The story of Haggenmacher began in the 1870s with a Swiss entrepreneur, Henryk (Henrik) Haggenmacher, and ended with his son in the 1930s. And in 2025, two Germans living in Hungary - Wolfgang Bartesch and Peter Reichert - restored the brewery to its original purpose.

Bartesch bought part of the long-abandoned Budafok brewery back in 2004. Since then, the building has become an international, contemporary art center - the art quarter Budapest - while the plan remained that one day brewing would return as well.

By 2026, the most important piece of the story has come together: four types of beer are being brewed on Nagytétényi út. In addition to the classic Helles, there will also be a cold-hopped lager, a West Coast IPA, and a fruity Sour Ale. The beers are brewed by Andreas Hornich, one of the best-known brewers in Hungary’s craft beer scene.

The new brewery operates with a 15-hectoliter automated European system, and Budafok’s cellars - important even during 19th-century beer production - still play a role in the beer’s aging today, as they provide natural cold.

The bride returns. Again.

Since last year’s reopening, the slogan “The bride has returned” has been born from the real story of the Haggenmacher family.

Henryk Haggenmacher’s daughter, Berta Luiza - “Lily” - married Jenő Dreher in 1898. With the marriage, two of the era’s great Hungarian beer dynasties became related, long before the business histories of the Haggenmacher and Dreher breweries would later intertwine.

But was it already for business reasons back then? We may never know. When the Budafok factory reopened in 2025, the “bride” symbolically came home again.

On September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM, the Haggenmacher courtyard will open to the public again at the II. Haggenmacher Beer Festival - and will remain open until Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday as well, men and women dressed in wedding outfits will be welcomed at 6:00 PM, so they can get a free beer!

This year’s weekend highlights will be the beers brewed on site. Also returning on Friday and Saturday is one of last year’s festival’s most memorable acts: the Bavarian brass band Musikkapelle Bernbeuren - so for three days, the historic Budafok factory will once again be filled with beer and music.

Dates:
September 18–20, 2026

Location:
Haggenmacher Brewery,
1222 Budapest, Nagytétényi út 48–50

More:
https://fb.me/e/9pHw3Pstd
 

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