No fewer than eleven (!) breweries in the municipal area of Bad Staffelstein in the Upper Main valley compete for the favour of beer lovers. In the Adam Riese town at the Upper Main, a whole world of experiences has developed around the pleasure of beer, unrivalled even in Franconia.
Most of them are small house breweries, which brew their smooth beer only to sell in their own pubs and beer cellars – but of a high quality and with an unsurpassable variety of tastes, which can only be brought about through careful craft and the love of pleasure.
These domestic products are worlds apart from the uniform taste of
industrially mass-produced beers. In rustic restaurants and beer gardens, visitors
enjoy their “Seidla” the best, along with Franconian dishes and typically
hearty snacks
The dream landscape of this “Gottesgarten am Obermain”, this “Upper Main Eden” also caresses the soul, as all the breweries are located in the centre of picturesque towns and villages around the spa town: the Staffelberg Brewery in Loffeld, the Reblitz Brewery in Nedensdorf and the Hetzel Brewery in Frauendorf, not to forget the Landgasthof Schwarzer Adler Brewery in End and the Reichert Brewery in Uetzing. Proper beer strongholds are Wiesen (Hellmuth and Thomann breweries) and Stublang (Dinkel and Hennemann breweries), and up past the famous pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen (the Fourteen Holy Helpers), the Trunk Brewery serves the smooth “Nothelfertrunk”.
With all the expected pleasures, a bike tour or hiking through the romantic dream landscape is of course preferable to arriving by car.
There are three marked brewery cycle paths to choose from and, depending on your planned destination, all eleven breweries can be reached. Hikers even have the possibility to choose from four marked brewery routes.
For the very sporty and thirsty hiking enthusiasts, there is the “11 breweries tour” to connect the four walking routes. Whoever actually wants to access all 11 beer temples and their beer-specialties in this way must cover around 50 kilometres between brewery visits – definitely an ambitious project though it is absolutely worthwhile to discover the flavour differences of all eleven breweries in your own experiments.
Whoever visits them all and picks up a stamp from each one can rightly call themselves an expert – and is presented with their own beer diploma. In addition to the certificate, diploma holders can also buy the decorative joint “11-breweries-beer stein” for a reduced special price (available in the tourist information centres and in the breweries).
Customised package deals, for example with food and brewery visits offer even more experiences surrounding the beloved beer. The offers apply to groups and those travelling individually, with overnight stays or without, in any case, however, with a high level of enjoyment.
The annual beer brewer’s festival is a highlight in the festivities of the pretty timber-frame town of Bad Staffelstein: every 15 August, the catholic holiday of the Virgin Mary’s Ascension, the joyful celebration of beer takes place on the market square with the magnificent timbered town hall. Of course, all ten of the breweries present their own beer specialties, there’s hearty beer-brewer food, atmospheric music and a presenter for an all-round successful holiday. And every second year, there’s even a certain royal glitter on the event: the Bad Staffelsteiners and their guests elect their beer king or beer queen.
Everything worth knowing about the eleven breweries, the Bad Staffelstein beer history, the bike and hiking routes, the arrangements and the whole world of experiences can be found in detail in the “Bad Staffelstein Brewery Guide”, available at
Kur & Tourismus Service Bad Staffelstein
Bahnhofstraße 1
96231 Bad Staffelstein
Tel: 0 95 73 / 3 31 20
E-Mail