About German Beer

About German Beer

Beer in Germany is an important part of Germany's culture. There are around 1,300 breweries in Germany, more than in any other country except the United States which has 1,500. The German beer market is somewhat sheltered from the rest of the world beer market by the German brewers' adherence to the Reinheitsgebot ("purity order") dating from 1516, 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.

The Germans are behind only the Czechs and the Irish in their per capita consumption of beer!

Varieties of German Beer

Top-fermenting beers

• Altbier - a dark amber, hoppy beer brewed around Dusseldorf and Lower Rhine. 11-12 degrees Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.
• Kolsch - pale, light-bodied, beer which can only legally be brewed in the Cologne region. 11-12 degrees Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.
• Weizen/Weissbier - wheat beer 12-12.5 degrees Plato, 5-5.6% ABV.
• Weizenbock - strong, dark, wheat beer. 16-17 degrees 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 degrees 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 degrees Plato, 4-5% ABV.
• Roggenbier - a fairly dark beer made with rye, somewhat grainy flavor similar to bread, 4.5-6% ABV.

Bottom-fermenting beers

• Helles - a pale, malty lager from Bavaria of 11-12 degrees Plato, 4.5-5% ABV
• Schwarzbier - a bottom-fermented, dark lager beer with a full, roasty, chocolatey flavor. 11-12 degrees Plato, 4.5-5% ABV.
• Pilsener - a pale lager with a light body and a more prominent hop character. 11-12 degrees 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 degrees Plato, 5-5.5% ABV. Germany's most popular style in the 1950s and 1960's, it's becoming increasingly rare.
• Spezial - a pale, full, bitter-sweet and delicately hopped lager. 13-13.5 degrees 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 specialty of the Bamberg region. 12-13 degrees Plato, 5-5.5% ABV.
• Bock - an amber, heavy-bodied, bitter-sweet lager. 16-17 degrees Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
• Dunkler Bock - a strong, full-bodied lager darkened by high-colored malts. 16-17 degrees Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
• Maibock - a pale, strong lager brewed in the Spring. 16-17 degrees Plato, 6.5-7% ABV.
• Doppelbock - a very strong, very full-bodied lager darkened by high-colored malts. 18-28 degrees Plato, 8-12% ABV.
• Eisbock - a freeze distilled variation of Doppelbock. 18-28 degrees Plato, 9-15% ABV.
• Marzen - medium body, malty lagers that come in pale, amber and dark varieties. 13-14 degrees Plato, 5.2-6% ABV. The type of beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest.