Bavarian Weissbier Begins Its Postwar Revival

Around 1965, Bavarian Weissbier began a major revival after more than a century of declining demand. During the 1950s and early 1960s, wheat beer had accounted for less than three percent of Bavarian beer production, many breweries had stopped making it, and the style appeared threatened with disappearance. From the mid-1960s onward, a pronounced change in consumer preferences reversed this decline. Specialist producers had kept the tradition alive during its weakest period. Georg Schneider V, who joined the management of G. Schneider & Sohn in 1958, modernized the brewery in Kelheim, expanded its production capacity, and developed markets beyond Bavaria. The renewed popularity of Weissbier spread across Germany and internationally, transforming a declining regional specialty into one of Bavaria’s most prominent beer styles.