Archive record · Brewery
Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Also known as Spaten, Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu GmbH
- Founded
- 1397
- Archive ID
- TB-H2QGBN14
- Last checked
- 2026-08-05
Who owns this brewery?
The direct owner is recorded. No company is held above it.
- Spaten-Franziskaner-BräuThis brewery
- Anheuser-Busch InBevConglomerate
From the record
Summary
Under Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, Spaten developed the techniques that made modern lager brewing possible. Sedlmayr and the Austrian brewer Anton Dreher toured British breweries in the 1830s studying malting and saccharometry, reportedly using a hollow walking stick to take wort samples. Spaten introduced Märzen and later a Munich pale lager, and is now part of AB InBev.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
If one brewery has a claim to inventing the modern world's beer, it is this one. Sedlmayr took British brewing science back to Munich, applied it to cold fermentation, and the result is most of what the planet now drinks. He also trained Josef Groll, who went to Bohemia and brewed the first pale lager. The chain from Spaten to almost every lager on earth is remarkably short.
Ownership & corporate history
- Acquired by Interbrew2003
What the sources say
Researched 2026-09-13 (Wikidata parent lead); no held claim preceded it. EUR 530m; EC merger clearance case M.3289. Wikidata's 'InBev Belgium' names a later group entity. Now Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
The Museum
Timeline
- 2003Sold to Interbrew
Interbrew acquires Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu in 2003, bringing both the Spaten and Franziskaner names — and Löwenbräu with them — into what would become AB InBev.
The Beer Library
Beers
Spaten Oktoberfestbier
SeasonalMärzen
Märzen was brewed in March and lagered through summer in ice caves, because brewing in warm months was banned. Spaten formalised the style, and Oktoberfest is what the leftovers became.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Spaten Münchner Hell
Year-RoundMunich Helles
Munich pale lager, developed after Bohemian pilsner started taking the market. The answer to Pilsen from the city that taught Pilsen how to lager.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Follow the money
How it changed hands
1 recorded move- 1397Founded
- 2003Sold to Interbrew
Interbrew acquires Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu in 2003, bringing both the Spaten and Franziskaner names — and Löwenbräu with them — into what would become AB InBev.
Today the chain tops out at Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Show your working
Sources
- controlConfirmed
Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu is controlled by Founder / family.
Anheuser-Busch InBev — SEC filing · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2026-02
PrimaryHigh reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-05Claim last checked 2026-08-05
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu
- Who owns Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu?
- Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu is based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Is Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu still independent?
- No. Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev and is no longer independent.
- When was Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu acquired?
- 2003. Interbrew acquires Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu in 2003, bringing both the Spaten and Franziskaner names — and Löwenbräu with them — into what would become AB InBev.
- When was Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu founded?
- Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu was founded in 1397 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
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