The small Hessian town Alsfeld is primarily known for its 500 year-old town hall (built in 1512) and its historic half-timbered old town. But the Alsfelder Brewery, just a few hundred metres away from the centre, is also worth mentioning.
The roots of the Alsfelder brewing craft reach even further into the past than the town hall: First documents about brewing in Alsfeld date back to 1414 – a period, in which brewing was a service provided by a certified brew master for the town’s citizens. Apparently, it was a successful service – apart from serving laws, there was also built a larger brew house in 1533. This however, was not yet the direct ancestor of today’s Alsfelder Brewery. The latter rather find its roots in the brewery founded by Leopold Wallach in 1858.
The current brew house was established in 1904, when the old plant was not able to cope with the steadily growing demands any more. Later, as a consequence of the severe destructions during the Second World War raids, the brewery had to be rebuilt, and in 1967 a new brew and kettle house was erected. Since 1993, the brewery is a public company.
The product portfolio is an interesting one; it includes a number of standard beers (Pilsner, Export, Black Beer and Hefe Wheat), some specialties with imaginative names (Knecht Ruprecht [Bogeyman], Rodler [sledders, playing words with “Radler”, meaning Shandy], Leo’s Urtrunk) and organic beers (Country Pilsner, Country Dinkel [Spelt], Country Emmer) – for a small, local brewery a quite impressive and partly even innovative selection. As a consequence, the regional restaurants and bars are dominated by Alsfelder beers, as I could check on the spot on 14th May 2012.
Brauerei Alsfeld AG
Grünberger Straße 68
36 304 Alsfeld
Hessia
Germany
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