The home brewer

The tradition of home brewing in communal breweries, which used to be particularly strong in the northern part of Bavaria, has survived to this day, albeit on a much smaller scale. Apart from Bavaria, home brewers can also be found in the new federal states. Related to this brewing tradition are the Swabian “Mosterer” (NN, 14.02.91).
Before going into more detail about home brewers, it is necessary to explain the terms “old brewer” and “new brewer” and the differences between the two types of home brewers.

The old brewer

The historical basis for the old brewing right is that individual families have been allowed to brew their own beer for their own consumption since time immemorial. In the past, there were the aforementioned communal breweries for this purpose, where those entitled to do so could brew their beer in a specific order (Berg 1984, p. 23f). Customary rights, such as the right to brew beer at home, were later granted to citizens by the sovereigns and enshrined in law. This meant that they could be passed on from generation to generation or leased out, and they are still valid today.

The old brewers, also known as Althausbrauer, include all persons who were granted the right to brew beer at home until 1930. The prerequisite for acquiring the right to brew beer at home was that the beer had to be brewed from home-grown barley. In the Aischgrund region, the old brewing rights were not only linked to home-grown barley, but also to private hop production. Another prerequisite was the existence of a rock cellar for proper storage.

The new brewer

Unlike the old brewers, new brewers do not have rights that have grown out of tradition, but their rights depend on the customs office. Since 1930, it has no longer been possible to become an old brewer. Nevertheless, anyone with a great thirst for beer has the opportunity to become a new brewer. In principle, all you need is a beer barrel that you can have filled by a brewery as often as you like.
The current situation

In 1991, the Bavarian Home Brewers’ Association counted approximately 18,000 active old and new brewers who, despite all the adversities of the modern jungle of taxes and regulations, continued to exercise their traditional brewing rights. In recent decades, however, the number of old and new brewers has declined sharply. Most of them still own their brewing rights, but have long since ceased to use them. There are various reasons for this. Almost without exception, the last communal breweries were closed in the first decades after the Second World War, so that home brewers had to switch to local small breweries, which in turn became fewer and fewer as breweries died out.

Nowadays, no special rights are required to purchase home-brewed beer. This is probably why the Bavarian Home Brewers’ Association in Staffelstein has been absorbed into the Bavarian Farmers’ Association in Lichtenfels.
Home-brewed beer is now brewed in the local brewery. It is collected as young beer in separate barrels when the beer is tapped and stored at home in the cellar or another cool place to mature. Uncontrolled secondary fermentation and a variety of home recipes ensure a wide range of flavour variations of what was originally the same beer.

The tradition of home brewing is still upheld in Höchstadt by both local breweries.