WĂŒrzburg is primarily a wine city but has its own brewery: the WĂŒrzburger HofbrĂ€u, founded in 1643 and the oldest surviving business in the city. Today it belongs to the Kulmbacher Brauerei AG. Its best-known beer is the WĂŒrzburger HofbrĂ€u Pilsner.

WĂŒrzburg at a Glance

  • Capital of Lower Franconia, on the Main river
  • Primarily a wine city — but with its own beer culture
  • WĂŒrzburger HofbrĂ€u: the city's main brewery
  • Beer cellars and gardens along the Main and on the Stein hillside
  • Starting point for trips north into beer country

Beer in a Wine City

WĂŒrzburg is wine first. The WĂŒrzburger Stein and surrounding hillside vineyards produce some of Germany's best dry whites — MĂŒller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Riesling, in the egg-shaped Bocksbeutel bottle that is specific to Franken wine. In the restaurants and wine bars of WĂŒrzburg, wine is the default. Beer is available, but it competes with a strong local wine culture in a way that it doesn't further north.

That said, WĂŒrzburg has been brewing beer for centuries. The HofbrĂ€u dates to the 17th century. Beer gardens along the Main and on the slopes of the Stein offer views of the city and the river that few other places can match — and they happen to serve local beer alongside the wine.

WĂŒrzburger HofbrĂ€u

The best-known brewery in the city, with a history stretching back to 1643. The HofbrĂ€u beers are widely distributed across the region. Solid bottom-fermented lager — the Hell and the MĂ€rzen are the main products. Not exceptional by the standards of FrĂ€nkische Schweiz, but the honest city beer of WĂŒrzburg and a reasonable benchmark for Lower Franconian lager.

Beer Gardens on the Main

WĂŒrzburg's beer gardens are often positioned with unusual advantage: on the Stein hillside above the city, along the Main riverbank, with views of the Marienberg fortress opposite. The setting is better than the beer in most cases — but on a summer afternoon, with a glass of local Helles or Frankenwein, the setting is very good indeed.

WĂŒrzburg as a Starting Point

WĂŒrzburg makes sense as the beginning of a Franconian beer itinerary for anyone approaching from the south or west. From here, FrĂ€nkische Schweiz is about an hour by road through the Steigerwald. Nuremberg is 80 km north. Bamberg is 90 km. A day in WĂŒrzburg — wine, the Residenz, the Marienberg — followed by a week travelling north through the brewing regions is a natural arc for a longer trip.

Hotels in WĂŒrzburg* →

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