back to Bar Crawls: Main Page
I’m counting the breweries off the top of my head. Schlenkerla, Mahrs, Klosterbräu, Kaiserdom, Keesmann, Fässla, Spezial, Greifenklau, Ahörnla, Landwinkl, Hopfengarten, Ambräusianum, Weyermann. Did we miss one or two? It’s possible.
This city is a temple of brewing and a UNESCO inscribed Medieval Bishopric. You will be spending your time stood in awe at ensembles of timber-frame Fachwerk houses, watching a fast-flowing river cut under a town hall perched on a bridge, and drinking a broad selection of Franconia’s finest beers in rustic pubs that are reasonably priced and still relatively under-exposed to tourism. It’s a special city.
While our Day Out focuses on these pubs, you may be interested in Keller culture too. Under the hills outside Franconian towns beers were stored, and for centuries events were held on them, ‘auf dem Keller’. Bamberg’s biergartens such as Spezial-Keller and Wilde Rose Keller are well worth exploring too.
Bamberg is a small city, so if you have a fair level of fitness, you’ll find the centre and its fringes are all walkable, with the hills to the south presenting the only real challenge. The split of rivers into a network of canals has produced a sense of peeling back layers to reach the old town proper, making it an intriguing visit.
A University town, you’ll encounter a good balance of ages here which is reflected in its pubs, from the most patrician and geriatric to those that are burning the candle into the small hours even midweek. What is more impressive is the quality, rather than quantity of venues. Sure, this is aided by the terrific beer scene, but there is a lot more to a pub than that, as we will now see.
The Route Map:
Stop #1 is Hopfengarten 🇩🇪
Zollnerstraße 24
Easily Bamberg’s most unusual brewery of the dozen plus that are based in the city, this place is a garden centre with a nanobrewery, and the ‘wrong side of the tracks’, so exit the train station away from the direction of the city centre, and after 5 minutes walk enter through a graffitied covered drive to find a series of greenhouses, the operations growing their own vegetables and ingredients for making beer. The beers are varied from eucalyptus to brown ale to plain old Helles lager and can be bought on a taster tray (a rather expensive one) if you want to rattle through them. It doesn’t stop there with a sandpit, hop fields to wander through and large outdoor area for dry, sunny days. The main bar feels like a bit of a wedding function place but that is really the only shortcoming of an otherwise distinctive venue where you can make a sandcastle, pick fresh chillies and order a tasting tray of beer and ales in the same damn spot.
Head back in the direction of the city centre, under the train tracks and, if you fancy, take a look at Weyermann‘s maltings to your right. A world famous maltings with a Willy Wonka type 19th century complex and guest shop for merchandise and of course, beer. Known as Bamberg’s unofficial additional brewery, their experimental brews are well worth getting your hands on to sample. The place is every bit as iconic as anywhere else in the city.
But enough of that, you need to be heading into the centre, so head down Luitpoldstrasse south west towards two of the city’s most iconic venues.
Stop #2 is Brauerei Fässla 🇩🇪
Ober Königstraße 19 -21
Opposite the equally famous Brauerei Spezial 🇩🇪 (our next stop), this traditional pub offers Fässla’s beers on tap. You’ll find a distinctive layout and true pub atmosphere in the courtyard area (also known as the Schwemme), especially in the winter months. The yard evokes an era where horse & cart would normally have come and gone with supplies. This area is not technically in the pub, so as the famous adage goes, if a man is asked by his wife “have you been in the pub?” he can answer “no” without having a guilty conscience.
Perhaps a little bland and staid in places and at quieter times, be sure to avoid being plonked in the overspill side room to the left of the courtyard that more resembles a creche for the elderly than a pub. Do your best to nab a table in the main pub where you will find yourself alongside a cast of locals. It isn’t all meals and big plates either, plenty of people are there simply to talk, play cards and enjoy a beer.
Stop #3 is Brauerei Spezial 🇩🇪
Ober Königstraße 10
The first of the traditional Rauchbier (smoked beer) pubs on the tour. Saddle up as you’re in for a unique flavour experience. Prepared by drying malt over an open beech wood fire. Soaking, germinating, kilning, crushing organic barley from the region – laborious, complex manual work – is all done by Spezial and has been since 1536. The initial impact of the flavour is powerful, but recedes as the sweetness and hops find harmony in your mouth. In Bamberg they say it takes 3 pints of it to make a smoke beer fan, so be warned – it is an acquired taste!
You’ll also find other high quality beers available on tap with some specials throughout the season. Their reputation is easily on par with anything else in the city.
You’ll encounter a true a sense of history from its taproom with wrought iron candelabras, long and chunky communal tables, ceramic heater, snug and a sense of tradition all around you. You can even stay at their inn (though they have limited rooms so book ahead!) Both for the product and the experience, Spezial is one of the highlights of a trip to Bamberg.
