Schlechtsart Brauhaus is a small historical communal brewery. It’s located in Schlechtsart, a small village nestled in the largely rural Hildburghausen county of Thuringia. It’s also part of the municipality of Heldburg, which is rich in communal breweries. Across the border from Lower Franconia and part of the Fränkischer Reichskreis, it’s included here as it’s historically and linguistically tied. It also adjacent to the Schlechtsarter Schweiz, a pretty tract of land if not exactly a Swiss counterpart.
Schlechtsart is not on a frequent bus line so we walked in from Trappstadt. It was a lovely trail with views of Heldburg Castle in the distance and the Schlechtsart Skyline as we approached the village.
lovely scenery en route to Schlechtsart
We walked to Westhaven on the way out to get a closer look at the Schlechtsarter Schweiz and for better timing for the bus from there.
a different route out provided great views too
Schlechtsart Brauhaus
Bad Rodach Station 15 km
Opening hours:
Not open to the general public outside of annual events
Output: two batches per year
History
Schlechtsart Brauhaus was established in 1724 but they completely renovated it in 2024. They generally only have one festival per year, a Backhausfest. The bakery is just up the street from the brewery. Since the baked goods are the central attraction of the event, it takes place adjacent to it. I unfortunately was unable to tour the interior of the historical brewery.
scenes from Schlechtsart Backhausfest
The beer
An even more unfortunate discovery was they were not serving their Schlechtsart Brauhaus Hausbräu. I’d had it a week earlier at the Südthüringen Bierverkostung, and it wasn’t in the best shape. Evidently, the brewers didn’t feel it was worthy of being served. As you can imagine, we were quite disappointed after the hot walk in. They did have Schwarzbacher Helles on tap. It was cold and refreshing. Since I’d never tried it before, it was a new beer for me. I grabbed a Bratwurst right away as the line for baked goods was already quite long.
baked goods were the highlight of the festival
Backhausfest 2026
Local delicacies like Dätscher, a pie with a potato based crust that was topped with smoky ham, were particularly popular. I was in line for quite some time but it kept running out. Locals bought them up in bulk to bring home in their own plastic containers. I guess they can only get them once a year. I did manage to get a slice of Petersilienkuchen, a pizza like cake topped with parsley and a savory fresh cream. They also had Zwiebelkuchen but with the local beer not offered, we decided to leave early. I grabbed a couple slices of rhubarb cake to bring back to my wife.
a cute spot with not even spots & the real Hausbräu
It was a brief and somewhat disappointing visit to the Schlechtsart Backhausfest due mostly to their not serving their own beer. I think as big a factor for me was a lack of shady spots on a hot sunny day. The long lines for the Dätscher meant spending a lot of your time waiting. In my case, in vain. All that said, I’ll probably return next year and hope their beer is available, the weather is cooler and I have better luck in the lines.
Beers on tap: Schlossbrauerei Schwarzbacher Helles. Beer unfortunately NOT on tap: Schlechtsart Brauhaus Hausbier. I thankfully sampled the latter at the Südthüringer Bierverkostung in Heldburg a week earlier.
Similar communal brewery experiences in Thuringia can be found in Hildburghausen county.
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