in Bavaria is known officially as the König Ludwig GmbH & Co. KG Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg. Its chief executive officer is Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, which ruled Bavaria from 1180 until 1918. Prince Luitpold is the great-grandson of Ludwig III, the last ruling king of Bavaria, who vacated the throne after monarchies were abolished in Germany in 1918. The brewery’s headquarters are in the Kaltenberg Castle, some 40 km (approximately 25 miles) west of Munich, which dates back to the 1290s and serves as Prince Luitpold’s home. There is a small brewery on the grounds. The brewery also has another production site in Fürstenfeldbrück, where most of its beers are now made. Perhaps the most well known of the Kaltenberg beers is König Ludwig Dunkel, a traditional Bavarian Dunkel lager with a nice balance of mild roasty notes and hop aromatics and a dry finish. The Kaltenberg wheat beer, König Ludwig Weissbier, is a traditional bottle-conditioned hefeweizen, a beer style that first appeared in Bavaria in the 16th century. See hefeweizen. It is a refreshing, effervescent beer with notes of apple and bananas. In addition, Kaltenberg produces a full spectrum of Bavarian beer styles, including a pils, a helles, and a dunkelweizen.

See also bavaria.