ur first real exploration in Germany for a few years (apart from Berlin) turned out to be a trip that confirmed everything I thought about 95% of German beer - it's very boring and bland!  Okay, there is some decent stuff around, and I'd be the first to admit that I'm at a major disadvantage in Bavaria in hating wheat beer, but Germany just doesn't do it for me beer-wise and this trip just told me I was right... in my opinion, obviously!!!

I'll list all the gen from the cities we visited here, see also the Google maps which show you where everything is!

Click on the relevant city here to skip to the beer gen you want : München, Augsburg, Ulm, Stuttgart.

München  Map

Famous beer city where, sadly, almost all beer is bland!  An attractive city architecturally but if you intend to do some serious scooping leave plenty of time; most bars don't serve beer in measures less than half a litre (a halb) making quick ticking difficult, plus when the beer is as boring as it is in 95% of bars you don't really want that much!  The transport system is, as you'd expect in Germany, superb and there are still a few of the old trams running in rush-hour!

Above the airport S-Bahn station, this brewpub serves average beers. There's also a bar airside in T2.

Surprisingly well-laid out brewpub with typical big copper kettles in the middle; beers are average.

Foschungsbrauerei, 2009 Unterhachinger Strasse 76

Small brewery with attached tap that closes October-March each year.  The beer is apparently very good.

Hacker-Pschorr Bavaria Bräu, Theresienhöhe 7

At the Northern end of the Theresienwiesen, it's a ten-minute walk from either Holzapfelstraße tramstop (18 or 19) or Theresienwiese U-Bahn on lines 4 and 5.

Opened in 2005 opposite the Oktoberfest gardens. It actually does brew, the proper kit being in the cellar, although the huge redundant cast-offs by the bar patently haven't made anything for years.

Paulaner Bräuhaus, Kapuziner Platz 5

Take U3 or U6 to Goetheplatz and it's a five-minute walk south along Häberlstraße.

Owned by Paulaner but they actually brew their own beer (I saw fermenting wort last time) and even the Weiss is different than that from the parent company.  Worth a go.

Unionsbräu, Einsteinstraße 42, Au-Haidhausen.

U4 or U5 to Max-Weber-Platz and it's just along the main street on the right.  Trams 15, 18, 19, 25 stop just around the corner.

Once owned by InBev but now, apparently, independent. Decent beers and food in a multi-level location.

Fliegerbräu, Sonnenstraße 2, Feldkirchen.

S2 to Feldkirchen.

Brewpub out in the east of Munchen just past the modern Hofbräu brewery.

Weißbräu, Hubertusplatz 5, Oberhaching.

S5, S20, S27 to Deisenhofen.

Brewpub out in a southern Munich commuter town.

Augustiner Bräustuben, Landsberger Straße 19

Trams 18 or 19 to Holzapfelstraße and you can't miss the brewery!  The tap is on the left-hand side of the road if travelling outbound.

The "proper" brewery tap which only opened relatively recently, a multi-roomed bustling pub with great food and sadly mediocre beer.

Kulturcafe, Tegernseer Landstraße 96.  Mon-Sat 11:00-22:00

Trams 15 or 25 to Silberhornstraße or U2 to the same stop.

Sells a Bierlaboratorium beer in bottle, Giesinger Erhellung.  A nice little place, not your usual beer bar but worth a look!

Hofbräukeller, Innere Wiener Straße 19

Trams 15, 18, 19 or 25 to Max-Weber-Platz then the bar is a short distance towards the centre following the tramlines.

Much less touristy than the Hofbräuhaus, come here for the full range of beers and good food.

Der Pschorr, Viktualienmarkt 15

The closest tramstop (17, 18) is Reichenbachplatz.  Head into the centre and the bar is next to the huge Schrannenhalle to the left-hand side of the market.

Huge beer hall which sells all the beers from Pschorr including helles out of a wooden cask, although it's suspiciously gassy and clear!

Das Bierlaboratorium, Birkenau 5.  Shop/tap open Mon-Fri: 09:00 - 18:00 and Sat 09:00-13:00.

Micro with a diverse beer range. 

Hofbräu brewery, Hofbräuallee 1, Trudering

Where the Hofbräu brewery is these days and it's a huge industrial monster of a place.

Paulaner / Hacker Pschorr, Hochstraße 75, Au-Haidhausen

Spaten / Franziskaner, Marsstraße 46

Augustiner Brewery, Landsberger Strasse 31-35

Augsburg  Map

A far more attractive and laid-back city than München, Augsburg is pretty, cobbled and has much better beer (with the exception of Charleybräu)!  The small yet perfectly formed tram system will get you around, tram 2 is your beery friend here.

Charly Bräu,  Meister-Veits-Gäßchen 32.  Open 11:00 onwards daily.

Tram 2 to Oberhausen Bahnhof and the bar is on the corner opposite the park.

Now independent after being owned by Traunstein.  The beers were terrible on our visit, all toffee, diacetyl and very wheaty even the ones supposedly not containing wheat!

König von Flandern, Karolinenstraße 12.  Open from 11:00.

Right on the main drag, tram 2 passes the door and stops a few minutes away at Stadtwerke.

Brewpub in the historic centre in the cellar of the old bathhouse with good beers on tap.  The food is highly recommended!

Bräustüberl zum Thorbräu‎, Wertachbrucker-Tor-Straße 9.  Open M-F & Sun 11:00-14:00, 18:00-00:00, Sat eve only, closed Mon.

Take tram 2 to Senkelbach, walk up the road through the trees opposite the stop towards the big tower and the brewpub is on the corner just past the tor.

