The Taste of Germany - Beer!

Say 'Cheers', or rather 'Prost' in Germany and there is a good chance you will be holding a glass of beer in your hand.  Beer is the national drink of Germany and, not surprisingly, the country has a reputation for producing some of the finest brews in the world.  A selection of the best known brands are now available in North America and are the perfect choice for social gatherings, or for with enjoying after a busy day.

Germany has been regarded as the number one beer producing country ever since Roman and Greek historians declared that all the Germanic tribes were zealous beer brewers.  Subsequently, many a German monastery played its part in the development of beer, soon followed by the flow of numerous ales to the far corners of the earth during the Middle Ages.

While German beer was making a name for itself in other countries, it was also becoming a permanent and important element of the daily diet of the German people.  This led authorities in many areas to impose strict controls over the quality and price of the beer - the basis for stringent laws which still regulate brewing today.

By the mid-nineteenth century, following considerable industrial and technical development in the breweries, German beer had achieved the international reputation it enjoys to the present day.  Eight out of every ten Germans drink beer.  In North America, beer continues to reign as the most popular imported German food product.

German beer is closely linked with the customs and habits, culture and history of its people.  In a year-round calendar of festivals, famed Oktoberfest - celebrating the Fall harvest each year - beer rules as King for 16 days.

The German Purity Law ("Reinheitsgebot", issued in 1516) is the most important rule concerning brewing in the nation.  It states that "only malt, hops, yeast and water may be used for the production of beer."  To enforce this, the government offices in Germany keep a watchful eye on all stages of the brewing process.  Consequently, you can be sure that German beer contains only pure, natural products of the highest quality.  Good reason enough, with glasses raised, to toast the superb flavor of traditional German beer!

The Great German Beer

German beer is made from barley, yeast, hops and water.  As raw barley is not suitable for brewing, it is first malted.  To do this the cleaned and sorted barley grain is soaked in water and allowed to germinate (malt).  The malted grain is mixed with water to obtain a mash and a sweet 'wort' produced by heating the mash to certain temperature levels.

During this process the various components of the malt grain liquefy, the insoluble starch of the barley grain is extracted and finally converted into fermentable sugar enzymes.  The insoluble grains collect at the bottom of the tun (or vat) in which the beer is made, creating a filter through which the wort flows.

The sweet wort is then boiled in a brewing copper to which hops are added.  Water vaporization takes place to acquire the desiredconcentration, and the wort is clarified and cooled before fermentation.

During fermentation, the wort is mixed with yeast and the malt sugar converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Through this process, the wort content, originally three or four times higher than the alcohol content, is reduced, enabling the brewer to determine how far the fermentation process has progressed.

'Young beer' goes through a secondary fermentation and maturation period of several weeks before it achieves a refined flavor.

It is then filtered until crystal clear and filled into bottles or barrels ready for drinking.

Over 5,000 varieties

There are some 1,100 breweries in Germany, brewing over 5,000 varieties of beer.  German beers tend to be regional and there are virtually no 'national' brands.  Each area has its own particular brewery and the local people tend to stick to their favorite brew.

German beers are either bottom fermented or top fermented, which simply means that after fermentation, the yeast either sink to the bottom or rise to the top, ready for removal before the beer is put into storage tanks.  Most beers today are bottom fermented and include Export and Pils.  Two examples of top fermented varieties which are still popular are Weizenbier and Altbier.

Beers in Germany are divided into four classes according to the original wort (the barley and water mixture) content which dictates the alcoholic strength.

• Volbier has an original wort content of 11-14 percent (3-4.5 percent alcohol), and accounts for 98 percent of all beer brewed in Germany.  These beers are mainly bottom fermented beer such as Export, Lager, Hell, Pils, Diätbier and some low alcohol or alcohol free beers.  In the case of top fermented beers, there is Alt, Weiss and Weizen.

• Starkbier includesthe heavy, high alcohol types, such as Bok, Dopplebok and Weizenbok.  They usually have a strong malty aroma, but are rounded in taste.

• Shankbier has a low original wort content, with an alcoholic strength of not more than 2.6 percent.  Berliner Weisse and most of the alcohol free beers fall into this category.

• Einfachbier has a very low alcohol content, and accounts for only a small number of German beers.  Most of the German beers available in North America come from a small number of the larger breweries.  In the main, these tend to be bottled or canned lager type beers of medium to high alcoholic strength, each with their own individual flavor.

• Pils is one of the most popular types, with a distinctive 'hoppy' taste and a fine, creamy head.  Those from Southern Germany are light, stronger and more malty with a pleasantly bitter taste.  In the west, they are more finely bittered and have a distinctly light color, while northern Pils are strongly bitter and hoppy.

• Export beer is light, not very strongly hopped but strongly brewed.  There are two varieties - one is very light and bitter, the other is strong and malty and more yellow in color.

• Altbier or 'Old Beer', dates back centuries, and is made with dark barley or, occasionally, wheat malt.  It is strongly hopped, with a pleasantly bitter taste and fine aroma.  Ranging in color from dark reddish to bronze, it has little head.

• Weizenbier or wheat beer, is brewed in various strengths and may be filtered to produce the crystal clear Kristallweizen, or contain yeast as in Hefeweizen.  It has an unmistakable wheat aroma, a weak bitterness and fine acid which helps produce considerable head.  It may be bottled or on draught, and is served in tall glasses which spread out towards the top.

• Diätbier is a Pils type beer with a light, hoppy\bitter taste, and a higher alcohol content than is usual in Vollbier.  It is particularly suitable for diabetics.

• Bockbier is a malty, sweetish tasting Starkbier.  Both Bok and Dopplebok beers are very strong in alcohol content.

• Alcohol Free Beer, increasingly more popular, is brewed according to the Purity Law, just like any other German beer.  The alcohol content of these beers is less than 0.05 percent.