“Obststandl-Didi”, “Sechzger-Didi” and soon also “Boazn-Didi”? Dieter Schweiger is known in the city by several nicknames and there could be another one. Because Schweiger, who has been running the fruit stand at the subway exit to the university for 40 years, is now swapping bananas for beer and will be the new landlord of the first brewery bar of the Münchner-Kindl brewery.
It is currently still being renovated and will not be able to produce its own beer until next year. That is why Schweiger and the Sailer family from the Münchner-Kindl brewery are toasting with a makeshift Augustiner on Thursday at the first public viewing of the as yet unrenovated pub. If all the renovation work goes according to plan, both the brewery on the city border near the A 995 and the brewery bar in the Giesinger center at Tegernseer Landstrasse 80 should open at the same time next year.
The two Didis, Dieter Schweiger and Dietrich Sailer, have known each other for many years. When Schweiger started his fruit stand in 1984, Sailer had already finished his studies, but his sons Luis and Leo Sailer were still students and shopped at the stand, and that’s how they got to know the fruit stand man. After that, they often went to the stadium with him to watch Sechzger games, Luis Sailer remembers. He became a master brewer, his brother Leo a lawyer. The future of the Münchner-Kindl brewery is thus secured, because the two of them are already running the business together with their father.
Sailer says his sons wanted Didi Schweiger to be the new landlord of the first bar. Schweiger agreed immediately. Not only because he and the Sailers got along well and he believed in the product, but also because of the location. The listed building at the intersection with Silberhornstrasse previously housed shops. This can still be seen today in the deep shop windows in the facade, which will remain after the renovation and let a lot of light into the small room.
What it will look like inside is not yet clear, with exposed brick and unplastered walls. But Luis Sailer gives a first glimpse of the concept. It will not be a pure bar, but a “brewery bar” with seating at high tables and a range of food. For consumption on site and for street sales, they want to offer Bosna, a spicy bratwurst roll with onions that is said to have been invented in Salzburg.
The focus will be on the beer, explains the young brewmaster. Instead of using a dispensing system, the beer will be drawn exclusively from a wooden barrel and served in an iced glass, and at a “low and stable” price, notes Schweiger. Sailer believes that “as a brewery, you also have a social obligation. That’s why we don’t want downtown prices. A half-liter of beer should cost less than four euros.” Standing beer and foamy beers should also be worth the price for guests.
The Münchner Kindl brewery will be launching three types of beer next year. There will be a light beer, a dark beer and, seasonally, a bock beer. In other words, only beers that can be brewed using bottom fermentation, explains Leo Sailer. Top fermented types such as wheat beer will also be available on tap, but these will come from a partner brewery that has not yet been decided. There will be no non-alcoholic beer or shandy from Münchner Kindl, out of respect for their own product, explains Luis Sailer.
The bar is named after Steyrer Hans, a butcher and innkeeper’s son from Giesingen, and according to legend the strongest man in Bavaria because he could lift a 100-litre wooden barrel by himself. Didi Schweiger will not have to bring the wooden barrels from the Münchner Kindl brewery to “Steyrer Hans” himself, but will deliver them in the city area using his own horse-drawn carriage. Schweiger will give up his fruit stand at the university. His pub will probably open at lunchtime, and as much as he may be used to working long hours in retirement, both would be too much even for him. What will happen to the fruit stand is still up in the air.