Wacken

Wacken is a small, tranquil village in the far north of Germany. Its first documented mention dates back to 1148. The community has just over 2,000 inhabitants and was long known solely for its megalithic tomb and the remains of Germanic settlements. That changed in the early 1990s. When Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner had a crazy idea over a beer in 1989, they had no idea that their notion would put Wacken in the international spotlight. They organized a small, two-day festival in the local gravel pit and charged twelve marks for the performances of six different rock and metal bands. Around 800 visitors turned up, and the Wacken Open Air Festival was born. Year after year, the event gained more popularity – and today W:O:A is the most famous heavy metal festival in the world, attracting around 100,000 fans annually.

Beer by metalheads for metalheads

While prominent bands like Iron Maiden, Korn, and Guns N' Roses provide the musical entertainment, the Wacken Brewery has been responsible for quenching the metalheads' thirst for beer since 2016. The small brewery was founded right in Wacken and found its home in an old, disused supermarket. After the space was equipped with five tanks and a brewhouse, the brewing fun could begin. Because they wanted to conceptually fit the festival and its mostly black-clad attendees, they developed the brand "Beer of the Gods." The motto is inspired by the myths and legends of the genre and fully embraces the dark aesthetic of heavy metal.

Metal through and through – from the label to the taste

The range offers a wide selection of diverse craft beers, almost all named after heroes of Norse and Germanic mythology. Runes, ravens, deities, and Germanic symbols adorn the labels, which could just as easily be album covers for a metal band. The brewery collaborates with artists from the dark scene, such as Jens Rusch, or uses ancient depictions from Scandinavian texts to give its beers the finishing touch. Behind the metal look are handcrafted brews that impress not only the Wacken crowd with their character, flavor, and finesse. The Wacken Brewery's beers have earned a solid reputation worldwide through participation in national and international competitions and have already won several prestigious awards.

Wacken is pure metal – that applies to both the town in Schleswig-Holstein and its brewery!