Austria has one of the highest per capita consumptions of beer in the world. Therefore, it only makes sense for the MGB students to visit a town with a very famous, Upper-Austrian brewery that in addition is also unique as a business. But before the brewery tour started, the students were given some time to explore the city themselves and grab lunch. The brewery tour started with a small introduction to the brewery and what sets it apart from others. We learned that contrary to many other popular breweries the Freistädter one is not owned by a global enterprise but solely by the people living in Freistadt and therefore is the only brewing commune in the world. This means if you want to buy shares, you must own a house in the inner city of Freistadt and you have a minimum and maximum number of shares that you can own.
We were given a tour around the brewery to see all the steps of brewing Freistädter beer. We tasted different samples along the tour as the brewery makes different beers, from lighter, fresher ones, over unfiltered beer to very dark, almost chocolaty ones. From the raw materials, to the final product it is a lengthy and time-consuming process that cannot be rushed, in order to ensure its quality. Overall the visit was on the one hand very insightful and on the other hand a very nice opportunity to sample some delicious beer.