Not all who wander are lost: Brauerei Härle

Growing up, I always thought it was incredibly cool that there was a beer with my name on it in Germany. In August, I made my first ever trip to the only remaining brewery for a personal tour with my friend who was visiting. My cousin (I forget how many times removed) runs the brewery - Gottfried Härle and gave us an amazing tour.

Gottfried Härle

He explained that his great-grandfather started the brewery (he and I are of the same generation of Härle's). His great-grandfather and his four brothers (one of whom was my great-grandfather) each started their own Härle breweries in southern Germany. Today, only one remains, in Leutkirch im Allgau (very southern Germany). I learned a lot about brewing bier and specifically Härle bier. He told me that one of the Härle brothers visited the Czech Republic in the early 1900's and tasted Pilsner Urquell (the number one beer sold in the CR and first Pilsner style bier in the world). Mr. Härle came back and said, "I can make that too." He made the first pilsner style bier in Germany. Pretty darn cool! In addition to that, the brewery is incredible eco-friendly and it was a true treat to learn about all the efforts they take to brew bier and respect the environment.

Where bier begins

I need these tables!

The brewery won a top award and was selected as one of the top 3 environmentally friendly companies in Germany. A huge thing as Germany is very into environmentalism, and this is a small brewery. They only distribute 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) around the city of Leutkirch.