Beer in Germany

A wreath^[1] of Kölsch.

Beer in Germany is a major part of German culture. There are around 1,300 breweries in Germany, more than in any other country except the United States which has 1,500.^[2] The German beer market is sheltered from the rest of the world beer market by the German brewers' adherence to the Reinheitsgebot ("purity order") dating from 1516 (and recently updated in the Vorläufiges Biergesetz of 1993), according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops and barley-malt. This law also requires that beers not using only barley-malt (such as wheat and rye) must be top-fermented.^[3]

The Germans are behind only the Czechs and the Irish in their per capita consumption of beer.^[4]

Reinheitsgebot

The Reinheitsgebot (literally "purity order"), sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English, is a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany. In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley, and hops. After its discovery, yeast became the fourth legal ingredient. For top-fermenting beers the use of sugar is also permitted.

There is a dispute as to where the Reinheitsgebot originated. Some Bavarians point out that the law originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria on 23 April 1516, although first put forward in 1487,^[5] concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer. Thuringians point to a document which states the ingredients of beer as water, hops and barley only, and was written in 1434 in Weißensee (Thuringia). It was discovered in the medieval Runneburg near Erfurt in 1999.^[6] Before its official repeal in 1987, it was the oldest food quality regulation in the world.^[7]

Varieties

There is a variety of different types of German beer, such as:

• Top-fermenting beers
  • Weizen/Weißbier — wheat beer 12-12.5° Plato, 5-5.6% ABV.
  • Weizenbock — strong, dark, wheat beer. 16-17° Plato, 6.5-8% ABV.
  • Berliner Weisse — a pale, very sour, wheat beer brewed in Berlin. Usually drunk with the addition of fruit syrup. 9° Plato, 2.5-5% ABV.
  • Leipziger Gose — an amber, very sour, wheat beer brewed around Leipzig. It disappeared between 1966 and 1985, when it was revived by Lothar Goldhahn. 10-12° Plato, 4-5% ABV.
  • Roggenbier — a fairly dark beer made with rye, somewhat grainy flavour similar to bread, 4.5-6% ABV.

• Bottom-fermenting beers
  • Helles — a pale, malty lager from Bavaria of 11-12° Plato, 4.5-5% ABV
  • Schwarzbier — a bottom-fermented, dark lager beer with a full, roasty, chocolatey flavor. 11-12° Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.
  • Pilsener — a pale lager with a light body and a more prominent hop character. 11-12° Plato, 4.5-5% ABV. By far the most popular style, with around two thirds of the market.
  • Export — a pale lager brewed around Dortmund that is fuller, maltier and less hoppy than Pilsner. 12-12.5° Plato, 5-5.5% ABV. Germany's most popular style in the 1950s and 1960s, it's becoming increasingly rare.
  • Spezial — a pale, full, bitter-sweet and delicately hopped lager. 13-13.5° Plato, 5.5-5.7% ABV.
  • Dunkel — dark lager which comes in two main varieties: the sweetish, malty Munich style and the drier, hoppy Franconian style
  • Rauchbier — usually dark in color and smoky in taste from the use of smoked malt. A speciality of the Bamberg region. 12-13° Plato, 5-5.5% ABV.
  • Bock — an amber, heavy-bodied, bitter-sweet lager. 16-17° Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
  • Dunkler Bock — a strong, full-bodied lager darkened by high-coloured malts. 16-17° Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
  • Maibock — a pale, strong lager brewed in the Spring. 16-17° Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
  • Doppelbock — a very strong, very full-bodied lager darkened by high-coloured malts. 18-28° Plato, 8-12% ABV.
  • Eisbock — a freeze distilled variation of Doppelbock. 18-28° Plato, 9-15% ABV.
  • Märzen — medium body, malty lagers that come in pale, amber and dark varieties. 13-14° Plato, 5.2-6% ABV. The type of beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest.

• Hybrids (primary top fermentation, secondary bottom fermentation)
  • Altbier — a dark amber, hoppy beer brewed around Düsseldorf and Lower Rhine. 11-12° Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.
  • Kölsch — pale, light-bodied, beer which can only legally be brewed in the Cologne region. 11-12° Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.

Many of the kinds of beer are also available with the alcohol content reduced or added.

Filtering

A mug of unfiltered Eichbaum Kellerbier

German beer tradition includes leaving some beers unfiltered.

Kellerbier

Kellerbiers are unfiltered lagers which are conditioned in a similar manner to cask ales. Strength and colour will vary,^[8] though in the Franconia region where these cask conditioned lagers are still popular, the strength will tend to be 5% abv or slightly higher, and the colour will tend to be a deep amber, but the defining characteristic is the cask conditioning. Kellerbier is German for "cellar beer".^[9]

Zwickelbier

Originally a sample amount of beer taken by a brewery boss from the barrel with a help of a special pipe called a "Zwickelhahn". Zwickelbiers are unfiltered lagers like Kellerbier, though with a slightly different conditioning process which gives the lager more carbonation. Zwickelbiers tend to be younger, lower in alcohol and less hoppy than Kellerbiers.^[10] A very similar beer is Zoiglbier.^[11]

A few breweries in the USA will use the term Keller or Zwickel to market an unpasteurised lager.

Weissbier

German wheat beers (Weissbier) are available in unfiltered form (Hefeweizen) or filtered (Kristallweizen).

Brands and breweries

While the beer market is weaker but more centralized in northern Germany, the south has lots of smaller local breweries. Almost half of all German breweries are in Bavaria^[12]. In total, there are approximately 1300 breweries in Germany producing over 5000 brands of beer. The highest density of breweries in the world is found near the city of Bamberg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria. The Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan brewery (established in 725) is reputedly the oldest existing brewery in the world (brewing since 1040).

The biggest German brands in volume terms (millions of hectolitres) are Oettinger (6.7%) followed by Krombacher, Bitburger, Warsteiner, Beck's and Veltins^[13].

Alcohol content

The alcohol content is usually between 4.7% and 5.4% for most traditional brews. Bockbier or Doppelbock (double Bockbier) however can have an alcohol content of up to 16%, making it stronger than many wines.

Oktoberfest

The Munich Oktoberfest is well known for the quantity of beer drunk as well as the friendly, social atmosphere created by the massive marqees with long tables and bench seating. More than 6,900,000 litres of beer are served every year at the festival.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: German beers

• Reinheitsgebot, German Beer Purity Order

References

Bibliography

• Prost!: The Story of German Beer, Horst D. Dornbusch, Brewers Publications (1997), ISBN 0937381551
• Good Beer Guide Germany, Steve Thomas, CAMRA Books (17 May 2006), ISBN 1852492198

External links

• GermanBeerBible.com German beer and cultural guide

v • d • e Beers of the world Africa Kenya · Morocco · South Africa Asia China · Hong Kong  · India · Indonesia · Iran · Israel · Japan · Korea (North) · Korea (South) · Laos · Pakistan · Philippines · Singapore · Syria · Taiwan · Thailand · Tibet · Vietnam Europe Austria · Azerbaijan · Belgium · Bulgaria · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Finland · Germany · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Netherlands · Norway · Portugal · Poland · Romania · Russia · Scotland · Serbia · Slovenia · Sweden · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales Americas Brazil · Canada · Caribbean · Chile · Mexico · United States · Venezuela Oceania Australia · New Zealand Beer and breweries by region · List of countries by beer consumption per capita