In 2009 the founders of the quirky and popular Braustelle brewpub in Cologne created an offshoot project called Freigeist. The goal was to expand and elaborate on their experiments with niche, rare, and recreated German styles. Freigeist’s unusually rapid success in Europe and overseas emboldened co-founder Sebastian Sauer to step out and form his own company, in partnership with master brewer Christian Voorman. Focusing largely on recreations of old recipes, The Monarchy began production in 2012, introducing long-lost Teutonic regional styles like Adambier (strong sour Dortmund altbier) and Preussen Weisse (old-school Prussian juniper wheat ale) to craft beer fanatics who had previously equated German brewing with mass-market pilsner. Considering the diversity of the offerings, the results have been uniformly distinctive, drinkable, and well-balanced, per German tradition.
Mind you, The Monarchy isn’t averse to occasionally going rogue and creating something new and geeky (gose with Hawai’ian lava salt, anyone?), but awakening the ghosts of Germany ’s forgotten and wildly diverse brewing legacy will remain the company’s primary passion and mission. There’s still plenty of digging to do, fortunately.