Jura-Bräu

The history of Jura-Bräu began long before 1900 at Hauptstrasse 63 in Pegnitz, the current location of the Dolomiti ice cream parlor. The house is still owned by the family today. Known at the time as the Knopf Brewery, malt was produced here in the basement, dried in the municipal drying house and then processed into beer wort in the municipal brewhouse.
The beer was then stored in the castle cellar. It was Andreas Knopf who built a cellar building on Buchauer Berg in 1900 because the capacity at Hauptstrasse 63 was no longer sufficient. This step was the basis for the transition from the old municipal brewery to a commercial brewery, which is why the official founding year is 1900. Because of this event, we brew the dark beer Anno 1900 and traditionally bottle it in a swing-top bottle.
In 1936 Andreas Knopf died and management of the brewery passed to his son Hans Knopf. In the following years, Hans Knopf increasingly decided to relocate the entire brewery operation to Buchauer Berg. Due to the constant increase in beer output, this was the only logical step.
In 1960 the time had come. The new brewery building was ready for occupancy and could begin operations. Today, Buchauer Berg is still the location for Jura-Bräu, where it still traditionally produces its beer. With the death of Hans Knopf in 1983, Wilhelm Knopf took over the company management and fundamentally modernized it to this day. Son Matthias and daughter Julia take care of the further development of the brewery part-time.

Author: Caroline Porsiel

Caroline Porsiel is a master distiller and liqueurist based in East Ellijay, Georgia. She founded House of Applejay, a fine spirits and liqueur distillery, in 2022 with her mother, Sabine, crafting award-winning products like Applejay from Ellijay, Mt. Frozen Knob Vodka, and Winter Cherry Mountain Liqueur. The distillery won a 2024 Best of Georgia Award and a 2025 Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for its Winter Cherry Mountain Liqueur. As a founding member of the AMBRU Campaign, launched in 2020, Porsiel advocates for the global recognition of American Brandy and Rum. She continues to drive innovation in the craft spirits industry from her active distillery in the heart of Georgia’s apple country.