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Rhineland-Palatinate borders with North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, France, Saarland, Luxembourg and Belgium. It is one of Germanys most picturesque states.
The main axis of the state is the Rhine river, that forms the border with Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in the southeast before running across the northern part of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhine Valley is bounded by mountain chains and forms a fascinating landscape containing some of the most historically significant places in Germany.
The Eifel and Hunsrück mountain chains are found on the west bank of the Rhine in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, while the Westerwald and Taunus mountains are found on the east bank. The hilly lands in the southernmost region of the state are called the Palatine Forest (Pfälzerwald). These mountain chains are separated from each other by the following tributaries of the Rhine: the Moselle (Mosel), the Lahn and the Nahe.
It has 6 of Germanys 13 wine growing regions that produce almost two-thirds of the country’s wine. Most towns & villages have wine festivals, were each vineyard has a hut selling all these wines by the bottle, we have been to at least 5 of these festivals, before our beer renascence!
These are now over 40 breweries in the region now with over half being micro/brew pubs. So plenty to go at, and you can get a DB Rhineland-Pfalz day ticket for 23 Euro for 5 people, but you need to check the times before planning long route.
The largest brewery is Bitburg on Brauereistraffe Bitburg. A Huge brewery on the south of the town. You might of come across the Pils which is there main brew, they also have a tap in town Zum Simonbrau in the Am Market. Which is well worth a visit.
One of the first brew pubs we visited in this region was Brauhaus am Markt in Kaiserslautern. In the city centre they brew up to 3 beers a Hell, Dunkel & Weizen plus a seasonal. Landau Brauhof at Industriestraffe 10 Landau is in a former warehouse, easy to find between the station and town centre again the Hell, Dunkel & Weizen are supplemented by a number of seasonal beers.
Well worth a visit is Pirmasens, just off the shopping centre is Kuchems Brauhaus, this is quite a large glass fronted building with a patio that has views over the main square and the water fall, good food and they also have beer festivals There were four excellent beers on offer when we visited one wet Bank Holiday, They do an excellent Bock beer in the spring. Also in Pirmasens is the Park Brewery a large brewery to the north of town, the best of there brews beeing the Schwarzbock 6.9% and the Pirminator 6.9% You can try these at Park Platz on Zweibruckerstraffe 1-3 open from 7pm daily.
Another wet and windy day took us to Grunstadt & the Hausbrauerei Grunstadt on the corner of the main square. An excellent pub. With large barrels that you can sit around, plus good service. Beers are seasonal plus the regular Hell, Dunkel & Weizen. If you plan ahead and go on market day this is an excellent place to visit lots of small shops hid away in alleys also there is a train station 5 mins away from the brauhaus.
Another interesting place to visit is Hinterweidental & the Brauhaus Ehrstein, this pub is a rambling maze of small rooms with open fires there are two main ales a very suppable black Dunkel & a Hell’s plus if you are lucky in the spring a Bock and later in the year a Weizen. There are some good walks around this area and also a large stone that stands precariously on its end.
A visit to Machern can not go by without a trip to the Kloster Machern, A brewpub built in a former monastery on the opposite bank of the Mosel to Zeltingen, A nice atmospheric building serving Hell, Dunkel & Weizen - all quite good.
In Frankenthal a visit to Brauhaus zur Post is worth a trip all the brew equipment is on show, and you can watch them brew. This is a large old building with two floors again serving Hell, Dunkel & Weizen, they also had two seasonal on when we were there. It is south of the main station on Neumayerring 45.
Only room for one more this time and is the Froschbrau (Frogbrew) in Jockgrim, in addition to the usual 3 beers there is a Dunkel Weizen. Most excellent food, and they do accomodation. There is a tree growing? Out of the floor in the main dining area. Easy to find just over the level crossing from the station. You can watch the beer brewed, or sit outside on the sun terrace. Even buy souvenirs from their shop.
I hope this has given you some ideas for a beer vacation. Otto says drink dark beers, you know it makes sense.
