The delicious world of German Beer

Most German beers are popular, because they are vegan (no animal products are used). Bavarian purity laws require them to use four ingredients only: water, grain, hops and yeast. Real German beer is also not pasteurized as many American beers are, which allows the beers real flavour to flourish.
Listed below is some of the different types of German beers typically found in Bavaria and what you can expect if you order one of these types.

“Helles” ( A lite beer)
The standard light beer, when you order a “Helles” in a pub or restaurant you will usually get a pint. Depending on the brewer it can be quite refreshing. Some beer gardens have responded to the public’s outcry for smaller quantities and now also offer them outdoors, the “real” beer garden only serves the “Maß” (one quart). By the way, this precise nation has laws governing the quantity of liquids served to the public, that is why you will find level markers on each glass. If your Maß looks like it is not quite 1 liter after the foam settles, just go back and say “bitte nachschenken”. The man at the keg will be impressed that you know your way around.

“Pils” (Pilsener)
If you like a more bitter and less malty taste try the pils which is also called pilsener. You can order them in restaurants and special pils bars. Take a closer look at the time consuming process of serving a foam crowned pils with perfection. You will see dozens of glasses filled with foam only, waiting to settle. It can take a good quarter of an hour for the foam refills to turn into the golden liquid. This particular beer is arguably the closest to American beer you will find in Germany.

“Dunkeles” (A dark beer)
Against popular beliefs it is not the most powerful in alcohol contents. It is basically a lager bottom brewed beer containing “toasted” malt. Many enjoy mixing this with cola.

“Weissbier” (A white beer)
A very good idea on a hot day when you prefer a lighter tasting beer. Weizen means wheat, often called a Weissbier (white), and is served in tall and elegant 1/2 liter glasses. But beware of its “light” character it is the strongest in alcohol content. While some will serve it with a slice of lemon, do not put one in your Hefe (yeast) Weissbier. The Hefeweissbier comes only in bottles. A professional will wet the glass and pour the bottle at a steep angle. With the foam that remains at the bottom of the bottle he will collect the yeast (swirling action) and add it to your beer.
Bock and Doppelbock (A Bock beer)

Bock is a term used for a stronger beer (doppel meaning double). Fasting monks found an ingenious way of compensating the lack of food – they started brewing very strong beer. March and October are the two most prominent seasons for brewing these special beers but you can find them year round.

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All About Beer with Bill & Sheila

German Beer

Many say it’s one of the best tasting beers you can drink. German breweries are pretty secretive about their “how-to’s”. Always saying its in the water, maybe there’s some truth to that, but what really gives the beer it’s great flavour is the hops which are traded as seriously as grapes for wine producers.

Most German beers are popular, because they are vegan (no animal products are used). Bavarian purity laws require them to use four ingredients only: water, grain, hops and yeast. Real German beer is also not pasteurized as many American beers are, which allows the beers real flavour to flourish.

Listed below are some of the different types of German beers typically found in Bavaria and what you can expect if you order one of these types.

“Helles” ( A lite beer) The standard light beer, when you order a “Helles” in a pub or restaurant you will usually get a pint. Depending on the brewer it can be quite refreshing. Some beer gardens have responded to the public’s outcry for smaller quantities and now also offer them outdoors; the “real” beer garden only serves the “Maß” (one quart). By the way, this precise nation has laws governing the quantity of liquids served to the public, that is why you will find level markers on each glass. If your Maß looks like it is not quite 1 liter after the foam settles, just go back and say “bitte nachschenken”. The man at the keg will be impressed that you know your way around.

“Pils” (Pilsener) If you like a more bitter and less malty taste try the pils which is also called pilsener. You can order them in restaurants and special pils bars. Take a closer look at the time consuming process of serving a foam crowned pils with perfection. You will see dozens of glasses filled with foam only, waiting to settle. It can take a good quarter of an hour for the foam refills to turn into the golden liquid. This particular beer is arguably the closest to American beer you will find in Germany.

“Dunkles” (A dark beer) Against popular beliefs it is not the most powerful in alcohol contents. It is basically a lager bottom brewed beer containing “toasted” malt. Many enjoy mixing this with cola.

“Weissbier” (A white beer) A very good idea on a hot day when you prefer a lighter tasting beer. Weizen means wheat, often called a Weissbier (white), and is served in tall and elegant 1/2 liter glasses. But beware of its “light” character it is the strongest in alcohol content. While some will serve it with a slice of lemon, do not put one in your Hefe (yeast) Weissbier. The Hefeweissbier comes only in bottles. A professional will wet the glass and pour the bottle at a steep angle. With the foam that remains at the bottom of the bottle he will collect the yeast (swirling action) and add it to your beer.

“Bock and Doppelbock” (A Bock beer) Bock is a term used for a stronger beer (doppel meaning double). Fasting monks found an ingenious way of compensating the lack of food – they started brewing very strong beers. March and October are the two most prominent seasons for brewing these special beers but you can find them year round.

Dying to Drink an Awesome Beer? Go German!

The German people are renowned for a lot of things; one of them is brewing. Beer is a crucial piece of their legacy and civilization, with more than 1300 various breweries spread across the land. As far as per capita beer consumption, the German people are only behind the Czechs and the Irish. The history of Germanic beer spans back to the origin of the country when monks began to experiment with brewing around 1000 A.D. The country’s leaders eventually began to regulate the production of beer as brewing started to be more and more profitable. The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, or purity standard, came about in fifteen-sixteen and remains the most famous and influential aspect to effect German brewing.

The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot was ordered by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria to ensure that Bavarian beers were only of high quality. Hops, barley, and water are the only ingredients that should go in in beer according to the regulation. The Reinheitsgebot is the oldest legislation placed on beverages in the world and has not been changed in nearly five-hundred years. The only addition to the act is the addition of yeast to the cache of essential ingredients. Manufacturers in the past before that had simply used the yeast found naturally in the air. Because of the stringent standard of quality followed by the purity requirement, Bavarian manufacturers were soon considered the best manufacturers of beer. Other breweries started to adhere to the proclamation as the prominence of the Bavarian breweries continued to rise.

German beers have a long-standing notoriety of producing quality brews made only from the purest ingredients as a result of the Reinheitsgebot. As time passed and Germany started to export beer, many cities became famous brewing spots. By fifteen-hundred, Scandinavia, Holland, England, and as far as India mainly got their beer from one of the 600 breweries in the city of Bremen. Two more famed brewing towns were Einbeck and Braunschweig. Because of its full-bodied flavour and right amount of head foam most modern Germans still prefer fabbier, or draft beer, over bottled beer. Used still today, German beer steins became popular around the time the purity standard came about in an effort to prevent more breakouts of the black plague.

Germany made a lot of regulations to stop its citizens from getting ill during the time of the black plague. Large amounts of infected flies would fly in people’s food and spread the disease. This led to the stein, a beverage container with a closed lid that could be used with the thumb so somebody could stop disease and still be able to drink with one hand. Beer drinking went up exponentially as people started to realize the plague spread in dirty conditions with brackish pools of water. Originally made of stoneware with pewter tops, steins grew in popularity. German beer steins started to be made entirely of pewter for nearly three-hundred years as the pewter guild grew. Still manufactured today, silver and porcelain German beer steins were eventually introduced.

More than five-thousand types of beer are made today from over thirteen-hundred and fifty breweries within Germany’s borders. The oldest brewery in the world that continues operation today is the Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan, that has been producing beer since one-thousand and forty. The most concentrated area in Germany for breweries is the Franconia region of Bavaria near the city Bamberg. German breweries manufacture a wide variety of tastes and kinds of beer with the majority of them able to be placed under ales or lagers. Most beers have an alcoholic content ranging from 4.7% to 5.4% but some kinds can be as high as 12%, making them more potent than a lot of wines.

Bill & Sheila’s Wine

All About German Beer

Throughout Germany, beer is very popular with the culture. Germany contains well over 1,000 breweries, which is more than any other location in the world. All beer that is manufactured in Germany must follow the purity law, which lets manufacturers know what ingredients can and can’t be used. Basically, the only ingredients allowed to make beer in Germany are water, hops, and barley malt.

Due to the strict purity requirements, you can easily notice German beers by their overall level of quality. They have a distinct taste, with little to no aftertaste. Some styles of German ale include Koelsch, Weizen, and Altbier. Some types of German lagers include Bock, Pilsener, Dunkel, Helles, and Maerzen. Keep in mind that the taste, aroma, and colour can vary, although all can be identified as being true German beers.

The German beer Altbier is a very common dark ale, that is top fermented in the lower regions of Germany. The beer proposes a yellow colour, with a taste that is rich in hops. Another ale, Rauchbier, is known to have a smoky flavour with a smoked colour. These beers taste great, and happen to be very popular throughout the regions of Germany.

German lagers are also very popular, and happen to be popular in other areas of the world as well. Pilsener is one of the most popular and most familiar of all German beers, providing you with more hops and less malt. Pilsener can be found for sale all over the world, and happens to be very popular throughout North America as well. Several bars serve it as well, as it happens to be one of the most popular dark lagers out there.

Throughout Germany, there are several different companies, produce over 4,000 different brands of beers. Some of the more well-known and larger companies of north Germany are Beck, St. Pauli, Warsteiner, and Krombach. In the southern region of Germany, there are more breweries, although most of them are smaller, as they are locally owned and operated. Southern Germany also contains the Benedictine Abbey, which is one of the oldest breweries in the world. This brewery started producing beer in 1040 – very impressive indeed!

Germany is also home to Oktoberfest, which is held every year in Munich. Oktoberfest starts in late September and carries on for two weeks, ending in early October. During Oktoberfest, beer drinkers from all over the world will travel to Germany and celebrate German beers. Each and every year, over 5 million people attend the event, making it one of the biggest beer celebrations in the world.

During Oktoberfest, local breweries in Munich are the only breweries allowed to serve beer in the bigger tents. There are six breweries in total, producing a variety of different beers. By attending this yearly event, you can learn more about German beer, sample the different varieties, and enjoy the rich bold flavours that make German beer so very popular.

Due to the success Oktoberfest gets each and every year, other cities around the world try and mimic this event. Even though they have success, their level of success isn’t near as much as the original Oktoberfest – Germany. German beers are very popular around the world, with Oktoberfest helping to prove that very claim. If you drink beer but have never experienced what beers from Germany have to offer, you really should give them a try. Once you do, you’ll quickly realize why German beers are so very popular – and why the taste simply can’t be duplicated with any other beer.

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