The beautiful city of Regensburg in the Bavarian district of Germany boasts a Gothic cathedral, a stone mediaeval bridge and the remains of a Roman fortress. It also has a number of breweries, including one of the few surviving hospital breweries, and a varied set of bars in which to drink the fruits of said breweries.
Brauerei Kneitinger, Kreuzgasse 7
The Kneitinger Brewery can be viewed through the windows along Kreuzgasse with the brewery tap on the corner looking into Arnulfsplatz, one of the squares in the city centre. The pub is split into multiple rooms off a narrow hall running down the centre, which also has seating around tables or standing round taller tables. A nice touch is the green cushions to make the wooden benches more comfortable. Three large screen TVs in the hall look a little out of place in such an old building.
The exterior of the pub is a murky yellow. Inside, the walls of the hall range from the same yellow to a green that tries hard but fails to be lime. The décor in the rooms off the hall is more laid back and darker. Worth a look is the cabinet half way down the hall with examples of brewery mugs throughout the years.
The standard beers are the Edel-Pils and Export Dunkel, both at 5.2%. In the winter months, the 6.8% Bock is available and that can be found bottled in some of the city’s supermarkets all year round.
Fürstliches Brauhaus, Waffnergasse 6-8
This brewpub was built on the site of the former Thurn und Taxis brewery, which was bought and closed down by Paulaner. The connection with Paulaner is still there in that its bottled beers are on sale but the bar these days advertises more its Thurn und Taxis connections with an actual T&T delivery van parked outside and glasses jointly branded T&T and Fürstliches.
The large bar area surrounds the copper kettles and there is plenty of seating inside and out. A large screen shows sports. A chalk board above the kettles tells what beer is being brewed at the time. This could be one of four beers: The Regensburger Original is a 5.3% cloudy lager, the Marstall Dunkles comes in at 5.5%, the Brauhaus Weiss at 5.3% and the Blonder Engel at 6.5%.
Regensburger Weissbrähaus, Schwarze-Bären-Straße 6
Formerly part of the Johann Albrecht chain, this city centre brewpub has seating outside on one of the shopping streets and inside multiple rooms upstairs and downstairs with copper kettles at both levels. Bizarrely, stuffed chickens form part of the decorations – a hint maybe of an unsuccessful attempt to resemble a farmyard.
There are four beers brewed in the kettles. The Weissbier Hell and Dunkel are light and dark wheat beers, respectively, and likewise are the more traditional Altbayerisch Hell and Dunkel. Bottled beers from Jacob are also on offer and the beer menu includes the strange and increasingly popular combination in Germany of wheat beer mixed with cola.
Spitalgarten, St Katharinenplatz 1
This is the brewery tap of the Spital Brewery near the north end of the stone bridge over the River Danube. The brewery is one of the few surviving hospital breweries where beer was brewed to give to their patients to help recovery. Despite all today’s scares, beer can be good for someone’s health. This is also Regensburg’s oldest brewery.
There is a small inside area and a large beer garden on the banks of the river. The draught beer range includes the typical hell, dunkel, weiss and pilsner styles but the bottled 5.4% Spital Spezial is not to be missed.
Irish Harp Pub, Brückstraße 1
Every city has at least one Irish pub and Regensburg is no exception. This is close to the south side of the stone bridge and the entrance is down the side. The bar packs a crowd of locals and ex-pats for its occasional live music. The usual Guinness and Kilkenny vie for attention with German weiss, helles and dunkel beers – the bottled Abensberger Dunkel (5.2%) is particularly nice.
Hemingway’s, Obere Bachgasse 3-5
A Thurn und Taxis pub with table and chair seating for diners in a narrow room off one side of the bar, Hemingway’s is popular with students but that should not put off older clients. The main C-shaped bar has bar stools with tall tables and stools around the dark marble walls, which oddly give it a cosy feel. The T&T beers include Pils, Helles, light and dark Weissbier and St Wolfgangs Dunkel. Heineken is also available but is ranked lower on the menu than the alcohol free beer.
Felix, Fröhliche-Türkenstraße 6
The local Bischofshof Brewery has outlets around the city including Felix, which contains a long narrow bar with barstools all along. A staircase to the right after entering leads to a balcony above and looking over the bar. Four large mirrors dominate the wall opposite the bar. Bischofshof Urhell and Pils are available on draught with the light and dark weissbier sold in bottles. Weltenberger Kloster Barock Dunkel is also available bottled.
Dombrowski, Kramgrasse 10-12
Opposite the cathedral, this medium-sized normal looking bar hides a secret – the small crowd upstairs is nothing compared with the packed masses of young people enjoying the two cellar bars, and many drinkers probably do not even know they are there. For those who prefer a quieter drink upstairs, the Kuchlbauer range is recommended, the Aloysius Weissbier-Bock being particularly tasty. There are also a few beers from Schierlinger.
See also Bars of Munich, Bars of Stuttgart and Bars of Nuremberg.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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