Everyone who has ever set foot in Bavaria knows the Munich Schneider Weisse. As Bavaria's oldest wheat beer brewery, the Weisse Brauhaus is an institution in the German beer landscape and with numerous breweries, Schneider Weisse is omnipresent in Bavaria's capital and beyond.
An eventful history
The Schneiders' story is closely interwoven with the history of wheat beer in Germany. In the seventeenth century, wheat beer was something very special: it was the drink of the nobility and the upper classes of society. Anyone who thought highly of themselves and wanted to at least imitate the standard of living of the rich and beautiful tried to get their hands on the coveted wheat beer. However, it wasn't that easy: up to that point, only one family in Bavaria had the right to brew wheat beer. That changed, however, with Duke Maximilian I, who received the right to brew wheat beer through an inheritance. Of course, the prince didn't wield the mash paddle himself. In view of the tempting sums that could be earned with wheat beer, he founded numerous wheat beer breweries instead. In 1872, the bottom-fermented beer was so successful that even large breweries such as the "Königlich Weisse Hofbräuhaus" considered no longer producing wheat beer; wheat beer had temporarily passed its peak. Since Georg I. Schneider never lost his faith in top-fermented wheat beer, he negotiated with the Bavarian Hofbräuamt and ultimately became the first commoner to be granted the right to brew wheat beer. This marked the beginning of the Schneider family era.
Family ties
By chance, the closed brewery "Zum Maderbräu" in Munich was up for sale at the same time. George I immediately jumped at the opportunity and began brewing wheat beer again with his son. That was the birth of Schneider Weisse. It is only fortunate that the brewery and its recipes remained in the family when father and son died in the same year. George III Schneider took over the brewery at the age of 20 and showed a keen sense of intuition. The brewery struggled through world wars and other setbacks. Inflation alone caused the price of beer to rise to an incredible high of 12,700,000 marks per liter. But the Schneiders managed to get the brewery and the family through the crisis. Today, all crises are over and 140 years after the brewery was founded in Munich, the next descendant, George VII, is already waiting in the wings to continue to grow the brewery in the sixth generation. Today, when a beer no longer costs a million, we like to treat ourselves to one or two specialties from Schneider. Special delicacies include the TAP X Nelson Sauvin or the Aventinus Vintage !
G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Tal 7
80331 München
Deutschland