The Distelhäuser Brewery (German: Distelhäuser Brauerei) is a medium-sized brewery in Distelhausen, a district of Tauberbischofsheim in the Tauber valley, in Tauber Franconia, Germany.
History
The brewery was founded in 1811 as Brewery Womann and acquired in 1876 by Ernst Bauer. The annual production is about 185,000 hectolitres (as at: May 2015). The raw materials used are traditionally mainly from the region of Tauber Franconia. Distelhäuser Beer is brewed in accordance with the German purity law (Reinheitsgebot) of 1516, and the brewery is a founding member of the Die Freien Brauer (Independent Brewers) initiative, an association of medium-sized private breweries in Germany and Austria. As early as 1956 the brewery involved its staff in various forms in the profits.
On the brewery grounds in Distelhausen is the restaurant of Distelhäuser Brauhaus, the butcher's shop Farmer's snack (Bauers Brotzeit) and the convention centre Old bottling hall (Alte Füllerei).
Since 2001 the Distelhäuser Brewery has operated in a service centre in Erlenbach in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany to improve its logistics.
The Distelhäuser brewery is a sponsor of Slow Food Germany. Between the years 2004 and 2012 in the grounds of the brewery in cooperation with Slow Food the Distelhäuser gourmet market (Distelhäuser Genießermarkt) took place.
Honours
The Distelhäuser Brewery is one of the most successful breweries in Germany measured by the number of awards for its products. The following awards have been earned by the brewery and the products (point of time: May 2015):
Brewery awards
In 2009, the Distelhäuser Brewery won the "Brewery of the Year" prize awarded by the German Agricultural Society (DLG). In 2014, the Distelhäuser Brewery won the DLG "Brewery of the Year" prize again.