- Products Overview
- New Product and Packages
- Anheuser-Busch Brands
- Craft Brands
- Import Brands
- Affligem
- Asahi
- Ayinger
- Barons
- Bavaria
- Beck's
- Belhaven
- Bitburger
- Black Sheep
- Blackthorn Dry Apple Cider
- Blanche de Namur
- Bosteels
- Caguama
- Carlsberg
- Chang
- Chimay
- Clausthaler
- Coopers Brewery
- Czechvar
- D'Achouffe
- De Koninck
- Delirium
- Dinkelacker
- Dubuisson
- Duchess de Bourgogne
- Duchy Originals
- Dupont
- Duvel
- Estrella Damm
- Erdinger Weißbräu
- Famosa / Cervecería Centro Americana
- Fischer d' Alsace
- Franziskaner
- Fuller's
- Gouden Carolus
- Green's Gluten - Free
- Grolsch
- Hacker-Pschorr
- Hofbräu München
- Hollandia
- Harbin
- Hue Brewery
- James Boag
- Kasteel
- Kingfisher
- Kirin
- König
- König Ludwig Weissbier
- Koningshoeven / La Trappe
- Kronenbourg 1664
- LeFebvre Brewing
- Lindemans Brewing Co.
- Malheur
- Maredsous
- Martens
- Meantime Brewery
- Melbourn Bros.
- Modelo
- Moretti
- Murphy's
- Nethergate Brewery
- Old Speckled Hen
- Orval
- Palma Louca
- Paulaner
- Pilsener El Salvador
- Pinkus Organic
- Pulque La Lucha
- Quilmes
- Rebel havlíčkobrodské pivo
- Regia Extra
- St. Bernardus
- St. Feuillien
- St. Peters
- Samuel Smith
- San Miguel
- Sapporo
- Schneider
- Singha
- Slaghmuylder Brewery / Witkap∙Pater
- Spaten
- Steinlager
- Strongbow Cider
- Suprema
- Tiger
- Toña Cerveza
- Tooheys
- Trumer Pils
- Unibroue
- Urthel
- Warsteiner
- Weinhenstephan
- Wells
- Westmalle
- Wexford Cream Ale
- Würzburger Hofbräu
- Wychwood
- Wyder's Cider
- Xingu
- Young's
- Zatec
- Wines
- Wine Coolers and Malt Beverages
- Energy Drinks
- Soft Drinks
- Bottled Water
König Ludwig Weissbier
Royal Bavarian HefeweizenIn the heart of Bavaria, 40 kilometres west of Munich, lies Kaltenberg Castle, residence of His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and containing one of the last true castle breweries.
Prince Luitpold, great grandson of the last King of Bavaria, Ludwig II, feels himself bound by the tradition which links the Wittelsbach family with the art of brewing.
It is not least his personal dedication, which has made the beers of the König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg so excellent and so renowned.
Originally the name Kaltenberg is likely to have meant “Celtic Hill” and was mentioned as a place in 1179 in the Church’s record books of the period. The building itself was first mentioned in Apian’s “Topography of Bavaria” as a fortress built by Duke Rudolph in 1292.
The building was occupied by the noble von Haldenberg family and was destroyed in 1320 due to a feud among them. It lay in ruins for a century and then was rebuilt by an aristocrat from Augsburg as a comfortable castle-dwelling in 1420.
The castle went through many hands and in the first half of the 14th century one finds the first mention of the existence of a “Tafern” – a tavern – in the castle – which means that a least from that time there has been an association with beer and some form of brewing.
In 1611 the castle was taken over by the Jesuits in settlement of a debt, and then in 1633 it was once again laid waste – by Swedes as a result of an action in the Thirty Years War. When the Swedes withdrew, the Jesuits returned and rebuilt Kaltenberg. In 1781 it came into the hands of the Order of Malta and then in 1808 was once again secularised.
It is assumed that in Kaltenberg Castle, in common with the majority of other local castles, beer has always been brewed for the occupants’ own needs as well as for workers on the castle estate. This also holds good for the time of ownership by the Church, because beer was regarded as an important element in general nutrition.
Deriving from these early roots, a complete commercial-sized brewery was erected in 1870, and the castle was renovated in neo-gothic style as one knows it today.
In 1920, the castle brewery became part of the Unionsbrauerei of Munich, which was owned by the Schulein family.
At the time of the Third Reich the Schuleins fled to America, but returned in 1948 and laid claim to their property.
In 1955, the castle, which had so long before been built by their ancestor Duke Rudolph, returned to the Wittelsbachs’ ownership, back to the Royal House of Bavaria.
In 1976 His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold took over the running of the castle and the brewery. Since then he has done much to instil new life into the castle and its surroundings. In the first place, the castle is Prince Luitpold’s home, in which he and his wife, Princess Beatrix and their children live. This makes Kaltenberg Castle probably the only royal residence in the world also housing a commercial brewery.
Brewery Pictures:
