This day was the biggest surprise payoff of the beer tour. Leaving Ettal at the foot of the Alps at 8:30, our bus headed north towards Munich, which would have been about a 2 hour ride. You’d think we’d go straight there, since we have only 3 days to spend in that huge city. However, we have a planned stop, after only an hour of driving, at the Andechs Monastery. It was 22km off the main highway to Munich. Of course they brew beer here, but it is not shipped to the United States.

We had a private hour long tour of the brewery, and then headed up the hill to visit the church. Afterwards we found their beer hall and beer garden.



The picture I snapped of the beer hall is taken from the same angle as the one that appears on the back of their bottles.  didn’t know that until I studied a label at home. And although it appears to be a medieval setting on the back of the bottle (the monastery was founded in 1455), a closer look will show the customers in contemporary clothing.

Adjoining the beer hall is a deli where they serve all sorts of great German food. There must have been a hundred different offerings. You can see the happy meat carver in the picture. Outside the deli is the wonderful beer garden that overlooks the countryside. I took my half liter of beer here, got a pretzel, and discovered something I did not believe possible.



Their 7.1 % Doppelbock Dunkel had absolutely no taste of alcohol. This was thick and creamy, and even slightly sweet. It was the smoothest brew I’d ever had. I went back and bought a 4-pack to take home. I’d brought sections of PVC pipe the size of beer bottles so I could pack something home that I couldn’t get otherwise, and this was the stuff!

Reluctantly we left after lunch, making the last 41km to Munich in about an hour. After checking in at Hotel Jedermann a few blocks from the train station, we made a beeline to, where else, The Hoffbrau Haus! It was only about a 15 minute walk away. It was a great, vast place, and we had our obligatory liter of beer there, found a quiet restaurant elsewhere, and bedded down for the night. There are plenty of pictures of the Hoffbrau Haus elsewhere, so no need to post any more here.

                                                                                                     Day 7