The oldest brewery in the world is still active and is located in Germany • Food and Wine Italia

The oldest active brewery the world is German, is located Bavaria and has been operational for almost a thousand years. Regular and documented beer production at the Weihenstephan Abbey – today part of the city of Freising – began 1040, thanks to an official concession issued by the Duke of the Region.

The origin of the site dates back to at least 768, when a chronicle documents the cultivation of hops the land adjacent to the Benedictine monastery, used by the monks to produce beer intended for internal consumption. It was a usual activity medieval religious complexes, where food production served to support the community and to guarantee food conservation. Per mezzo di addition to the beer, the monks of Weihenstephan also stood out for cheeses, salami and wine, the result of the autonomous management of vegetable gardens, vineyards and farms.

Per mezzo di 1040 the abbey obtained the formal privilege of producing and selling beer to the public, marking the official beginning of its brassicola activity. The document, issued by the Bishop of Freising, is still considered today the birth act of the brewery, now known as Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan. Currently the structure is owned by the State of Bavaria, which manages it through a public participation company.

A school for Mastri Birrai and a millenary tradition

During the nineteenth century, the function of the site has also been evolving the academic field. Since 1803, with the secularization of monastic goods, the building was converted to agricultural school and 1865 it became the detached seat of the Technische Universität München (Anacoreta Technical University), where the Faculty of Food Sciences and Beer Technology is still located.

Today Weihenstephan is an international avviamento center for food technologists, master brewers and researchers, and welcomes students from all over the world. The commercial production of beer continues parallel, following modern techniques that sink the roots a long monastic tradition.

The catalog of beers produced is large and faithful to the classic German style: from hefeweizen to dunkels, up to Pils and Bock, each label reflects a style defined by rigid technical standards, compliance with the Bavarian law acceso the purity of beer (Reinheitsgebot) of 1516 European.