Situated in the North of the city close to the hulking Wertachburcker Tor, this is an impressive brewery tap with lovely old copper brewkit next door.  In reality it's a brewery tap not a brewpub, but who really gives a toss?

Drei Koniginnen, Meister-Veits-Gäßchen 32.  Open 18:00 onwards, closed Mon.

Tram 1 to Fuggerei, find Jakobsplatz heading south, Lochgäßchen is the first "proper" left and the bar on the first corner.

Bar serving beers from the nearby Augusta brewery which is reasonably small and produces some decent stuff, the bottle-conditioned Schwarzbier was particularly good.

Hotel Riegele, Viktoriastraße 4.  Open from 11:00 daily.

Almost opposite the rail station, look straight ahead and slightly to your left.

Brewery tap of the large producer just round the corner, also has doss.

Zum Weißen Hasen, Unter dem Bogen 4.

In the pedestrianised lanes, trams 1 and 2 stop closest at Rathausplatz.

Hasen-Bräu bar with all the beers on sale, if you like subsidising Budweiser-Ambev that is!

Hasen-Bräu, Konrad-Adenauer-Allee 33

Owned by AmBev so don't bother!!! The Weißen Hasen is the brewery tap if you're really keen to try the beer... but there are some impressive big coppers inside too look at if you wander past!  Comfortably the worst beer in town.

Augusta, Lauterlech 10

Smallish brewery in the centre of the city by the famous Fuggerei.

Riegele, Frölichstraße 26

Large independently-owned brewery by the railway station.

Ulm / Neu Ulm  Map

Two cities on either side of the river in different Länder, Ulm's main claim to fame is it's enormous cathedral with towering spires which dominate the entire place much the same as Köln's cathedral does.  The place was destroyed during the war leaving little old stuff to look at although there are a few historical relics around.

Barfußer, Lautenberg 1.

Down a small street opposite the massive cathedral in a modern building with the plant upstairs. 

First-floor brewpub by the cathedral with surprisingly characterful beer and plain, cafe-like atmosphere.

  Barfüßer (Neu-Ulm), Paulstraße 4.

Brewpub a short walk from New-Ulm bahnhof plus a bus (no.7?) from Ulm.

The sister brewpub to one across the Donau - allegedly.  We didn't visit.

Schlössle, Schlößleweg 3.

Out in the suburbs of Neu-Ulm although a bus does go there.

Brewpub out in a village near Neu-Ulm with, apparently, pretty decent beers.

Zur Krone, Uhrenmachergasse 10, Söflingen.

Take the city's only tramline to it's western terminus of Söflingen and just before it terminates you'll pass the brewery and bar on your right.

Brewery tap of the Kronenbrauerei Söflingen across the way.  Almost adjacent to the terminus of the city's only tramline.

Kronenbrauerei Söflingen, Schlossergasse 31, Söflingen.

Small brewery with attached tap.

Gold Ochsen, Veitsbrunnenweg 3.

Large brewer with a huge output although their beers don't seem to contain the usual "hopfenextrakt".

Stuttgart  Map

Not as bland and capitalist as you'd think, a likeable city with plenty of brewpubs in the centre and in neighbouring villages and towns to keep you busy.  There are vineyards within the city itself (plus lots more near Esslingen) which may be why the beers are sweet and fruity - to match the local Riesling wines?

Calwer-Eck-Bräu, Calwer Straße 31.  Open 09:00-late.

S-Bahn S1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 to Stadtmitte or U2, 4, 11 or 14 to Rotebühlplatz.  The brewpub is on the corner of Langestraße up some carefully hidden stairs.

First-floor brewpub with an old Firkin-style wood clad brewplant.

Mash, Forststraße 7.  Sometimes closes in the afternoon.

U2 to Berliner Platz (Liederhalle) will take you within a minute's walk of the Bosch-Areal centre.  The brewpub is towards the back of the complex, just after the little bridge over the supermarkets.  Easy to find, honest!

New-wave brewpub in the Bosch-Areal centre.  The bottled Mash Silver is apparently brewed by Götz.  A bizarre place, very "trendy", and the look does remind me of Mash&Air in Manchester very slightly!

Schloßturm, Plieninger Straße 100, SI-Centrum, Möhringen.  Open 16:00-> Mon-Fri, 12:00 weekends.

A fair way out of the city to the south and not worth the effort.  If you really want to score it, take S1, 2 or 3 to Vaihingen then change for U3 to the Salzäcker/SI-Centrum stop.  Climb the stairs into the centre, walk straight through to the other side, then head for the other part of the complex across the street.  Once inside go down the stairs and double back on yourself to find the pub.  There's an underground passage you can do there but we only did it back and got lost in the bowels of the hotel!

Brewpub in the SI-Centrum, in the basement.  They only have one beer on as a rule and it's not that good, so I'd personally not bother!  The weiss on sale is Maisels.

Sophie's, Marienstraße 28.  Open 16:00 onwards, Sun from 10:30.

Take U2, 4, 11 or 14 to Rotebühlplatz (Stadtmitte) and you're basically there.

Another brewpub on the first floor! The beers are safe and sweet, as is the local way.

Tü8, Tübinger Straße 8.  Haçienda opens at 17:00.

Very close to Sophie's.

Alleged brewpub (the Haçienda) in a group of 3 bars, the others are Spaghettisimo and s'Mäxle.  It's downstairs below the others although the brewplant doesn't look used at all to me... call me an old cynic and all that, but I don't think they brew here.