Our journey now takes us south east along the riverside, with pleasant views of the river Regnitz and its various bridges. Remember to drink plenty of water as you go!
We aren’t quite ready to dive into the old town action just yet. On the periphery of the centre you will find two more brewery pubs virtually facing one another. The in-vogue Keesman 🇩🇪 certainly has the upper hand in terms of its beers these days, but our next stop has by far the more interesting pub and environment to drink in, while offering beers that may not hit the heights of yesteryear but still offer an outsider a wonderful flavour of the area.
Stop #4 is Mahr’s Bräu 🇩🇪
Wunderburg 10
Our site focuses squarely on whether a pub has good beer, good décor, good atmosphere, fair value and any additional amenities that compliment it. This really does, but be sure to grab a seat in the core of the pub by the barrels, as the taproom has a lot of history and will allow you to absorb the full charm of the place, based there since 1895. The beer not what it was, and neither is it poured from those barrels anymore. However, expanding our perspectives slightly, it remains magnificent, with the “aU” a flagship beer and benchmark for kellerbier in the region. Sitting back to recall our experiences rouses a wistful longing to return.
Retrace your steps until you reach the Marienbrucke which you’ll cross to reach the beginnings of central Bamberg. Friedrichstrasse and Langestrasse blend together; the latter is aptly named, stretching all the way through the centre to the Altes Rathaus. We aren’t going there just yet though. Stop just after Schönleinsplatz at our next venue.
Stop #5 is Brauhaus Zum Sternla 🇩🇪
Langestrasse 46
A relatively recent brewery (est. 2019) but a longstanding Bamberg Gaststätte in a building that dates back to the middle ages and has served as an inn since the 1700s. You’ll find a small Schwemme in the hall by the entrance, an intimate low-ceilinged Bierstube with an attractive retro bar area. The usual black beams and chunky tables are in evidence, with the renovation keen to stick to its origins. Their beer offerings (supplied straight from tank to bar) are straight forward and well-executed with some seasonal specials, the food is good and the atmosphere is suitably pubby. We’re interested to return in winter too.
Leaving Zum Sternla and following Langestrasse north west will drop you at a set of traffic lights by a pedestrian street, which is the official entrance to Bamberg’s old town. Wander around the corner to discover its Altes Rathaus, one of the most peculiar buildings in Europe. A Renaissance-era building set halfway across the bridge itself, with a yellow Fachwerkhaus grafted on the side, seemingly suspended over the water. The view through the archway is of timber houses and a Medieval ensemble. You have arrived.
Stop #6 is Schlenkerla 🇩🇪
Dominikanerstraße 6
There is no point delaying or teasing you. You are now approaching one of the finest venues in Europe. With its world famous Märzen (dark smoke beer) poured from the wooden barrel, to be consumed in a pub room of astounding character and rustic charm, you will be enveloped in everything Teutonic, so much so that you may never want to leave. Thousands every year experience the same feeling. While the beer is powerfully flavoured, the smoothness of its wood barrel conditioning and moreish finish draw you in further. After a short time you will have forgotten about the initial punch, the dusky smoke now simply an integrated background element of a satisfying whole. In a feat of brewing awesomeness, this ‘complex’ beer is highly drinkable, one you can put away several of. It doesn’t stop there, with seasonal specials like the delicious Urbock in November, the unfiltered version, a cherry smoked Rotbier, winter Doppelbock and their Weizen among others. Consult the calendar to see which will be available on your visit. Food is unapologetically cro-magnon from grill-charred sausages to the Bamberger Zwiebel (stuffed giant onion). The environment offers a beautiful balance of locals and excited visitors with communal seating which initiates conversation between strangers. Explore the venue with its cloistered banqueting hall, the medieval courtyard and the inner nooks and crannies. Excusing the occasional tourist swells and food/service issues (which affect all such places) and focusing on the product and experience, the history and the heritage, it is simply one of the best places humanity has put on Earth.
Our final 2 venues are only a short walk away, you’ll be pleased to discover. As evening turns to night time, we’re now going to switch our attention from breweries to great late bars, albeit ones that still offer good drinks and a Bamberg style atmosphere.
The first such venue is contained in a complex with three others, so be sure to check you’re going the right way when you enter the building.
Stop #7 is Rotenschild 🇩🇪
Ober Sandstraße 18
Upstairs in a historic timber building that is also a complex of bars is the unusual, quirky Rotenschild. A creaky staircase leads to a 1st floor bar with a young crowd, but sat among a 19th century Medieval revivalist interior with ornate wood fit ceiling, frescos and intact sense, illusory or otherwise of centuries past. Hardly what you’d expect the generation to find appealing, but further evidence that people who deride traditional décor as unpopular in that age category haven’t got a clue. The bar sells good Franconian beers along with cocktails, shots and Aperitivo all at a reasonable rate. Looking out over Bamberg’s most famous thoroughfare and enjoying the incredible surroundings makes for an atmospheric evening.
