EBG Rating: 8.4/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Leupser Dunkel (dark lager) is renowned in Bavaria as a classic. Drier, maltier and roastier than the typical fruit/nut/chocolate profile of classic Dunkel. The dryness evokes liquid rye bread – it is one for the purists. They ascribe this character to the quality of the local water. Their pale lager, a Pils, isn’t in the same league but still has a distinctive character that marks it out. The Dunkel is dispensed on gravity.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
A village house with low-key signage in Gothic lettering, typically unshowy and reserved. Beer garden is up the driveway with access to the pub through a side door. The bar room is a great, with the classic signifiers – hanging lamp by the bar, crown glass pattern windows in the door and back bar, a tiled heater, and simple communal seating in a small room. Second room is also notable in terms of its décor. They claim the interior seats 70 in total, which would be a push, given it looked full to us with about 40 in it.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
An experience of being an outsider in a small town, but as a curiosity to locals rather than any hostile element to be expunged. Leups is a village without much else to mark it as a destination other than the brewery. They are used to daytrippers, particularly hikers on the Bierquellen route, less so foreigners. Local life and rhythms can be witnessed here, the ritual of greeting every table with a rap of the knuckles, the card and dice games, small details of etiquette like placing the krug on its side when you’ve finished and wish to pay. Conversation with those on your table is highly likely, so brush up on your German before visiting.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Food, snacks, shop, merchandise, outdoor seating.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Superb value for money on all fronts. You can eat and drink happily here at a fair price.

Description:
Family owned since 1683, here is another beloved rural Brauereigaststätte (oh, surely not another one!) in Franconia with a longevity that is startling. How they’ve managed to surf the waves of centuries past let alone the turbulence of the present day is an tale perhaps only the owners can tell. What we can tell you is that Leups, where they are based is an unassuming village of well kept houses and gardens, rather than some unholy Medieval backwater. Although Leups isn’t the easiest place to access.

Other than a handful of buses from Pegnitz, Creussen and Bayreuth, it makes sense to have it as a target on a hike. Indeed, the Bierquellen is a marked trail if you wish to follow it.

We walked to Leups from Pottenstein, a straightforward but enjoyable ramble through lanes and the heart of the Franconian countryside. Reaching the high point, a motorway, the terrain then falls away down towards Leups and its streams working their way to the valley bottom.

Gradl’s taproom is a regional classic, replete with iconic features – their branded hanging lamp above the taps, crown patterned glass window (usually dating a pub fit to the 1970s) and a Gaststube that is both compact and social. The space, that most delicate of components, feels right.

When guests arrive they take care to greet everyone by rapping their knuckles on each table – this is important etiquette for locals and visitors alike.

Although we can’t speak for morning service, on Wednesdays when they open at 3pm, the pub was full by 3.45. Not bad for a village with about 40 houses.

It won’t be easy to mingle with locals if you don’t speak German. Dredging up our shonky GCSE German from the recesses, we managed some mildly tortured conversation with locals. If you have less than that, you may find it difficult to engage beyond the transactions with the tapster. That said, there is usually someone in a German pub room who speaks a little English. Find out who that is and gravitate to them.

Food is not expected here by any stretch, so if you wish to settle back for some beers you’re more than welcome. If you do eat, note that ingredients for their dishes are supplied by local producers. On some authority we can relay that their Bratwurst is usually top notch.

The beers? Well, Leupser Dunkel is renowned across Franconia as a classic. Drier, breadier and much less of the chocolate, fruit and nut indulgence of typical Munich Dunkel. Their pale lager, a Pils, isn’t in the same league but still has a distinctive character that marks it out. The Dunkel is served on gravity, adding a further roundedness and less carbonation, something you won’t experience drinking it from the bottle.

These are both available at an excellent price, as is their food. Not Heckel or Zoigl level, but pretty close.

If you’ve made it this far, then you are deep, deep into Franconian pub and beer culture experiencing the rhythms and etiquette of locals, content to be seen by regulars as the curious interloper. This is not the time to be shy. Get stuck in and enjoy what is a rich experience.

(Added May 2025)