Augustiner Bräu is a brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 located in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany. Established in 1328, it is Munich's oldest still independent brewery and produces some of Munich's most popular brands of beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

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Distribution and marketing

Augustiner beer is normally found within the Greater Munich area, but in the last few years it became quite popular outside of Munich, for example in Berlin where dozens of bars offer it. As an example, when most German breweries changed their bottle to a slim and more modern design to give their beer a more classy and less old fashioned appearance some ten years ago, Augustiner stuck with the "classic" older form, often nicknamed the "Bauarbeiterhalbe" (construction worker's half liter). The labels have not changed in over 20 years either. Its brands nevertheless are among the most popular of Munich's beers, and the company regularly reaches an annual output of more than 95 million litres (2005).

Augustiner Bräu operates a beer tent on the Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...

, as well as owning one of Munich's largest beer garden

Beer garden

Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...

s, the Augustiner-Keller at Arnulfstraße 52, and several traditional bars throughout the city. In recent years, Augustiner beer has become a popular drink in several bars in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

; however, the amounts of Augustiner consumed in Berlin are still minuscule compared to its popularity in Munich.

In the record-breaking heat of summer 2003, the brewery refused to sacrifice brewing quality and traditional process to increase production, even though it could have sold more beer.

It is imported into USA by Global Village Imports, LLC. of King of Prussia, PA. Because distribution is very limited, only Edelstoff and Maximator are available. They aren't running any Print-, TV- or Radio campaigns.

Augustiner beers can be found in Cardiff's (Wales) popular 'Chapter Arts Center' bar, as well as Edinburgh's (Scotland) 'Brauhaus' bar, located on Lauriston Place.

Brands

• Augustiner's most popular brand is Augustiner Helles (5.2%), a light lager
  Lager
  Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
  
   beer that is given a prolonged secondary fermentation
  Fermentation (food)
  Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
  
   phase. This is the brand that is generally referred to when talking about Augustiner.
• Edelstoff is a slightly brighter, slightly sweeter, more sparkly, and stronger (5.6%) lager variant.
• Augustiner Dunkles, a malty dark beer
• Augustiner Pils, brewed according to the original Pilsner recipe.
• Augustiner Weißbier
  Weissbier
  Weissbier , also known as Weizenbier , is a Bavarian specialty beer in which a significant proportion of malted barley is replaced with malted wheat: a wheat beer. By German law, Weissbiers brewed in Germany must be top-fermented...
  
  
• Oktoberfestbier, a style of beer (known as Märzen in German) specially brewed for the Oktoberfest. Augustiners Oktoberfest beer and Edelstoff are the only beers at the festival that are still served from traditional wooden barrels.
• Maximator, a Doppelbock and, like the Oktoberfestbier, seasonal. Brewed to coincide with Lent
  Lent
  In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
  
  , this is a starkbier (strong beer, 7.5%).
• Heller Bock A well lagered (conditioned) pale, seasonal beer (7.2%), only available in May and June in Munich.

All of Augustiner's brands (despite brewing a wheat beer) claim to be brewed in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot

Reinheitsgebot

The Reinheitsgebot , sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English, was a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany. In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops...

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External links

• Official website