Brewing History in Bad Tölz

Yesterday we visited a Christmas Market in the town of Bad Tölz, located about 45 kilometers directly south of Munich. The town has some interesting brewing history along with a cozy pedestrian zone, wonderful food and good beer too.

The brewery Oberkerschbräu, located at the corner of Marktstrasse and Kirchgasse, dates back to the year 1795, but documents exist which trace brewing on the same site back to as early as 1476.

Bad Tölz, located on the Isar River, which also flows north through Munich, was an important transportation center. Wood from the nearby forests found its way to the city by way of rafts, called Flössen, made of large tree trunks bound together that could bear heavy loads on the trip north atop the waters of the Isar river bound for Munich.






Beer was one of the other important wares that made its way to Munich. Since brewing between April 23rd and September 29 was forbidden in the region's largest city, beer stored in cool lagering cellars in Bad Tölz was loaded onto the Flöss rafts to quench the summertime thirst of the city's many residents.










It would appear from another historic photo that the River Isar was also used to transport parts of copper brewing vessels.







Not far from the center of the old town in Bad Tölz stands the most recent addition to the town's landscape, the Beer Tempel, with one of the most amazing interiors.