Beer Haus' of Munich - HofbreauHaus, Weisses, Augstiner, and Pauliner

I am sorry to my fan (possibly fans if I can get JP to look on his own) that is has been so long since I have blogged. The only excuse I have is that I was working – in GERMANY. I wish I could say it was the beer that distracted me, however it was the work. L Thankfully at ALL our evening events we were supplied with FranzisKaner beer. It was fresh on top.

I was able to slip in a little play time. My only free PM in Munich was Tuesday and I was able to make it to 4 brew houses. The is order is favorite to least favorite.
HofbreauHaus - if you go to Munich you have to go there. It was my quintessential vision of a brew house. It is huge, expanding 4-5 rooms, long wooden tables and benches, mass (large – what we refer to as liter) and klien (small- what we refer to as 16oz beers) – but of course they assume you want the liter, oompa band on stage, wait staff in traditional lederhosen and dirndls. It is awesome. The beer itself was good. Nothing personally wild and crazy for me, but good. I know it is cheesy touristy, but I loved it.
Weisses Brew Haus - (home of the Aventis & Schneider Weiss beers)– on the other hand was a less touristy and more typical Munich brew houses. The food was authentic, and the beer was great.
Augustiner Brew Haus – Another tradition brew house with good beer, but more tourists. We headed to one (as they have many locations) that was a little further out of the center, but it was still loaded with tourists. What I loved about the Augustiner Haus was that they held true to the table sharing tradition. If you were not aware, it is traditional that if there are open seats at your table, if someone wants to join you, they ask and you permit them to sit with you. Conversation usually ensues. In our case we did not speak German, so no conversation was had with the folks that joined us at our table.
Pauliner Brew Haus – This location (again they had multiple locations) was the last destination for the PM, we had had a few beers in us already which could have possibly clouded our judgment, but to me felt more upscale than necessary. Smaller rounder and square tables with table cloths and candles. Good beer, atmosphere just ok.
So in conclusion I would have to say that although it is known as a tourist trap, the Hoffbrauhaus ROCKS and is a must see in Munich.