Visited on: Monday 30th July 2018

Bob Thompson

I had passed this pub several times whilst travelling to village breweries in the Hallerndorf area, yet only once did I visit and that was long ago on a cycle tour of the area in the middle 1990s. Basically I had forgotten it was there, so I made the effort to visit it before I returned home from another tour around the area.

Thank goodness most Franconian pubs open early. In this case 09.00 and so it was not long after 11.00 that I was found walking from the bus stop to the pub.

The front door was locked but I could hear the faint noise of people talking. It came from the other side of the building. I went around to the yard where a found a number of local “good old boys” enjoying a beer or two. An elderly lady was providing service from inside the pub. I just ordered a “bier” as I was fairly certain there would only be one offered, and I wasn’t wrong.

Being in the middle of summer it was a very hot day and the crystal clear glass of Witzgall Vollbier looked absolutely superb. The taste matched its look. With only slight effervescence, call it conditioning, it had obviously been served direct from the barrel. It was absolutely delicious, having a full taste with a slight bitterness in the finish; I had three. I believe it to be 4.6% abv

The brewery has a Keller on the edge of the village where, in the days before cooling systems were invented, the beer matured and was served in the summer months when no brewing was done.

In this area “Bier-Keller” is interchangeable in meaning with “Biergarten”. For the Keller Landbier (5.2%) is brewed. This is an unfiltered beer that is served in ceramic krugs (mugs). It’s sometimes available in the Gastätte. The Keller is open from May to October.

Between the middle of November to the middle of January they serve Weihnachts Festbier (5.5%). I’m not entirely sure but I think that is the total of the beers brewed here.

The history of the brewery goes back to 19th October 1761 when Bishop Adam Friedrich granted brewing rights for a brewery in Schlammersdorf. The building, according to the German building register dates from the late 18th or early 19th Century.

The gastätte building has a mansard roof at one end. Some of the buildings around the yard date form the same period. In the brewery there is a ground stone inscribed “1811” and there is a half-timbered building with a mark of “1774” on it. As I didn’t get to go into the gastätte I can’t report on it. Although I know it offers a menu of local specialities.

I would really like to revisit this pub again and have some more of their excellent Vollbier, maybe inside for a change.

Important Information:

Brauereigastätte Witzgall, Schlammersdorfer Strasse 17, 91352 Hallerndorf-Schlammersdorf

Hours: Monday-Wednesday/Friday-Sunday: 09.00-22.00; Thursday: Closed

The brewery is easily reached from Forchheim station on the Nürnberg to Bamberg main line by Bus 265.
It leaves from Forchheim ZOB (Zentral Omnibus Bahnhof - Central Bus Station) outside the railway station.
Mondays to Fridays it runs hourly, Saturday also but every two hours in the evening. Sunday is two-hourly.
On Saturday and Sunday when it is two-hourly you can use a Rufbus (Bus on demand).
Please look at the bus 265 timetable on the VGN website which gives the number to call.

Alight at the Schlammersdorf-Kapellenweg bus stop. You walk in the same direction as the bus.
You will soon see the pub on the left.