Lohr am Main is yet another charming half-timbered house strewn town lying scenically on the Main river. Founded in the 8th century, it was an established economic center by the time of its first documented mention in 1295 and remains important in this regard to this day in Main Spessart county. Easily accessed by a half hour train trip from Würzburg, it’s a nice day excursion from there but good connections make it possible from Bamberg or even Nürnberg, as well. Though firmly in Lower Franconia, its far western location puts in within an hour of Frankfurt by train too. Buses also connect it to neighboring Main river towns with breweries like Marktheidenfeld.
some pretty sights in Lohr am Main
While it probably caters mostly to German tourists, the foreign beer tourist will likely be drawn here for the Keiler Brauhaus.
Keiler Brauhaus
Alfred-Stumpf-Straße 2
97816 Lohr a. Main – Lohr
Tel: 093527328
www.keiler-brauhaus.de
Opening hours:
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 to 22:00
Lohr station 1.5 km/Lohr bus terminal 450m
Brauerei Lohrer was founded in 1836 in an adjacent building around the corner on Ludwigstraße. It became Brauerei Stumpf in 1878 when that family acquired it. Their Bräustübl or brewery tap was at the location where the current “Brauhaus” is located. Sadly, the majority ownership transferred to nearby Würzburger Hofbräu in 2001 who rebranded it as Lohrer Bier to tie the beer to its origin town. This was in turn taken over in 2005 by Kulmbacher who is currently part of Munich’s Brau Holding conglomerate which includes Paulaner and Heineken. The Stumpf family remained owners of the brewery tap until 2012 when Würzburger Hofbräu took over and rebranded it Keiler Brauhaus. That same year, the adjacent brewery was dismantled to sell off the equipment. A much smaller system was installed in the new “brewpub.” The Keiler name and Franconian wild boar image were lifted from the Lohrer “Keiler” Weißbier labels, one of the original brewery’s more popular beers. It was decided to rebrand all of the beer as such and redesigned swing top bottles were launched as production slowly shifted to Kulmbach. Bottled Keiler beer is exclusively done there. Draft beer is mostly produced in Würzburg at renamed Keiler Bier (formerly Würzburger Hofbräu) but specialty beers were to be done at the small system in place at the spiffed up Lohr location. One beer in particular, a Festbier for the annual Spessart Fest, was legally required to be so but it was discovered to have been brewed elsewhere one year and repercussions followed. The current situation seems to be that the draft beer comes from Würzburg Hofbräu (now rebranded Keiler Bier on Google Maps) but specialty beers for the restaurant along with enough Kellerbier to serve there is brewed onsite. So, while far from perfect and an intact Brauerei Stumpf would be preferable, the people of this town seem to embrace “their” beer as evidenced by the prevalence of Keiler beers in nearly all restaurants in Lohr am Main.
the spiffed up new Keiler Brauhaus
I arrived just after the lunch hour rush but the small Biergarten out front was busy enough. The interior was cozy looking but I opted to sit outside as it was a lovely day. While I don’t generally seek out Weißbier when in Franconia, I’m not averse to trying one if they have small serves and in this case they did. It was carefully poured and in a .3l branded glass. Oddly enough, I hadn’t read about the importance of their Weißbier with regard to the Keiler/wild boar image of their branding so I’m very glad I tried it.
the iconic wild boar image & pleasant outdoor seating
I moved onto their Export, this time a convenient .4l perfectly poured again. I’d ordered what turned out to be massive Sudbraten, a very tender roast pork in an incredibly rich sauce. I figured I’d better get a full .5l of their in-house brewed Kellerbier to help me wash it down. This was the best beer of the session.
an excellent meal & more beers at Keiler
Though I’d ordered a .5l Pils to finish off, I got the more typical for the style .4l pour in a very nice style appropriate glass so was glad for the “mistake.” It was my second favorite beer. I noticed they sold growlers of their Kellerbier so a potential sign that it is in fact brewed onsite as it is heralded on their menu.
Keiler Pils & growler of Kellerbier
The service was friendly and fairly attentive. You could see they’d been very busy and had let their guard down a little but I was served quickly and as mentioned all beers were carefully poured and well presented. Though it’s a bit out of the way and it’s not so likely I’ll return again soon, I’d definitely eat here again if in the area.
Beers on tap: Keiler Brauhaus Kellerbier (brewed in-house), Keiler Pils, Keiler Export, Keiler Weißbier hell, seasonal beer (brewed in-house). Bottled: Keiler Helles, Keiler Weißbier dunkel, Mönchshof Schwarzbier.
Beer calendar:
Helles (May & June)
Festbier (October through December, while supplies last)
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