Beer Culture Path – Germany

Beer City Ehingen – Beer Culture Path

43 different beers, 4 breweries and a broad range of touristic and cultural offers “all about beer” await you in this beautiful town. The small community of Ehingen, southwest of Ulm, is home to the Beer Culture Path (Bierkultur Wanderweg). This trail links 4 small traditional breweries, which together produce some 43 different beer varieties! Whether you are interested in a brewery tour, brewing workshops, beer hiking trail, or exhibitions; any beer lover will find lots to do in this town.

Add in the BeerCulture Hotel and this is the perfect excursion for true-blue beer enthusiasts!

Breweries

• Berg Brauerei – In 1466, the pub, located by the farms on the hill (in German: Berg) was granted the right to bake, boil and other butcher things and since 1757, the Zimmermann family has run the brewery – now in the ninth generation.
• Gasthof Brauerei Schwanen – Our brewery is one of the oldest, independent “Real Micro Breweries” in Germany. The history of beer began at the Schwanen in 1697 and has been continued by the Miller family since 1864, meanwhile in the fifth generation.
• Brauerei Gasthof Rössle – The historic Rössle Brewery is family-owned and was founded in 1663.
• Brauerei Schwert – This old-fashioned brewery was established in 1675 and is still independent.

Things to Do

1. Brewery Tours
   • Berg Brauerei – Tours in English. Tour Fee is per person (incl. guided tour, Zwickel sample and 1 free beer). Dates Mondays to Saturdays, from 10 am to 7 pm (start of the tour).
2. Brewing Seminars 
   • Become a German Brew Master – Available in English – Experience the process of creating original German Beer Culture. Twice a month this unique beer course introduces you to the well-kept secrets of the historic Schwanen Micro Brewery.
   • Beer Brewing Course – Available in English – You will be brewing your own beer in the small 20-litre brewhouse!
3. Brew Culture Dining
   • BrauereiWirtschaft Berg – Open from 10 am – in the middle of the village, an informal and stylish atmosphere, freshly tapped beers, Swabian dishes.
   • Gasthof Brauerei Schwanen – Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to midnight – time-honoured charm, the culinary calendar of the Schwanen caters for something different throughout the year
   • Beer garden in Schwanenhof – Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 02:00 pm and 05:00 pm to 10:00 pm – centrally located
   • Beer garden Hotel-Restaurant Gasthof Ochsen – 10.00 am to 11.00 pm – In the heart of the city
   • Bierkulturgarten am Groggensee – Monday to Friday: 04:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Saturday: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm, Sundays and bank holidays: 02:00 pm to 11:00 pm.
   • Bierstadl Rosengarten – Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 02:00 pm and 05:00 pm to midnight
   • Beer garden of the Landgasthof & Hotel zur Rose in Berg – 11:30 am to 02:00 pm and 05:30 pm to 09:30 pm
   • Beer garden Gasthaus Wolfert – Daily from 05:00 pm, Sundays and bank holidays from 11:00 am
   • Sun patio Hotel Hirsch in Kirchen – Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 02:00 pm and 05:00 pm to 10:00 pm
   • Beer garden Heilig’s Blechle – Monday to Thursday and Sunday from 05:00 pm to 01:00 am, Friday from 05:00 pm to 05:00 am, Saturday from 07:00 pm to 05:00 am, closed on Tuesdays
4. Beer Hiking Trail
   • For hiking fans, they say in Ehingen: “We hike from one beer to another.”
   • 8.7 miles long and was chosen by the magazine “Wandermagazin” as among the 30 most beautiful hiking trails in Germany. The wide variety of offers come together for you like a radiant beer culture mosaik
   • available in English
5. Beer Cycling Trail
   • Gentle gliding on an e-bike: This 2-day tour combines finest BeerCultureCity culinary experiences with the most beautiful countryside attractions like the Young Danube, the amazing “Grosses Lautertal” presenting the most Castles in Germany (17) and the UNESCO Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve.
6. Beer Roadtrip
   • Unique beer, extraordinary baroque churches and glorious castles – it is a road trip for visitors who enjoy history, natural beauty, culture and good beer.  Beer, Baroque, Cave And Castles – All together the drive is about 70 miles from start to finish.
7. Beer Events 
   • Every month there is at least 1 beer event, and most months 2!
8. Beer Musuem
   • Discover and learn how brewing technology and the brewery in Berg in the “Berg times” have developed in the past centuries.

Non Beer Activities

• Marchtal Abbey (9 m) – The attractive monastery with a view over the Danube Valley is the only self-contained, completed and fully preserved Baroque monastery in Upper Swabia.
• Krippenmuseum Oberstadion (9 m) – The crib museum is one of the most important ones in Europe, with works by the most famous crib builders of Germany, Austria and Italy.
• CastleRockPath (12.5 m) – The amazing “Grosses Lautertal” presents the highest number of castles in Germany (17)! Experience the most beautiful part of that valley on a 7 km hiking trail. The CastleRockPath is embedded into the UNESCO Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve. It combines castles, river, rocks, magnificent viewpoints and a developing jungle.
• Blautopf und Bad Blau (12.5 m/ 18.5 m) – The famous Blautopf is the second largest spring in the karst landscape in Germany. Afterwards, you can stop by Bad Blau, the family, thermal and sports baths.
• Ulm Minster (16.5 m) – Ulm Minster is the church with the tallest steeple in the world and the landmark of the Danube city.
• Former military training ground Münsingen (17 m) – Enjoy a landscape that has been spared human settlement, rural replotting and economic use for the most part.
• Federsee (21 m) – Federsee by Bad Buchau is home to 265 bird species and with its 33 km², it is the largest connected moorland in South-West Germany.
• Lichtenstein Castle (30 m) – Romantic Lichtenstein Castle towers over the Echaz valley and is called the fairy-tale castle of Württemberg.
• Legoland (38.5 m ) – The park counts among the most-visited tourist attractions in Bavaria and was rated as the most children-friendly theme park in Germany in 2012.
• Upper Swabian Baroque Route –  More than 100 monasteries, churches and castles are connected by the Baroque Route and are a living reflection of Upper Swabian history.