Brauerei Hummel is often referred to as “the other” brewery in Merkendorf, but it’s a close race. In any other village, it would give tough competition to the incumbent.
Lindenstraße 9
96117 Memmelsdorf-Merkendorf
Tel: 09542-1247
website
Bamberg Station 10 km/buses available
Opening hours:
Closed Tuesday
Monday & Wednesday to Saturday from 9 (warm food 11:00 to 20:00)
Sunday and holidays 10:00 to 14:00 (warm food from 11:00)
Output: 9000 HL
Brauerei Hummel history
Brauerei Hummel was founded in 1556 and still in the same family. This very cozy local is bustling for good reason: great reasonable food and a big portfolio of fine beers. Though they have no rooms on the premises, they have apartments for rent nearby. To be honest, I wasn’t prepared for all the beers they’d have on tap as we did both of the village breweries in the same evening! I’ll allot more time next visit.
I had a few of their beers and would have likely had more if I hadn’t spent a couple hours around the corner at rival Brauerei Wagner. I also had a nice duck breast but the photo didn’t come out very well!
scenes from Brauerei Hummel
13-Brauereienweg & Hummel
I returned late one winter to finally do the entire 13-Braueienweg over two days so only had time for one of their tasty Kellerbiers.
tasty Hummel Kellerbier in Krug
Brauerei Hummel smoke beers
I made a specific trip to Brauerei Hummel when in Bamberg during Lent in hopes of having their smoky Dopplebock Räucherator on tap. It unfortunately was only in bottle but was excellent nonetheless. I followed up with their regular smoky offering Räucherla, which was an easy drinking Rauchbier.
Hummel Räucherator & Räucherla: two smoky treats
Hummel Märzen
I stopped by Brauerei Hummel recently while doing a new route for an upcoming tour. I had some friends in tow and they loved both it and Brauerei Wagner. Though not in the plan, we wound up eating here and quite enjoyed my Biersülze mit Bratkartoffeln and my friends split a very nice plate of Zwetchgenbames. I tried their Märzen and was impressed.
another fine meal
Nashville Skyline at Hummel
I returned in September 2021 with a great group of guys from Nashville. We had extended stops at both Brauerei Wagner and Brauerei Hummel, waiting for Göller in Drosendorf to reopen. We’d had a big meal at Wagner so this was just a beer session. Everyone loved the Kellerbier, but we also had the richly malty Spezial and a fine clean Pils.
Nashville Beerwanderers enjoying Hummel
Hummel bottles
I recently picked up their tasty Rauch Festbier and interesting if out of style Cowboy Schwarzbier.
a couple of bottles I picked up
I had another fun outing with a family reunited for their first weekend in Germany together. They quite enjoyed both the food and beer at Hummel. I had a lovely Krusten Bauchfleisch and Dunkler Bock.
Dunkler Bock & tasty pork belly
Brauerei Hummel is quickly becoming my go-to tour lunch stop, it always delivers. I was in the mood for something light so got Seelachs after a friend remarked they had salmon. I know well that Seelachs isn’t salmon, but I ordered it just the same to find a less familiar white fish come out. It was tasty but Pollock is of your fishier tasting fishes, so keep that in mind when ordering. Admittedly, it came with a lovely asparagus medley and steamed potatoes. It was great value and went really well with their seasonal Zwickel.
a tasty pairing
I got to Hummel quite a bit in 2023 as my Bamberg Countryside Beer Hike Food Experience took off. It also meant getting some new beers under my belt as well as tasty meals. Their Maibock and Festbier Dunkel were lovely. The new Helles was okay but I would stick to traditional Franconian styles if there for the first time.
tasty treats on 2023 visits
This is truly a must visit place and I am happy to be introducing more people to it who might otherwise miss it. They do it all super well and recently had a vegetarian happy with her Rosti topped with goat cheese. I had a decent Schäuferla and got a Weizenbock to bring home.
yet another great lunch
Though I’m likely to miss their Bockbieranstich in 2024, I had lucky timing on a recent tour when the latest Kreisla 36 beer had just been released and Hummel was one of the participating breweries. The Export was a delight and went well with my lunch choice of Wildschweinbraten.
another lovely lunch at Hummel
Another late season tour in December brought me back out to Hummel and I was hoping to get their Hellerbock on tap but it was already out so I tried their Weizenbock which I found to be simpler than the bottled version. The Biersteak was marvelous and my group loved all the beers and their meals.
a new for me meal was another winner
Beers: Kellerbier, Pils, Märzen, Raucherla, Cowboy Schwärzbier, Weissbier Hell, Weissbier Dunkel, Festbier Hell, Helles, Spezial
Beer calendar:
- Raucherator (smoke Doppelbock) during Lent
- Maibock in April and May
- Festbier Hell on Easter, Whit Sunday, Kirchweich and Christmas
- 1162 Heller Rauch Festbier
- Festbier Dunkel on Easter and Christmas
- Weizenbock at Christmas
- Kirchweih is the end of August
- Bockbieranstich is the first Saturday of November (Dunkler & Heller Bock!)
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