Tag des deutschen Bieres
While the “International Beer Day” occurs annually on the first Friday in August, the German Day of Beer (Tag des deutschen Bieres), is tied to a historically important date: April 23. Most beer geeks can easily tell you that this is the day in 1516 when Duke Wilhelm IV declared the Reinheitsgebot, the Bavarian beer purity law. You can read all about this on my blog post about it from 2020: www.bayerntrips.com/blog/oktoberfest-king/news/reinheitsgebot.html
The German brewer’s association (Deutsche Brauer-Bund e.V.) established the celebration of “Tag des Bieres” only in 1994 and, before Covid-19, April 23 celebrations were becoming more and more elaborate. The first celebration I remember attending was in front of the office of the Bavarian Brewers Association (Der Bayerische Brauerbund e.V). Outside the building, there is a simple water fountain adorned with brewing scenes and mottos. On April 23, this fountain dispenses Beer and not water! The best part of the deal is that the beer is also completely free! Folks in the know, know to bring their own beer stein or beer glass, but it is possible to rent one on premise for a small deposit. With glass on hand, you must weasel your way through the crowd which is pressing up to the fountain with absolutely no structure. It’s just a free-for-all. Inside the fountain, there are three taps each pouring a different style of beer: Helles, Dunkles, and Weißbier. Only a fool would try to ask for a particular style – you just get what you get. The people pouring are usually prominent in the Bavarian beer scene – George Schneider, who is President and the “Beer Königin (Queen)” are two that I remember. And, if my memory recalls correctly, this all started at 10:00 AM and was done by noon.
In the past few years, I have skipped the beer fountain in favor of an invitation only event at the Schneider Brauhaus in Munich’s old town. This event is offered only to “Stammgäste (Regulars)” and Schneider plays us with Weissbier and excellent food for a few hours. We also get some music and, obviously, the chance to hang out with the extended Schneider family of regulars. In 2019, I also got to travel out to Freising where a special celebration of Tag des Bieres” took place. The Bier Königin was there as well as many of the prominent staff from Weihenstephan.
In 2016 we got to celebrate the “Tag des Bieres” in style. We had a group of fellows from Australia join up with our US “HardCore” gang for 10 days of travel and serious beer drinking. On April 23, 2019, we attended an event at the Ayinger Brewery just outside of Munich. Ayinger tapped a wooden keg of their unfiltered Helles downstairs in the brewery and we enjoyed live music and small snacks upstairs in their fabulous tasting room. The next day, we travelled to Ingolstadt, the place where the Reinheitsgebot was originally announced, and got to see a historical reenactment of that event. In the last afternoon, we arrived in Bamberg, and just caught the end of their Reinheitsgebot celebration.
Get yourself in the spirit and grab a truly pure beer: A Reinheitsgebot brew It’s all-natural and has no other flavorings or chemicals of any kind. And, please consider joining me in Bavaria one of these days on April 23!
See my latest video about Tag des Bieres 2021 on YouTube: youtu.be/ENDWy8KplYo