TOUR
POSTPONED
The Münsters
MONDAY OCTOBER 14, 2024
Vormann Brauerei
Having passed his brewer-maltster exams in 2021, Christian Vormann, Jr. now represents his family’s fifth generation at this classic brewery set in the evergreen village of Hagen-Dahl. While the first mention of the company dates to 1718, the Vormanns have run the brewery since 1877. At its current location since 1882, Vormann Brauerei has witnessed several phases of production innovation, from early steam enginery through modern state-of-the-art computer technology: to visit Vormann today is to explore a working museum of German 19th – 21st century brewing history.
While a relatively large variety of classic German styles are produced here, Vormann also acts as the main production home for Sebastian Sauer’s Freigeist line of experimental craft brews, and the brewery has an eye to the future with its goals of achieving sustainability and Co2 neutrality.
MÜNSTER
The cultural center of the Westphalia region, Münster was also the capital of the original Province of Westphalia before it officially aligned in modern times with the northern Rhineland. The city first gained importance upon its being evangelized by Charlemagne in the 8th century; its subsequent position as an episcopal administrative center and central marketplace established its importance by the 11th century.
In 1534, an apocalyptic Anabaptist sect took power in Münster, creating a democratic proto-socialist state that banned all books except the Bible, claimed all property, and required all citizens to be naked in preparation for the Second Coming. But the town was quickly recaptured, the rebel leaders tortured to death, and their bodies exhibited in metal baskets which can still be seen hanging from the local St Lambert’s church.
Today Münster is a thriving university city, with ca 60,000 students in evidence amongst a total population of about 300,000. It’s also a center of climate activism and the unofficial bicycling capital of Germany. Meanwhile its status as a minor European beer capital is sealed with the unbroken tradition of sour “Münsterland Altbier” production at the city’s legendary Pinkus Müller brewery.
GRUTHAUS
Grut (“gruit”) was the herbal mixture used to flavor German beer before hops took over in the 1300’s. In medieval Münster, all brewers were required to use source theirs from the Gruthaus, overseen by the Grutherr (“Gruit Man”) who guarded the recipe and, as Minister of Finance, was the second most important person in the city after the mayor.
Today the actual Gruthaus is long gone, but the tradition and name are carried on by gifted hobbyist and historian Philipp Overberg, whose flagship brew, Stadtbier Münster 1480, is a re-creation of the city’s standard gruitbier as described in official documents from the 15th century. Philipp also offers his own new gruit versions made with additives like pumpernickel rye, hemp and honey.
PINKUS MÜLLER
Of the 150 breweries that once existed in Münster, Pinkus Müller is the only one remaining. In the hands of the Müller family since 1816, the company has a particularly colorful history. It started off as a brewery, bakery and chocolate factory, fifty years later converting to a brewery-malthouse-restaurant. Extremely popular in the 19th century as a gathering house for beer and live music devotees, it survived when most of Münster’s breweries closed at the beginning of the 20th, thanks in large part to fourth-generation owner Carl Muller’s fame as a singing publican and Carnival Prince.
Carl meanwhile had earned the nickname “Pinkus” for to his part in a legendary peeing (“pinkeln”) contest. The name stuck, and today Pinkus Müller is in the hands of his granddaughter and sixth- generation Master Brewer Barbara Müller, who still lives and works at the brewery’s original location.
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