Museum brewery in Singen (Thuringia): handcrafted beer brewed with spring water and a steam engine since 1885
Brauerei Schmitt
Ilmtal OT SingenNew on Amplifa
About the Museum Brewery Schmitt
Brauerei Schmitt is a museum brewery in Singen in the Ilm valley (Thuringia) and is regarded as the smallest producing brewery in the country. Brewing is still done in the old artisanal way: agitators and the wort pump are driven by a 12-HP steam engine on the weekly brewing day, the wort ferments in a wooden vat, and the beer is stored in oak barrels. Each brewing day produces 2,000 liters of wort, roughly 800 hectoliters of beer per year; the larger share is delivered in barrels to taverns, a smaller share is bottled – the labels are still applied by hand to this day. The entire technical apparatus for malt processing, wort production, cooling, maturation and bottling dates predominantly from the period between 1885 and 1930 and remains largely unchanged and operational. In 1976, the complex consisting of the brewhouse, boiler house, fermentation and storage cellars, ice cellars carved into rock, and the bottle cellar was placed under heritage protection. In addition to brewing operations, the offering includes a beer garden, snacks and brewery tours.
- Site
- Ilmtal OT Singen
- Processes
- Brewery tours by prior appointment, Beer garden with snacks (weekends / by prior appointment), Special arrangements by prior telephone arrangement, Pickup/dispensing: draft beer to taverns and bottled beer
- Materials
- Spring water, Wooden vat and oak barrels
- Certificates
- Heritage protection
- Founded
- 1885
- Industries
- Brewing industry, Gastronomy, Tourism, Tourism (beer experience, guided tours)
- 01
Malt processing
- 02
Brewhouse: brew kettle and lauter tun
- 03
Wort cooling
- 04
Fermentation in wooden vat
- 05
Storage in oak barrels
- 06
Barrel filling and bottling
Brewing Process and Equipment
Spring water
The basis of beer production in the traditional brewing method.
Wooden vat and oak barrels
Fermentation of the wort in a wooden vat, storage of the beer in oak barrels.
Brewery Site Singen
Ilmtal OT Singen
DEMuseum brewery with brewhouse, boiler house, fermentation and storage cellars, ice cellars, bottle cellar, beer garden
- Materials
- Spring water, malt, hops
- Steam engine (12 PS)
- Steam boiler
- Brew kettle
- Lauter tun
- Wort pump
- Wort cooler
- Beer filter with pump and barrel filler
- Bottle washing machine
- Bottle filling apparatus
Facilities and Equipment
Inside the production
Industries
10 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam engine (12 PS) | – | 1 | – | – | Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Steam boiler | – | – | – | seit 1920 | Boiler house, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Brew kettle | – | – | – | – | Brewhouse, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Lauter tun | – | – | – | – | Brewhouse, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Wort pump | – | – | – | – | Brewhouse, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Wort cooler | – | – | – | – | Brewhouse, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Beer filter with pump and barrel filler | – | – | – | 1911 | Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Wort vessel | – | – | – | 1915 | Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Bottle washing machine | – | – | – | – | Bottling operation, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
| Bottle filling apparatus | – | – | – | – | Bottling operation, Brauerei Schmitt, Singen/Thuringia |
Additional services
Heritage Protection and Preservation
The brewery has been under heritage protection since 1976; the historic machinery is largely fully preserved and operational. Necessary additions in the bottling area served to improve the quality of the beer.
| Evidence | Ilmtal OT Singen |
|---|---|
| Heritage protection |
History of the Brewery
- 17. Jahrhund
Carriage inn with tavern, smithy and brewhouse demonstrably present on the old Nuremberg–Erfurt country road; initially owned by the territorial authorities
- 1712
Tavern with brewhouse passed into the ownership of the municipality of Singen
- 1867
Tavern with brewhouse came into the possession of beer brewer Ernst Heinrich Jacobi
- 1875
Jacobi built a brewhouse and modernized the operation
- 1885
Master brewer Richard Schmitt acquired the brewery and modernized it in the following years
- 1893
Construction of a fermentation and storage cellar as well as two ice cellars
- 1904
Purchase of a "steam economizer engine"
- 1911
New beer filter with pump and barrel filler purchased
- 1915
New wort vessels purchased
- 1920
Steam power plant with transmissions installed (still in place today)
- 1932
Death of Richard Schmitt; son Hugo took over the restaurant business, son Oskar the brewery; establishment of the bottling operation
- 1960er
Oskar and Ida Schmitt ran the brewery together with daughter Edith and son-in-law Fritz Obstfelder
- 1974
Brewery passed to Edith and Fritz Obstfelder
- 1976
Brauerei Schmitt was placed under heritage protection
- 1990
Master brewer Uwe Obstfelder took over responsibility for the brewing process and the machinery