Irseer Klosterbrau

Here is a place I had been wanting to check out for a few years and finally did in October.  On our trip to Italy we used Munich as our base to fly in and out of.  We took the train south into Italy but getting back was a different story.  Best option I found was a Ryanair flight from Pisa back to the Allgau Airport just outside of Memmingen.  Problem is it is about 1.5 hours away from the Munich Airport and the flight didn't arrive until 5:30pm (actually 6:30pm since there was a 1 hour delay thanks to the air traffic controller strike in France). 

So I thought the best plan of action would be to stay somewhere in the Allgau region near the Memmingen airport and drive to the Munich airport in the morning.  This presented the perfect opportunity to visit and stay at Irseer Klosterbrau:

http://www.irsee.com/

The place is a former monestary/brauerei that has been converted into a brewpub, inn, brewing museum, and conference center.  The place clearly has had a lot of money invested in it.  While it is a fairly modern accomodation it has a very traditional and cozy look and feel to it. 

It's too bad it was dark when we made the 45 minute drive because a good part of it was through lovely Bavarian countryside and it seems there is really nothing in Irsee except for this complex.  We were really feeling rundown from our trip and the crappy Ryanair flight with delays from Pisa.  So what we needed was good food, good beer, a shower, and a comfortable place to stay.  This place fit the bill perfectly.  Similar to many Brauerei Gasthofe establishments in Bavaria there is lots and lots of wood, plenty of tables to sit at, a warm fire, good beer on tap, and piles of comfort food to enjoy.  Best shower I've seen at a hotel as well.  Big shower head mounted in the ceiling and a monsoon for water pressure. 

Okay enough of the minor, unimportant details.  What about the beer?  I'm not going to say it was the best I've ever had but it was easily up to the standards I expect for that part of the world.  They've got a Helles, Dunkel, and a Starkbier (Starkbier means strong beer for those wondering).  I tried all of the above but especially liked the Starkbier which I had a few of and helped put me to sleep.  Dorff liked the Helles of course.

I didn't take any pictures of the inside but here are a couple from the outside before we left for the airport.