Ranking

The oldest breweries in the world

The oldest brewery still making beer is Weihenstephan in Freising, Germany, dated to 1040. Of the 50 oldest breweries below, 19 are in Germany. The ranking uses the founding year of each brewery featured on BeerGuessr; brands launched later by an old brewery count from the brewery's founding.

#	Brewery	Founded	Location
1	WeihenstephanWeihenstephaner	104011th century	Freising, Germany
2	Klosterbrauerei WeltenburgWeltenburger	105011th century	Kelheim, Germany
3	Fürstenberg	128313th century	Donaueschingen, Germany
4	Augustiner	132814th century	Munich, Germany
5	Oettinger	133314th century	Oettingen in Bayern, Germany
6	Brand	134014th century	Gulpen, Netherlands
7	Spaten-FranziskanerFranziskaner	136314th century	Munich, Germany
8	Einbecker	137814th century	Einbeck, Germany
9	Löwenbräu	138314th century	Munich, Germany
10	Spaten	139714th century	Munich, Germany
11	Heller-BräuSchlenkerla	140515th century	Bamberg, Germany
12	Hacker-Pschorr	141715th century	Munich, Germany
13	Kloster AndechsAndechser	145515th century	Andechs, Germany
14	Brauerei KaltenhausenEdelweiss	147515th century	Hallein, Austria
15	StieglbrauereiStiegl	149215th century	Salzburg, Austria
16	Murauer	149515th century	Murau, Austria
17	Zillertal Bier	150015th century	Zell am Ziller, Austria
18	KrostitzerUr-Krostitzer	153416th century	Krostitz, Germany
19	Köstritzer	154316th century	Bad Köstritz, Germany
20	Svijany	156416th century	Turnov, Czechia
21	Krušovice	158116th century	Krusovice, Czechia
22	Hofbräu MünchenHofbräu	158916th century	Munich, Germany
23	Cēsu AlusCēsu	159016th century	Cesis, Latvia
24	Abbaye Saint-RémyRochefort	159516th century	Rochefort, Belgium
25	Bernard	159716th century	Humpolec, Czechia
26	Trumer	160117th century	Obertrum am See, Austria
27	Grolsch	161517th century	Enschede, Netherlands
28	Tyskie BrowaryKsiążęce	162917th century	Tychy, Poland
29	Schwechater	163217th century	Schwechat, Austria
30	Paulaner	163417th century	Munich, Germany
31	Brasserie MeteorMeteor	164017th century	Hochfelden, France
32	Würzburger Hofbräu	164317th century	Würzburg, Germany
33	Kronenbourg	166417th century	Strasbourg, France
34	Herzoglich Bayerisches BrauhausTegernseer	167517th century	Tegernsee, Germany
35	De KeersmaekerMort Subite	168617th century	Asse, Belgium
36	Timmermans	170218th century	Dilbeek, Belgium
37	St Francis AbbeySmithwick's	171018th century	Kilkenny, Ireland
38	Lvivska PyvovarniaLvivske	171518th century	Lviv, Ukraine
39	Ursus BreweriesTimișoreana	171818th century	Timisoara, Romania
40	SwinkelsBavaria	171918th century	Laarbeek, Netherlands
41	Belhaven	171918th century	Dunbar, United Kingdom
42	Dommelsch	174418th century	Valkenswaard, Netherlands
43	Warsteiner	175318th century	Warstein, Germany
44	Apatinska PivaraJelen	175618th century	Apatin, Serbia
45	Samuel Smith	175818th century	Tadcaster, United Kingdom
46	St. James's GateGuinness	175918th century	Dublin, Ireland
47	Worthington	176118th century	Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom
48	DojlidyŻubr	176818th century	Bialystok, Poland
49	Hall & WoodhouseBadger	177718th century	Blandford Forum, United Kingdom
50	Bass BreweryBass	177718th century	Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom

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Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest brewery in the world?

Weihenstephan in Freising, Germany, is generally cited as the oldest brewery still in operation, with brewing dated to 1040. Owned by the Free State of Bavaria, it stands on the site of the former Weihenstephan Abbey and is part of the Technical University of Munich

Which country has the most old breweries?

Germany leads this ranking with 19 of the 50 oldest breweries, many of them founded by monasteries or noble families.

How many breweries are older than 1500?

16 of the breweries featured on BeerGuessr were founded before 1500.

Founding years come from each brewery's page in the BeerGuessr encyclopedia, where the sources are listed. Last reviewed October 2026.