Münster Brewery Guide: Pinkus, Finne & Dackel Picks

Why Münster drinks local

Münster brewed beer as far back as the 13th century, and the city once counted more than 100 breweries. When the local beer podcast HHopcast toured the city in 2019, only a handful of small breweries were left, which is worth keeping in mind as you plan where to spend an evening.

The turnaround is recent and small-scale: the Germania brewery shut in the mid-1980s, and the breweries pouring today are young operations working in converted or borrowed space. That means taprooms rather than grand halls, with short lists and a strong local identity. If you want a fuller day of eating around them, the best restaurants in Münster fill in the food side.

Pinkus Müller: the Kreuzstraße tradition brewery

Pinkus Müller is the old hand of Münster brewing, making beer at its Kreuzstraße site since 1816 with a range of 14 beers brewed from natural organic ingredients. Part of production has moved out to the Steinfurt district, but the heart of the operation stays in the Altstadt, where you can taste through the lineup.

Order the Original Pinkus Alt first. It is the house classic and the natural starting point for a first visit. The HHopcast team describes Pinkus as Germany's bio-beer pioneer, and the brewery makes its 14 beers from natural organic ingredients rather than just one.

Sit down rather than stand: Pinkus works as a proper Brauhaus stop, with the Alt as the natural first round and a second beer chosen from the wider range. It is the anchor of the Altstadt drinking you can build the rest of the day around.

Finne in the Kreuzviertel: bio beer and Flammkuchen

Finne is the young Kreuzviertel brewery with a brewpub attached, and its founders say they want to give Münster back its beer variety. The core range is a Helles, a Weizen, a Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale, all organic, and the IPA is the standout order if you like hop-forward beer.

Most of the beer is brewed off-site at a partner brewery in Zeil am Main while the team builds toward full in-house production. What you drink in the pub is still Finne's recipe, and the house Helles is the classic choice for a first glass.

The food runs to Flammkuchen (thin flatbread with toppings, in the Alsatian style), chili and pretzels. Order the Flammkuchen with fresh tomatoes alongside a Helles and then switch to the IPA for the second round, which is how the HHopcast pair did it. Seating includes wooden tables on the sidewalk outside, so you can eat and drink in the open air on a warm evening.

It sits at Kerßenbrockstraße 8 in the Kreuzviertel, a quiet residential quarter where the brewpub draws a neighborhood crowd in the evening. That makes it the most practical stop of the evening if you want beer plus a proper meal, and it works well alongside the vegan Münster options if you're eating with a mixed group.

Dackel on the Germania Campus: house beer brewed on site

Dackel is Münster's youngest brewery, opened in October 2017 on the Germania Campus where the old Germania brewery stood until the mid-1980s. The small brewhouse runs as a show brewery behind large glass panels, so you can see the kettles while you drink your beer.

The range is compact: an upper-fermented and a lower-fermented house beer, a Pale Ale and a Maibock. Start with whichever house beer is on and ask whether the Maibock is pouring, since the seasonal beers in a range this small come and go.

The brewery is attached to the campus gastronomy, so you can sit with a view into the brewhouse rather than in a separate bar. Head brewer Sebastian Holtmann brews on a 5-hectoliter kit and keeps the beers deliberately straightforward, which means no extreme styles but a clean, reliable glass of beer.

You'll find it at An der Germania Brauerei 5 on the Germania Campus, a short ride from the Altstadt on one of the city's many bicycles. The campus also holds a hotel, shops and apartments, so it feels less like a tour stop and more like a neighborhood with a brewhouse in it.

Läuterwerk and Gruthaus: the odd orders

Läuterwerk on the Hammer Straße has been brewing since October 2015, with a Dry Stout called Schwatt and a Helles called Paule as its two flagship beers. The Schwatt is the one to order if you like dark, roasty beer; it is the pick that stands out from the pale lagers elsewhere in town.

Gruthaus is the curiosity stop. Its Pumpernickel-Porter is brewed with real black bread, and the Bockwurst-Bock gets a smoke treatment that echoes Münsterländer sausage without any meat in the beer. The wider range includes a Grut, Münsterländer Hanf and a Heller Honigbock, so there's a flight's worth of unusual flavors.

Gruthaus offers brewing courses and tastings on a regular basis, so it is worth asking about one if you want more than a glass at the bar. Läuterwerk also runs brewing courses.

Getränkefeinkost: a craft beer store with benches

Getränkefeinkost on the Steinfurter Straße in the Neutor quarter is a craft beer shop, but you can drink on site: inside on a leather sofa or out on a bench facing the street. Clemens Kühn runs the shop, and on the HHopcast visit the move was to sit between the cyclists and the beards out front and drink what looked interesting on the shelves.

On the HHopcast visit the owner said it closes at 8 p.m., so it functions as a relaxed early-evening stop rather than a full night out. Pair it with the nearby farmers market if you're shopping for the evening, or use it as a warm-up before the Altstadt.

How a Münster beer day fits together

Münster spreads its breweries across several neighborhoods, so plan a single route rather than hopping back and forth. Start in the Altstadt at Pinkus Müller on the Kreuzstraße, walk over to the Kreuzviertel for Finne's brewpub, then ride out to the Germania Campus for Dackel, which is the far leg and a good place to end the evening.

The local way to move is on two wheels. Münster has roughly 1.67 bicycles per resident, so rent one from your hotel and use it between stops, but don't drink and bike: the police take it seriously. A taxi for the Germania Campus leg is the cheaper-risk choice if you're drinking through the evening.

Breweries aren't your only sitting option. The beer gardens in Münster cover the outdoor drinking side, and a coffee and cake stop at one of the cafés in Münster is a civil way to break up a beer day.

Beer styles to know before you order

Alt: a top-fermented, copper-brown German ale from the Rhineland, malty with a clean bitter finish. Pinkus Müller's Original Pinkus Alt is the classic example in town. Helles is the pale, softly bitter lager that most German breweries make and most locals drink by the half-liter; Finne's Bio Helles and Läuterwerk's Paule are the Münster versions.

Weizen is the cloudy wheat beer, typically served in a tall glass with a banana-and-clove yeast character; Finne brews one. Pale Ale and IPA are the hop-forward styles on the local scene, with Finne's IPA the one HHopcast singled out. Dry Stout is the dark, roasty Irish style; Läuterwerk's Schwatt is the Münster take on it.

Bock is the strong, malty lager style, brewed as a Maibock in spring and as a heavier winter beer otherwise; Dackel lists a Maibock in its range. Bockwurst-Bock takes its smoky flavor from a smoking process rather than the sausage, and Pumpernickel-Porter draws its color and flavor from black bread in the mash.

Which Münster brewery should you pick?

Pick Pinkus Müller for the traditional Alt experience in the Altstadt, Finne for a sit-down brewpub dinner with Flammkuchen, and Dackel for the compact show brewery on the Germania Campus. Add Getränkefeinkost earlier in the evening for a bottle shop with seats, and Gruthaus for the oddball pours.

If food is the main draw rather than beer, start with the best restaurants and work the breweries in around them. For a meat-free evening, the vegan Münster list covers what to order alongside a Helles or IPA.