Stop #8 is Pizzini 🇩🇪
Ob. Sandstraße 17
Barely a stumble over the road to our final location. It seems a little off-kilter to describe a wine bar on the main old town street in Bamberg as an ‘insider tip’, but there’s a feeling that many visitors to the city simply would not think of going here, instead defaulting to the many beer halls and brewery. It opens at 7pm by which time many daytrippers have left or are leaving. All cities need – and deserve an informal bolthole to let your hair down and have fun, particularly Bamberg with its arch-traditional Wirtshauses. Pizzini darts in to fill that niche with its ramshackle layout and atmosphere more akin to a brown café, Kazimierz bar or Berlin kneipe, a late opening operation, servicing people who want to carry on their socialising until the early hours. Truly informal with a particular feeling of verve and vibrancy that is very difficult to force. Being Franconia, there are of course superb beer options alongside a decent enough suite of alternatives, meaning the product and experience ticks the right boxes. Find a preferred nook among the aging wood fittings, artwork, musical instruments and battered furniture and chat, plot and party until home time. What a bar!
Should any of the above 8 venues be closed or full we have a series of recommended backup venues for you!
Other recommendations:
Catwheezle’s Castle 🇩🇪 – Nothing less than a local institution. You won’t find many if any tourists here, most of whom flock to the beer halls of the centre. But this has carved its own space in the city’s history the past 30 years. Coming to life later in the evening, with a friendly crowd, there is a surprisingly pubby feel, one of the few German venues which fall between the Gaststätte and Kiezkneipe type setups to feel like pubs. Music, darts, outdoor seating, snacks, community events and fair prices are a major draw. A former nursery and stables until the 1970s, and on foundations dating to 1345, this bar – according to the owner – sprang up on a whim in the early 90s during a renovation, intended to be an apartment, then converted to a bar. You’ll find a hallway on entry with dartboard and beer garden to the back, with the bar room to the right which has a mezzanine level and café bar tables, but mainly wood fittings. There are a lot of plants decorating the windows and musical instruments and ephemera fixed to the walls. Intimate in size and unique in shape, this isn’t one you’ll find listed in the beer focused guide books, yet it does offer some of the best Franconian beer on tap, with 3 of the best including Spezial available. Service is friendly, the atmosphere is lively and convivial. Why would you look past this place?
Brauerei Greifenklau 🇩🇪 – Up a long drag out of town is a brewpub that was an insider’s tip for decades, but is now being celebrated after years of understated service. You’ll find their Franconian lager in a most traditional setting, with both Bierstube and Garden offering a charming setting to socialise in. The former is a real pub, like a cigar case with old fogeys playing cards, cross-chat around the room and beers going back and forth. The Garden with handsome views and leafy overhangs is lovely too. Somewhat stuck in time but that will only make it ever more charming as years pass. Check opening hours and consider a bus up the hill if you don’t think you can make it on foot.
Strawanza 🇩🇪 – An alternative bar – we’re not sure if it wants to be a cool Parisian-style bar or just a down-to-earth youngsters hangout. It ends up somewhere in between with a nice vibe, interesting floor tiling, table football and quirky decoration. It’s another side to the city.
Gaststätte Stilbruch 🇩🇪 – Casual hangout with an overly vivid green paintjob. Sleepy until late, but then it suddenly turns into the place to be. Franconian beers and home made pizza are not the worst start to, well, anything.
Kawenzmann 🇩🇪 – Popular central cocktail bar with a Tiki theme, creative drinks output. Come here to escape traditional Bamberg.
Ahörnla Braugaststätte 🇩🇪 – A flashy big-budget brew pub that focuses on food during the day and louder partying in the evenings. The beers are worth checking out, but you feel they could have made the space slightly more intimate in places given the nautral advantage of being based in a Medieval timber-frame building.
Brauerei Keesmann 🇩🇪 – Exceptional beers but sadly not an exceptional venue. Light wood, open plan, and absent of the character that makes a venue really worth visiting. The atmosphere of elderly folk eating their lunch isn’t really cutting it for us. Still, if you are more focused on product than experience, you need to be going here, so we can hardly omit to mention it.
Stöhrenkeller 🇩🇪 – A cosy, slightly off-the beaten path pub suitable for evening socialising at a more sedate tempo. As per usual, the beer selection is high quality.
Klosterbräu 🇩🇪 – Superb beers on tap at one of the Bamberg breweries whose star has risen of late. The pub itself is a bit of a missed opportunity, with the main room a little too staid and stuffy, while the side pub-room lacks a focal point such as a bar.
Galerie am Stephansberg 🇩🇪 – Another in-the-know locals hangout that’s central but located just enough off the usual routes to avoid much passing tourist trade. Also intimate with a friendly, cosy evening atmosphere.
Interested in more German bars? Head over to our Germany 🇩🇪 page!