1328. This number adorns the Augustiner-Bräu Wagner KG emblem for a reason: In 1328 the Augustinian monks began brewing beer in their Augustinian monastery near Munich Cathedral. For almost 500 years, the monks brewed their Augustiner beer directly in the monastery - and sold it in the monastery tavern, which is popular with the people of Munich. In recognition of the extraordinary quality of Augustiner beer, the sovereign exempted the monastery brewery from all taxes. The tax exemption is of course a thing of the past. Also, Augustiner beer is no longer brewed by monks in religious habit, but by our experienced master brewers with selected raw materials from the region. And it happened like this:
In 1803 the state took over the Augustinian monastery in the course of secularization. The monastery's own brewery was privatized and relocated to nearby Neuhauser Straße in 1817 because the monastery was in a state of disrepair. In 1829, the Freising brewer Anton Wagner acquired the business, which has existed as a private brewery ever since. His son Josef Wagner had a modern new building built on Landsberger Strasse on what was then the outskirts of the city, and the brewery moved there in 1885. We still brew here today.
In the former brewery on Neuhauser Straße, everything still revolves around Augustiner beer. In 1896, the well-known Munich architect Emanuel von Seidl redesigned the former brewery - our current main building "Zum Augustiner" - into a restaurant with a beer hall.
Our brewery building on Landsberger Straße was severely damaged in World War II and rebuilt according to the old model. Today, the façade of the striking, elongated brick building is a listed building.
With significant investments, we have repeatedly expanded the capacity of our brewery and brought production up to date. We attach great importance to our draft beer in traditional wooden barrels, which enjoys the special care of our master brewers. We get our excellent brewing water from our own well at a depth of 230 meters.
In our historic barn malthouse on the brewery site, we produce malt of exceptional quality. The germinating barley is laid out in large rooms - 40 meters long and 10 meters wide - in a thin layer on a special limestone floor and turned every eight hours. Our traditional method of floor malting takes a lot of space and time, but the malt has room to breathe - and you can taste it!
During its eventful history, Augustiner-Bräu Wagner KG has experienced wars, privatization and many expansions and innovations - while always maintaining its company philosophy: We are concerned with the outstanding quality of our beer, with tradition and with our Munich roots. Our inns and beer gardens - including the Augustiner-Keller and the Hirschgarten - are places of Old Munich conviviality and cosiness. Our Augustiner beer has become a part of Munich culture over the past seven centuries. And we are very happy about that.