Hofbräuhaus

We reserved Saturday as a day to finish our shopping, take a hop-on/hop-off city bus tour (just Hubby & me) and experience a beer house. OFD had researched and chosen Hofbräuhaus, one of the oldest beer houses in Munich. Hofbräuhaus means court brewery house.

founded in 1589 by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria

it started as the maker of a dark brown beer

Duke Wilhelm's son, Maximillian I, did not care for the dark brown beer, so he had the brewery focus on wheat beers. The brewery is owned by the Bavarian state government. The Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516 stated only natural ingredients could be used in the brewing process. That law is still followed today. Nowadays the dark and wheat beers are brewed on the outskirts of Munich and exported all over the world. There are several Hofbräuhauses in the U.S., including Las Vegas. 

beer garden got more crowded later on

huge place with lots of seating options

menu in English

several fresh pretzel hawkers tried selling their 

baked item

fresh baked pretzels

Hofbräuhaus has their own bakery, butchery, 

and confectionary

Hubby had the small glass of beer

our masses of Radler

beer & lemonade, my new favorite beer drink

"After World War II, thanks in part to legions of American soldiers stationed in Munich bringing home beer mugs with the "HB" logo, the Hofbräuhaus quickly became Munich's number one tourist attraction. Demand for Hofbräuhäuser in other parts of the world began almost immediately. The first Hofbräuhaus in Europe outside Germany was opened in Genoa, Italy, see Hofbräuhaus Genova. There is also a Hofbräuhaus in Stockholm, Sweden." - Wikipedia

We did our part and bought mini-Masses as souvenirs. Those big glasses would have been very heavy in the suitcases!

had never heard of beer & lemonade before

has different names in different establishments

Original HB sausage platter

with sauerkraut, my choice

HB fried sausage & sauerkraut, OFD's choice

'wool' white sausages, fried & no gravy

sauerkraut & potato salad, Hubby's choice

musicians entertaining 

Just an FYI: Oktoberfest ended the week prior to our arrival. We did see kiosks selling Oktoberfest souvenirs, but they disappeared the first few days. The Munich soccer team, Bayern, played in Munich on Saturday bringing LOTS of soccer fans to the city. We noticed many more weekend drinkers as we moved about on Saturday and Sunday. The train station had a notable urine smell, more people sitting on the floor, holding up the wall and more 'open' drinking on the street. So I can not imagine what the city would have been like during the September 17 through October 3 run of the 2017 beer festival.