Drinking in Munich

My wife and I and some friends are going to be in Munich for a few days during Oktoberfest this year. Outside of the festival, does anybody know of any good beer halls or breweries worth visiting?

I was there in 2008 and I visited Andechs Monastery and stopped by the Hofbrauhaus for the obligatory touristy experience. I'll probably do those again too, but I didn't get a chance to really check out any more beer halls or breweries besides those. I know there are several in the area, but I'd like to hear some personal experiences on which ones are best.

Wife just got back from a business trip in Munich a couple of weeks ago. Said the Spatan brewery tour was fun.

Good call. Optimator is one of my all-time favorites too.

Congrats and all that.........that being said, I hate you, and always will, until I myself am able to take that very trip.

Munich has 6 breweries you could visit...
I lived in Augsburg for 4 years. It's about 40 miles west of Munich.

Kloster Andechs (been there 4-5 times)and Hofbrauhaus (at least 50 times) are always good, but if you go north of Munich there's Aying and Erding if you like Hefe Weizens.

Between Ingolstadt and Munich is the Hallertau hops growing region. Look for signs that say "Hopfenstrasse" (Hop Street).

While it's certainly not fun in any sense of the imagination, I also recommend that you tour Dachau Concentration Camp. It's about 13 miles NW of Munich.

I always head for the Weisses Brauhaus which is Schneider Weisse's beerhall.

Excellent beer and the food is better than most.

http://www.weisses-brauhaus.de/

Hammy: I've got an email out to Spaten to see if I can arrange a tour. But they're probably staring at their computer screen trying to figure out my Germanglish.

hb99: Great ideas. Looks like a couple of day trips are in order.

DelftBlue: Excellent find. That's going on the list.

A couple breweries close to the airport might be worth a visit (to start or end your trip), including Erdinger and Weihenstephan (in Freising).

http://www.erdinger.de/en/Company/Brewery.html

http://www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de/

It's been several years ago, but it was easier to get a tour at Erdinger (several a day, but you still should schedule with them in advance). Wasn't able to work out a tour at Weihenstephan, but was told they do give them. I seem to remember Weihenstephan had a good restaurant, but not as good as Andechs Klosterglasthof (that place is hard to beat).