Behind the tanks with graffiti, the years are meticulously crossed out on the wall when the Giesinger Bräu could have made it to the Oktoberfest, but it hasn’t worked out yet. Since the private brewery has its own deep well in Plant 2 and uses real Munich water to brew it. The grail of the facility, so to speak, and one of the sacred prerequisites for being able to hold a beer brewery.
A “stehausschank” at the Oktoberfest and a small tent next to it – that would of course be “promotion to the Champions League,” said Stefan Stang, general manager of the Association of Private Breweries in Bavaria on Friday at the opening of Giesinger’s second location in the north of Munich.
But so far founder Steffen Marx, who started in the third division, is still in the first division in order to stay in the football picture. First of all, he wants to establish very modest stand-up taverns in each of the 25 districts of Munich, like he already does on the Viktualienmarkt, soon in Maxvorstadt and in Sendling.
The second location had become necessary because there was no space for a separate bottling plant in the main plant in Giesing. “Tank trucks fetched the beer and drove it to the village to be bottled,” reports founder Steffen Marx. This time, due to the weather, he has tucked his rubber boots, with which he is otherwise only known, under his arm. Lerchenau has been brewing since 2019 – only in trial operation, meanwhile, including the main plant, it is 36,000 hectoliters per year. But Corona only made the opening possible now.
In 2006, Marx started in a “dilapidated garage” in Birkenau in Untergiesing with bathtub quantities, filling and labeling by hand.
The deckchairs in the shade of the new building were in demand at the opening ceremony.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
And Marx persevered. Marx collected around eleven million euros from 7,000 supporters via crowdfunding, said Kurt Kapp, deputy head of the Department of Labor and Economics and head of economic development. “A success story without end.” This shows that the beer is very popular. “We take Giesinger Bräu really seriously.”
12,000-year-old deep water is the basis of the beer. And how does Manfred Schauer like it, as the operator of the “schichtl” at the Wiesn, a Bavarian original? “There is no bad beer in Munich, but the Giesinger is one of the best,” he says in a celebratory mood. But 2023 will probably be a crossed out year on the wall again.
The history of the Giesinger Bräu can be seen in a documentary film. “Straight Outta Giasing” will be released in cinemas in spring 2024. Previews are on June 6th and 14th this year.