Editorial
Bavarian drinking culture is older than Bavaria itself. The Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law, was issued in Munich in 1516 and is still treated with the seriousness most countries reserve for constitutions. The beer hall, the beer garden, the Stammtisch, the mass, the proper way to clink glasses, all of these are codified, and locals follow the codes without thinking.
Visitors miss most of this and end up drinking awkwardly. This guide explains the working rules. Once you know them, drinking in Munich, Nuremberg, Regensburg, and the smaller Bavarian towns is one of the most welcoming experiences in Europe. The locals are happy to drink with you. They just expect you to do it correctly.
Helles is the default Munich beer. Pale, lightly hopped, malt forward, served cold in a one litre mass. Augustiner, Hofbrau, Spaten, Lowenbrau, and Paulaner are the six Munich brewers. Each tastes slightly different. Locals have strong opinions. The Augustiner devotees are the most vocal.
Weissbier or Hefeweizen, the cloudy wheat beer, is the second classic. Serve in a tall curved glass. Drink it cold. Pair it with Weisswurst before noon, the white sausage that is the regional breakfast.
Dunkel, the dark lager, is less common but still standard at most bars. Bock is the strong seasonal beer poured during Lent and at Christmas. Salvator from Paulaner and Triumphator from Lowenbrau are the famous bocks. They run six to eight percent ABV. Drink them slowly.
Pils is rarely the first choice in Bavaria. North Germans drink Pils. Bavarians drink Helles.
Radler is a Helles cut with lemonade. Drink it on a hot day or while cycling, which is how the drink got its name. Russen is a wheat beer Radler, also fine in summer.
The beer hall, the Bierstube, is the public room where Bavarians have drunk for centuries. The Hofbrauhaus is the famous one. Augustiner Stammhaus, Lowenbraukeller, and the Wirtshaus zur Hochlandlerin are better choices for a real experience. The room is loud, communal, and unpretentious.
You sit at a long shared table. If a table has empty seats, you ask if you can join. Heres how to do it: walk up, gesture, and say Ist hier noch frei? They will say ja, please sit. Sometimes they will say nein and point to a sign that says Stammtisch. That table is reserved for regulars.
You order at the table from a Bedienung, the server, usually wearing a dirndl. Ordering at the bar in a beer hall is wrong. The server brings the mass, marks the lid of the cardboard coaster with a stroke, and continues to do this all night. You pay at the end. Tip ten percent.
This is important. Locals will judge you on how you toast. Three rules.
First, you make eye contact with everyone you clink with. Looking away is bad luck. The Bavarians half believe this and half perform it, which means everyone does it.
Second, you say Prost, not Cheers. Prost works. So does Hoi if you are with friends. So does Servus, the Bavarian hello and goodbye, both used as a toast in informal settings.
Third, you clink the bottom of the mass, not the rim. The mass glass is heavy, the rim is fragile, and clinking it can break it. Locals always clink low. Foreigners always clink high. Watch and adjust.
The Stammtisch is a reserved table for regulars. Every traditional bar has one. It is usually marked with a small sign, sometimes a metal plaque. The regulars meet there once or twice a week. The conversation is in Bavarian dialect. Outsiders are not welcome.
You will see Stammtisch tables in beer halls, in small village pubs, in city neighbourhood bars. Do not sit at one. If you accidentally sit at one, the server will explain politely and move you. No drama.
Some Stammtisch tables have themes. A football Stammtisch, a hunters Stammtisch, a card playing Stammtisch. The regulars bring their own playing cards and a small wooden cylinder with leather pads to mark scores. This is the Schafkopf or Watten group. Watch from a polite distance.
The Biergarten is a Bavarian invention from the early nineteenth century. Originally a way to keep the beer cool in deep cellars under chestnut trees that shaded the ground. Now it is the most pleasant Bavarian summer institution.
At a beer garden you order at the counter, not the table. You buy beer, and at most beer gardens you can also bring your own food. This is the rule. Locals bring picnic baskets with sausage, pretzels, radishes, and cheese. The bar makes its money on the beer.
The Englischer Garten in Munich has the famous Chinesischer Turm beer garden. The Augustiner Keller is the largest. The Hofbrauhaus has its own. Smaller villages have their own beer gardens that are less famous and often better.
Bavaria has a deep schnapps tradition that visitors miss because they are focused on beer. Distilled fruit brandies are made everywhere, often by the same farmers who keep cows. Williamsbirnenbrand, Marillenbrand, Zwetschgenwasser, Kirsch, Enzian. Each is unique.
You drink schnapps at the end of a meal, not the start. It is not a chaser. The standard Bavarian move is a small chilled shot, around 30ml, served cold. You sip it. You do not knock it back. Slowly is the rule.
Enzian schnapps is gentian root distillate, intensely bitter, and is the medicine in the Bavarian medicine cabinet. Used for digestion. Strong tradition behind it. Order one if your meal was heavy.
Bavarian bars are loud. The volume is not a problem to solve. It is the texture of the room. You speak loudly. You laugh loudly. You toast loudly.
Conversations cross tables in beer halls. Strangers will join. Locals will ask where you are from, sometimes in Bavarian, sometimes in standard German, sometimes in English. The right move is to engage. They are being polite. They want to know.
The conversation often turns to football, weather, the EU, or the price of beer. Locals have strong opinions on all of these. Listen more than you speak.
Beer halls close at 11pm or midnight. Beer gardens close at 10pm by law because the noise carries to neighbours. After midnight you go to a Bar, a cocktail bar, or to one of the few late night options. Our Munich guide has the cocktail bars.
You pay at the end. The server adds up the marks on your coaster. Round up. Tip ten percent of the total. Cash is preferred. Card works at most bars now.
Servus is the right word as you leave. Pfia di is more affectionate, used between friends. Auf Wiedersehen is fine in formal settings.
Bavarian drinking culture is welcoming if you understand the rules. Sit at the right table, toast correctly, drink Helles in a mass without spilling, tip ten percent. The locals will help you with the rest. For practical bar recommendations, see our Munich bar guide. Or browse our Munich bar listings.
Beer and gastropubs editor at barsforKings. Covers craft beer bars, taprooms, and the pub, judged on cellar work, tap rotation, and whether the kitchen earns its place.
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