Brewery travel advice - Regensburg & Prague

[Merkur]

Hi - in October 2025 I am going from Budapest to Regensburg Germany along the Danube River. I have time in both Budapest, Regensburg and afterwards in Prague. I am interested in visiting some of the unique breweries in Bavaria. Are there any tours that readers have visited? A lot of them seem to be a 2 or 3 hours 'Beer & Sausage' tour, which as a brewer really doesn't cut it! I'd like to get into some of the brewing processes and history.

Any recommendations? Has anyone visited the Monastic Schneider Weiss Monastic brewery in Kelheim? Worth the visit?

Paul

 

[jdauria]

I really can't answer your specific question, but breweries in Germany are not really like here in the US, with tap rooms, tours etc,. Was in Munich two years ago for Oktoberfest and none of the Munich breweries had tours. Hofbrau usually does, just not during Oktoberfest, but needs to be 10 people. Some of the breweries outside of the city did have tours, like Weihenstephaner. Your best bet may be to look up the breweries in the area you will be in and check their websites to see if they offer tours. FYI Schenider Weiss offers tours on Tuesdays at 2 from May to November and Thursdays at 2 year round per their website.

 

[jackbflyin]

If you’re in Regensburg area I’ll recommend Weltenberger Abbey.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...burg_Abbey-Kelheim_Lower_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

 

[patto1ro]

Hi - in October 2025 I am going from Budapest to Regensburg Germany along the Danube River. I have time in both Budapest, Regensburg and afterwards in Prague. I am interested in visiting some of the unique breweries in Bavaria. Are there any tours that readers have visited? A lot of them seem to be a 2 or 3 hours 'Beer & Sausage' tour, which as a brewer really doesn't cut it! I'd like to get into some of the brewing processes and history.

Any recommendations? Has anyone visited the Monastic Schneider Weiss Monastic brewery in Kelheim? Worth the visit?

Paul

Spital in Regensburg has a wonderful beer garden on the Danube. Really good food, too. Kneitinger has a lovely beerhall, too. Don't know if either do tours, but they're well worth a visit.

Schneider isn't a monastic brewery. I don't think it ever was. They do a pretty decent tour. Though they won't let you in the fermentation room for hygiene reasons.

TBH, on the standard brewery tours you're unlikely to really learn much about their brewing processes. They are usually designed for the general public and are pretty vague. Plus the guides may not really know that much in depth.

Regensburg is a lovely town. I can't believe how long it is since I last visited. These are some reports from my two visits to the town:

https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2007/08/regensburg.html
https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/07/regensburg.html
https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2012/07/regensburg-again.html

 

[pvpeacock]

Weltenburg Abbey is a must. If possible, take a boat through the Danube Gorge from Kelheim to the Abbey. I assume you are on a river cruise? Your cruise line may have an excursion for this. Avalon did when we took a similar cruise.

 

[monkeymath]

In my experience, brewery tours look very much alike in most "established" breweries, with tour guides that have pretty limited knowledge of the brewing process itself (e.g. they'll tell you that the mash is boiled in the mash tun, but in most cases, that does not mean that they perform a decoction...).

I've been to Regensburg only briefly, but was not too excited about the local beer scene. According to my Untappd notes, Kneitinger's Edelpils was nice and crisp. Otherwise, you've got a local Paulaner brewery etc... Meh.

I've never been to Kloster Weltenburg myself as I've heard it's massively overrun during summer, but it might be nice in October. They happen to make the only Doppelbock that I actually enjoy; guess I should pay them a visit some time

In Prague and the surrounding area,.there are so many great options that any guidance is both impossible and superfluous imho. The Czech Republic has countless wonderful breweries and many of them have some representation inside Prague. The difficulty lies in exercising some restraint during your stay so you keep your senses sharp and don't ruin your 'appetite' for beer after a day of trying to taste every svetle pivo you can find. I'm speaking from experience here...

And even if you think you already know that beer, do NOT, under any circumstances, miss out on tasting a perfectly poured pint of Pilsner Urquell in one of the brewery-owned pubs. As much as I enjoyed the beers from various smaller breweries and guest houses, that pint of Pilsner Urquell at 'U Salzmannu' in Pilsen (an entirely touristy venue, but it's a cute old building, so who cares) is always hard to beat as "the best pint I had on this trip".

 

[Yooper]

Weltenburg Abbey is a must. If possible, take a boat through the Danube Gorge from Kelheim to the Abbey. I assume you are on a river cruise? Your cruise line may have an excursion for this. Avalon did when we took a similar cruise.

I think Weltenburg was my favorite in Bavaria. Just you mentioning it brought me back again to that special place.

I love Ayinger, and of course Andechs is one of the best in the area. Just being at Andechs is an experience in itself. In Prague, everyone seems to love UFlecku and of course in Plsn the Pilsner Urquell brewery and tour is popular too.