| Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan | |
| Type: | State-owned enterprise |
| Location Place: | Weihenstephan |
| Location City: | Freising |
| Location State: | Bavaria |
| Location Country: | Germany |
| Coordinates: | 48.3961°N 11.7292°W |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 5 |
| Opened: | (claimed; first known-valid record:) |
| Production: | 382341hl in 2021[1] |
| Revenue: | €33,989,000 in 2014 |
| Owner: | Government of Bavaria |
| Active Beers: | [2] |
The Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Bavarian State Brewery of Weihenstephan) is a German brewery owned by the Free State of Bavaria located on the site of the former monastery Weihenstephan Abbey in Freising, Bavaria. In 2014, the total output was 403039hl. The brewery advertises itself as "The World's Oldest Brewery" although this is not historically tenable.[3]
Until the 1950s, the brewery described its date of foundation as the year 1146. At this time, a document allegedly dating to the year 1040 resurfaced. In it, Otto I, Bishop of Freising, bestowed a brewing right upon the abbey. The document is generally dismissed as a forgery from the early 1600s.[4] The first written record of the brewery dates to the year 1675. Another source, dating to 768, indicates the presence of a hop garden nearby.
In 1803, as part of a larger wave of German secularization, Weihenstephan Abbey was dissolved. The cloister passed into the ownership of the Bavarian government, where it was incorporated as the Königlich Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Royal Bavarian Brewery Weihenstephan). In 1921, the brewery adopted its current name. Today, although it is fully owned by the government of Bavaria, it is run as a modern enterprise in line with private sector practices. The grounds around the brewery were developed into a campus of the Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf.