Werner Brombach, the longtime owner and managing director of Erdinger Weißbräu who transformed the Bavarian wheat beer maker into a global exporter, has died at the age of 86 after a short, serious illness.
Brombach joined the traditional brewery northeast of Munich in 1965, when it was run by his father and producing around 40,000 hectolitres a year. Under his leadership, annual output grew to roughly 1.5 million hectolitres, with the beer brewed exclusively at the Erding site and exported to more than 100 countries worldwide.
Last year, Brombach transferred ownership of the company into a family foundation, securing its structure beyond his tenure.