German-Breweries.com
If anyone's interested, I've produced a brief 24-page summary of the brewery changes between 2006 and spring 2011. I now have a few copies available which cost, inclusive of postage, £2.50 each for UK customers and £3.50 for the rest of Europe. Click on the PayPal button below to buy one but do please allow a couple of weeks for delivery as I'm not always around.
13th May 2013
Firstly, apologies for the long break since the last update, particularly to those whose emails have been sitting unread for months - I intend to answer all within the next few days. My enthusiasm for beer writing waned early in the year and it's taken some time to recover. I hope to post more frequent updates.
BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG
If you're in the Bruchsal area and happen across a bottle of Rohrbacher Hofbräu, it's not from the local Rohrbacherhof but is brewed for them at the Ammerseer Brauhaus. (Alex Deuerlein)
Bühlertann has its first brewery since the Sternbrauerei closed in 1948. In fact, it's the Sternbrauerei that's been revived - since February Sternbräu beers have again been on the menu in Landgasthof zum Stern. (Alex Deuerlein)
The short-lived Lindenbräu Kneilingen re-opened a couple of weeks ago under new ownership and a new name. Now called Brauhaus 2.0, the beers are all organic. (Alex Deuerlein)
December saw the return of brewing to Lahr im Schwarzwald. Hotel Damenmühle on the southern edge of town is now home to a brewpub of the same name. (Alex Deuerlein)
Neuenstadt am Kocher has been home to Neuenstädter Biermanufaktur since 2011. (Alex Deuerlein)
BAYERN
Brewing stopped at Schnupp in Altdrossedfeld around six months ago.
June 2010 saw the first beer from Hausbräu Schaller, a tiny brewery at the Raststation in Floß. Raststation Floß is a café on the former railway line from Neustadt/Waldnaab to Eslarn, nowadays the Bocklradweg cycle path. (Alex Deuerlein)
Tiny enough to have escaped wider notice since it was founded in August 2008, Nanni Bräu can be found in Freiahorn, a few kilometres from Brauerei Stöckel in Hintergereuth. Martin Körzdörfer makes Lager, Kellerbier and Weizen. (Alex Deuerlein)
Also no more is the historic Holzhausener Landbrauerei - brewing finished sometime last year.
Bought by the owner of Frankenwälder Brauhaus in Naila last summer, there are rumours production may since have ceased at Ahornberger Landbrauerei and been transferred to Naila.
Interior designer Bernd Bergmann has been brewing in Glattbach since 2009, a fact which seems to have passed much of the wider world by. Hofbrauerei Bergmann makes four organic beers which can be purchased from source on Thursday evenings.
Plans have been approved for Paulaner to build a new brewery in the Langwied district of München. This will replace the existing site which is expected to close by the end of 2015, In the meantime, Paulaner have opened a microbrewery in their former ice house. Called Brauerei im Eiswerk and opened in 2011, the beers produced do not look to be aimed at the lower end of the market - they can be bought direct from source every second Wednesday between 17:00 and 19:00 (see website for details). (Alex Deuerlein)
Schambach, a village outside Treuchtlingen, is home to La Casalinga cookery school. Recently, a very smart-looking little brewery has been installed, apparently purely for brewing courses. If anyone has information the beer's available commercially, I'd be very interested to know. (Alex Deuerlein)
The village of Thüngfeld (essentially a suburb of Schlüsselfeld) has been home to a small brewery since late last year. Braumanufaktur Hertl currently produces four beers of above average strength which can be obtained direct from source by prior arrangement.
BERLIN
Berlin can boast yet another microbrewery. Heidenpeters is in Markthalle Neun, a kilometre or so south of the Ostbahnhof. Like Brewbaker in Tiergarten, the beers are sold at a small bar in the market. (Alex Deuerlein)
MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN
Across the lake from Schwerin, Tim Hennings set-up his Handwerksbrauerei Hennings in Leezen at the end of last year. He makes both traditional German and American-influenced beers. (Alex Deuerlein)
NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN
As expected, brewing has resumed at the Felsenkeller Brauhaus in Monschau. The first beers appeared in late September.
Raesfeld gained its first recorded brewery last year. Peter Wohlfahrt makes two sorts of beer at his eponymous Peterbier, both currently available only on draught. (Alex Deuerlein)
Johannes Lehmbrock founded Geilings Bräu last year and currently brews his beer at the Walsumer Brauhaus in Duisburg/Alt-Walsum. He has plans for his own brewery in Saalhoff, near Kamp-Lintfort. (Alex Deuerlein)
Not too far away from Raesfeld (above), Spellen has had a microbrewery since February in the form of Brauproject 777. (Alex Deuerlein)
RHEINLAND-PFALZ
Martin Wentzler has sold his Contwig brewery to the Wasgau supermarket group, the brewery changing name to reflect its new ownership. Not one to abandon the industry, he's recently opened a brewpub just outside the town - Kornkammer-Bräu, also known as Brauhaus zum Truppacher Hof. (Alex Deuerlein)
SACHSEN-ANHALT
Another shop to have gained a brewery is the Landmarkt in Rothenschirmbach, south of Lutherstadt Eisleben. There is a small bar on site. (Alex Deuerlein)
The weekend-only Müller's Café in Schrampe, near Arendsee, has had beer from its own brewery on sale since mid-January. (Alex Deuerlein)
ALL AT SEA...
The fourth and final ship in the AIDA fleet with an on-board brewery, the AIDAstella, has been out and about since mid-March. As a write this, she's crossing the Bay of Biscay.