Higgins Ale Works was founded by Paul and Jen Higgins, Americans from New Jersey who have lived in Munich for more than 20 years. Paul's passion for craft beer and brewing started in the pioneering days of the craft beer movement in America in the early 1990s. Paul approaches brewing with an engineer's precision, combined with the adventurous nature of an alpinist (his other passion!) to create well-balanced, creative beers bursting with fruity aroma and flavor.
In 2016, we rented a former bakery in the basement of an historic Maxvorstadt building where Paul could test and perfect his craft beer recipes. Commercial production began in 2018 and "the Keller" proved to be an ideal location for the brewery, especially for its position in the middle of Munich's traditional brewing district of Maxvorstadt. Hear more about our story on the Germany Expat Business Show Podcast!
The Taproom opened in 2022, located just beside the brewery with 6 ales on tap and sometimes a guest beer from a local craft brewery. It's a great place to taste handcrafted ales, meet craft beer fans, neighbors, brewers and the dynamic team!
Recently ranked #2 by Nat Geo Travel best places to drink beer in Munich! Link in Press & Media below.
Open Tue-Thur 17-23, Fri - Sat 16-23:30, Sun 16-21:00.
Check the Ales page for current beer descriptions and special hours
We brew our award winning ales with consistent quality and innovation. Our brewery size allows us to be flexible to experiment too! Occasionally we split a batch to test different yeasts and hops. In addition to our flagship ales like Secret Idaho and Elevation, we brew seasonal ales like Fresh Hop Cream Ale using fresh hop cones from the Hallertau harvest, an Elderflower Saison, Septemberfest Märzen, and our popular Spice Trail Pumpkin Ale for Halloween plus many others throughout the year.
Adhering to the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law) doesn't mean there's no room for creativity. Paul combines different varieties of hops and malt, and cultivates yeast in exciting ways to produce flavorful and adventurous new brews.
In September 2025 National Geographic Travel ranked Higgins #2 Best Places to Drink Beer in Munich!
In 2024, Jen was featured on The Germany Expat Business Show Podcast. Host Eleanor Mayrhofer asks Jen how she and Paul started their craft beer business in Munich and how they navigate the complexity of a start up in Germany.
German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung featured the taproom in Tradition trifft auf Innovation.
Rachel from Arts in Munich, learned about Higgins Ale Works " ...when a friend pulled out a crowler at a party. I didn’t know what a crowler was..... "Read the full article here
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