brewery provide beers to serve in their biergarten they brew beer to be distributed and sold all throughout Germany and the world. I have even found it a my local specialty grocery store.
How To Find It
By Car
We based ourselves out of Garmisch Partenkirchen in Germany when we visited the Andechs Brewery. We spent 3 nights in Garmisch, we saved one day for the Zugspitze Cable Cars and a walk around Eibssee Lake. And another day to pair a visit to this brewery with a trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle.
We got up fairly early to beat the crowds at Neuschwanstein Castle. After opting out for an official tour, as the lines were long, we went to Mary’s Bridge for the iconic view of the castle. Spending a little bite of time for a hike around in the woods for other view points, before heading back down. After our short visit we headed in our rental car for Andechs Brewery. This drive took us just about an hour from the Neuschwanstein Castle.
There is a rather large parking lot when you get to the Monastery, it was filled with cars, campervans, and bikes. Parking was free and is a short hike up hill to the campus from the parking lot.
If looking to find this brewery straight from Garmisch Partenkirchen it will take you just under an hour to get here by car as well.
By Public Transport
The Andechs Brewery is located about 30 miles southwest of Munich. To reach the Andechs Brwery you can take the S-bahn (local train) from Munich to Herrsching, this will take you about one hour and is said to be very scenic along the way.
You can find bus and train schedules here, along with purchasing your tickets ahead of time.
From the bus and train station it is about 3 miles to the Andech Monastery. This walk should take about 45 minutes, it could take longer as it is on an incline. For those who do not want to walk the 3 mile route, you can take the 10-minute bus ride. The bus only runs every couple of hours, so be aware that you may have a bit of a wait unless you time it right. Click here to get an updated bus route schedule.
By Tour
It is much more cost effective to travel to this sight on your own. Renting a rental car was actually quiet affordable for our almost two weeks in the country. But if getting a rental car or not wanting to figure out public transportation on your own there are some options of tours, many leading from Munich.
Opening Hours and Dates
Depending on the number of visitors, the beer garden is open on weekdays when the weather is good from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm and on weekends until 8:00 pm. The seasonal opening period depends on the weather but usually lasts from Easter until end of October or early November.
Beers
Andechs Brewery creates seven different types of beers at their brewery.
They are best known for their Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel which is brewed year round.
Here is a list of their beers brewed at the monastery:
1. Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel
2. Andechser Export Dunkel
3. Andechser Weissbier Dunkel
4. Andechser Bergbock Hell
5. Andechser Spezial Hell
6. Andechser Vollbier Hell
7. Andechser Weissbier Hell
Alcohol-Free Weissbier
There is always water and soft drinks to purchase if not wanting a brew or are of age.
Food
You can always grab and drink, a bite to eat or do both at Andechser Bräustüberl, which is their food hall. There are plenty of seats, over a thousand, so no worry about finding either in indoor or outdoor place to sit and enjoy a meal with a cold drink. It was a beautiful day so we definitely sat outside and looked over at the scenery.
It is also welcomed here to bring your own meal or snacks. This is what many locals do.
Your food options are to choose from their monastery butcher shop, which has some cold options such as cheese, meats, pickles, bread, dips, spreads, and other deli goods. Or you can choose some hot food at their pick up window. We ordered a pretzel, sauerkraut, and a rather large pork knuckle! They also have some other options for food such as, a variety of sausages, brats, cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, slaw, I would highly recommend the pork knuckle to split, it was very good!
Restaurant Opening Hours
All year: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
On 31st of December there is closing line at 5:00 pm,
the Bräustüberl closes at 6:00 pm.
The Bräustüberl is closed on:
Good Friday
24st December – Christmas Eve
25st December – Christmas
1st January – New Year’s Day
Tours of the Monastery
The Church is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.There is an evening vigil Mass in the chapel on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and three Masses on Sunday. There is also a Mass on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. Confessions are available prior to each Mass. There is a gift shop here as well.
There are private group tours of the Church, the Monastery or the Brewery available for a fee. Arrangements for these must be made in advance, you can check them out here.
We opted out on this and we did not know arrangements had to be made in advance. But we were still able to walk in the buildings and land, the chapel was worth a peak inside.
Where To Stay
We based ourselves out of Garmisch Partenkirchen for 3 nights to explore this Bavarian alps area. They have lots of accommodation and restaurants in town, a perfect small ski town. We stayed at this adorable AirBnB (use this link for $40 off). We loved this apartment, it is actually owned by the swanky hotel down the street. Great customer service, sports equipment rental options and many more perks.
Check out places right outside of town:
For other information on Germany and the area check out these posts:
12 Days in Germany: A Complete Itinerary to the Bavarian Alps
Zugspitze Cable Car Routes in Germany and Austria
The Alpspitze Cable Car and Hike
Hiking at Lake Konigssee: the Secret Swimming Pool
Where to Eat and Drink in Berlin Germany
wooooow this looks amazing
yes it was worth the almost hour drive to hang out here! A fun place!