The great responsibility that goes with enjoying beer

The site of the old goods yard at Langheim Abbey is currently occupied by the Kulmbacher Mönchshof. And this is the site, with all its history, where we maintain and protect the traditions of enjoying beer.

In the Bavarian Museum of Brewing and Baking, the German Museum of Spices, and the 'MUPÄZ' Museumspädagogisches Zentrum (museum and educational centre), we do a great deal to communicate the cultural and historical significance of many of the foodstuffs and beverages we take for granted today.

Right next to the museums is the Mönchshof Brewhouse. With its abbey cellar and brewhouse room, it is an inviting place for those who enjoy the finer things in life to take time out and savour the atmosphere at the site, over a beautifully kept Mönchshof beer and some treats from the Franconia region.

About the Kulmbacher Mönchshof

We have always been passionate about beer culture and how to maintain it. This is why we continuously develop the skills of our brewers and malters. We also actively promote the training of our employees across all the very different areas of the business. For example, we have already trained 50 or so employees as beer sommeliers.

In the autumn of 2016, we had the great pleasure of welcoming the Association of Beer Sommeliers to our annual conference, with over 200 people from around the world joining us at 'Kulmbacher Mönchshof' to enjoy what was on offer.

Find out more about training to be a beer sommelier

Since the turn of the millennium, the Bavaria-wide motorbike rally known as the Motorradsternfahrt has been organised by the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. The event attracts 40,000 visitors every year from both Germany and abroad to the brewery grounds in Kulmbach.

The focus is very much on our wide range of alcohol-free special beers and other drinks. All the breweries in the Kulmbacher family are committed to the 'Bier bewusst genießen' (Enjoy beer responsibly) campaign, in which we call on people not to drink and drive. This is our way of showing some responsibility in this area and supporting the educational and road safety work of the police.

We have been supporting the German brewers' 'Bier bewusst genießen' (Enjoy beer responsibly) campaign for years now and feel a particular sense of responsibility towards young people.

The 'Kein Bier für unter 16-Jährige' (No beer for under-16s) and 'Alkohol? Kenn dein Limit' (Alcohol? Know your limit) campaigns provided an opportunity for us to become even more active – along with our collaborative partners – in terms of educational and preventive work associated with beer.

With this in mind, we have developed our own seminar entitled 'Kulmbacher Bierkultur – zwischen Verantwortung und Genuss' (Kulmbacher beer culture – combining responsibility with enjoyment). We invite school pupils aged 15 to 16 and their teachers to this 'responsibility' seminar at the Bavarian Museum of Brewing and the adjacent MUPÄZ' Museumspädagogisches Zentrum (museum and educational centre), whose employees give talks on Kulmbacher beer culture and history.

The brew master from the 'glass brewery' explains how beer is brewed. Employees from the district authority of Kulmbach sit in on workshops about youth protection legislation, while pupils are encouraged to come up with an advertising campaign for alcohol-free drinks and 'feel' the effects of excessive alcohol consumption by wearing 'beer goggles'. Doctors from the Kulmbach district explain the medical consequences of excessive alcohol consumption during the seminar. The Kulmbach Rotary Club supports the seminar with both ideas and funding.

This preventive initiative is our way of showing some responsibility, and the approach appears to enjoy the long-term support of the community.