Rossdorf am Forst, Bayern (Bavaria):
Brauerei-Gasthaus Sauer

Visited on: Friday 21st October 2016

Bob Thompson

Rossdorf am Forst is the name of this village and is a perfect description of its surroundings. “orf in the Forest” is how it translates and it certainly is. In the forest, that is, with trees all around the small settlement. It is just eight kilometres (five miles) south of the brewing capital of Bamberg, yet you would never know that standing in front of the handsome façade of the pub.

Rossdorf is off the main road, so I would guess it is often bypassed, except for those in the know. However it is accessible by public transport (bus), just!

I arrived during the early evening just as it was getting dark and the pub was absolutely wedged out already, a testament to its popularity amongst local people. My apologies, but because of this it was difficult to obtain photographs, so there are not as many as I would have liked supporting this article.

It is at the centre of the village and the brewery and pub are separated by a yard. Here, when I left, there was a trailer hauled by a tractor which was being loaded with spent grains tumbling out of a spout projecting from the brewery wall, no doubt going on as animal feed. It’s always nice to see a traditional working brewery going about its business.

It was founded in 1784 and has been in the same family ownership for three generations with father Richard and son Christian Sauer being in charge of the brewing.

I entered the main room and advised the waitress that I was only there for a short time and didn’t require food. I must have been the only person in the room not eating! Luckily she found me a place on the end of a large table and I ordered two beers, to save time.

I looked around and could see that the furniture was all varnished wood, loose or fixed. There were fresh flowers on each table and the walls were covered with old photos and prints.

There were three regular beers on offer, all under the Rossdorfer name: Pils (4.9%), Urbier (4.6%) and Weissbier (4.8%). Pils is self-explanatory, Urbier means original bier so I believe it is recreation of and old style. It is unfiltered and served in a ceramic krug. Weissbier is of course, wheat beer.

From May they offer Braunbier (4.9%), a malty brew and in the winter there is Bock (7.0%).

I had Urbier and Pils and I thought them both excellent. They have a biergarten named Felskeller on the edge of the village, open in the summer months.

The beer is top notch, the food looked superb, two great reasons to leave Bamberg city for some quality.

Important Information:

Brauerei Sauer, Sutter 5, 96129 Rossdorf am Forst. Tel: 09543 1578

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11.00-23.00. Monday: Closed.

Route 970 departs from alongside the ZOB (Zentral Omnibus Bahnhof - Central Bus Station) in Promenade. There are just four buses a day to Rossdorf. The first one at 13.18 requires a change of buses in Lintzendorf. The remaining three are direct. The three later buses call near the railway station from the Post bus stop. The last bus back is around 18.00. Route 970 operates on Monday to Friday only.
You really need to scrutinise the timetable for this route.

Update January 2020. Hours are now: Monday: Closed; Tuesday-Sunday: 11.00-22.00.