The doer

As master brewer and technical director, Josef Lechner has been one of the central figures in the Schneider Weisse family since 2021. His relationship with the art of brewing is characterised by creativity and curiosity for innovation - without losing sight of craftsmanship and tradition.

Josef is also passionate about languages and the cuisine of different countries, which continuously provides him with new inspiration for collaborations and product developments.

True grit

Storing and drying of the crop was in older times done in the huge attics of the brewery. Today the malt mill is placed here.

From here the shredded malt is transported to the mashouse. It then gets mixed with the brewing water in large mash tuns and then heated. During this process the malt sugar dissolves into the liquid.

This liquid then is separated from the insoluble components of the malt in the lauter tun. In the next step the so called refined wort is cooked in the brewing copper. 

The heart of production – the open fermentation

In this hygienically confined section of the brewery the extensive open vats offer a wellnes treatment for our yeast. A lot of air and oxygene make for perfect working conditions for a natural, intensive fermentation. The open vats facilitate the development of much more complex flavours than it would be the case with closed tanks. 

The typical white flocculations are ascending "Hefekräusen" (yeast foam caused by the fermentation process), that encapsule unwanted hop resin. Wheat beer is thus a top-fermented beer. The skimming of the "Hefekräusen" is done daily by hand.

...but verify!

Especially with such an elaborate production process, largely done by hand, as that of Schneider Weisse, continuous quality checks are simply mandatory. The measuring tools of our rigid quality inspectors are therefore impeccable.

More than 18.000 probes, 90.000 test readings and 2.100 tastings a year speak for themselves. Working as an inspector for Schneider Weisse is thus a job only for early birds that are tough and reliable.

Special storage for special beers

The old, cavernous celler of our brewery rock-cut from the slopes of the Danube valley is really precious to us. Here we store our Vintage Aventinus beer for many years at a constant temperature of 8 centigrade –  a rare, limited wheat beer speciality.

In the oldest, historic complex of the brewery you will also find our Barrique-cellar – the favourite room for experimentation of our chief master brewer Hans-Peter Drexler. For month our special types Aventinus and Aventinus Eisbock are being stored here in delicate oak barrels, with the sole purpose of being bottled as a „Cuvée Barrique“ once a year for all those aficionados of special pleasures.

A real treat

Never forget: experience is more important than theory. The Bräuhaus offers the whole range of Schneider Weissen wheat beer from "classic" to „special" and „noble“ freshly brewed for degustation – quenching your thirst and delighting your tongue.  

Cheers!