It should be no secret that Germans love their beers. Beer is built into the German culture as much or more than anything else. Germans take their beer very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that Europe’s first known food purity law, The Reinheitsgebot, passed in 1516 by Duke William IV of Bavaria, still regulates the purity, ingredients and standards of all beer in the country that claims to be German-made.
The law, which again is still enforced today, stipulates that only 4 ingredients can be used to brew “German Bier”. Barley, malt, hops and water are the only ingredients allowed by the Reinheitsgebot. Today, yeast is allowed to be added during brewing, but other than that these are the only ingredients you’ll find in German beer. While the nearby Belgians will add any type of spice, fruit or flavoring imaginable to their brews giving them a dizzying array of unique beers, the German’s rigid purity laws limit the variety, but not nearly as much as you might think. They still have found ways to combine and brew these 4 ingredients into well over 7,000 varieties coming out of over 1,300 breweries across the country.
From crisp, light and refreshing lagers, to sweet wheat beers, to malty dark lagers, you can find just about anything to fit your tastes. Below is a by no means exhaustive overview of the most common German beer styles that you’ll encounter.
Pilsner
Light, crisp, refreshingly carbonated, Pilsners are considered an upscale, rather classy beer and is perfect to drink on warm summer days. It is usually served in a tall thin glass with a frothy light head of foam on top. This style of brew was first created in the mid 1800s by German brewmaster Josef Groll in the Czech town of Pilsen, where it gets its name. The alcohol content is modest at about 4.0-5.2%.
Helles and Dunkle Lager
A traditional German pale lager, Helles is less bitter than the Pilsner above. This is considered Pilsners working class cousin. Originating from the Bavarian capital of Munich, this beer is typically served in large round beer steins. With its more pronounced malt notes it has a sweeter, smoother, heavier taste than the more bitter, crisp and refreshing Pilsner. It comes in either light (Helles) or dark (Dunkle) depending on how long the malt was roasted. At an average alcohol content of 4.5% it is a modestly alcoholic beer on par with Pilsner.
Export Lager
Similar to Helles above but designed with a higher wort content for shipping overseas. This means stronger malt flavors and a bit higher alcohol content of well over 5%. The most famous of these brews is Beck’s Lager.
Kölsch
Famous as the city of Cologne’s (Köln) local beer, Kölsch is a balanced, light and refreshing beer with a really smooth finish and less carbonation and bitterness that you’ll experience with the Pilsner above. It is typically served in small 6-8oz narrow glasses in bars in the city of Cologne. With an alcohol content of 4.8% this is a middle of the road beer as far as alcohol content goes. If you order one in Cologne, beware though that they will continue to fill your little glass indefinitely until you put a coaster over the glass and call them off. Those little 6oz glasses add up quickly. This beer has attainted the EU PDO designation of “Protected Designation of Origin” status, which means that only when made in the city of Cologne can a beer accurately call itself a Kölsch. Pair your Kölsch with soft pretzels, bratwursts and burgers.
Altbier
Altbier is Düsseldorf’s (Alt) answer to Cologne’s (Köln) Kölsch. Similarly protected under the EU PDO designation, Alt is made in a similar style to Kölsch only from a darker roasted malt which gives it its more bitter flavor and darker coloration.
Weißbier
Germany’s most famous style of brew, is their wheat beer (Weißbier), and the most famous style of their wheat beer variety is the Hefeweißen. This cloudy, golden wheat colored beer with wheat and yeast floating in suspension, is typically poured into large slender vase-like beer glasses with a hefty head to lock in its sweat, zesty, citrus flavors. Banana and clove flavors are common. Hefeweißens pair well with flsh and poultry.
While Hefeweißen is the most common and often the most preferred style of of Weißbier, there are two other styles that you should be aware of. Kistall Weißbier is simply Hefeweißen that has had all the wheat and yeast filtered out. The result is a crystal clear wheat beer that is quite a bit lighter than Hefeweißen. And, Dunkel Weißbier is simply Hefeweißen with a roasted dark malt. Dunkels often have a chocolatey flavor profile and pair well with desserts or roasted meats. With alcohol contents between 5.0% and 5.8% and half liter pours, beware that these delicious beers will quickly sneak up on you.
Berliner Weiße
This is a refreshing, fruity, tart, sour, spicy wheat beer with acidic flavor notes that originates from the city of Berlin as the name suggests. It is fermented with a combination of yeast and lactic acid bacteria that gives it a lightly tart, crisp flavor. To cut through the tart it is often sweetened with the addition of raspberry syrup to make Red (Rot) Berliner Weiße or woodruff to make Green (Grün) Berliner Weiße. It has little to no hops, so if you dislike hoppy beers this is about as far away from that as you can get. This beer barely shows up on the alcohol radar with only a 2.4% alcohol content. It goes very well with soft, buttery cheese like bleu, camembert or havarti.
Oktoberfest/Märzen
Oktoberfest and Märzen are the same thing, the names are used interchangeably. The distinguishing feature of the taste profile for these beers are their distinct soft caramel, toasty notes and their smooth, unoffending bitterness. Mäzen is a pleasure to drink and with anywhere from 4.8% to 5.6% alcohol it packs a bit of a punch as well. Pair these beers with rich German standards like schnitzel, sausages or game meats.
Bock
Traditionally this dark beer is reserved for late winter. It is dark, heavy and malty. These full bodied beers are meals in themselves and pack a considerable amount of alcohol at 5%-7% ABV. The taste profiles are often sweet, toasty, nutty with minimal bitterness. They pair excellently with hearty holiday meals like roasted meat and potatoes as well as earthy cheeses.
Doppelbock
A Doppelbock is simply Bock’s more robust, darker, stronger, richer and heavier counterpart. It is nearly black in color and bursting at the seams with caramel, chocolate and coffee notes. The alcohol content ranges from 6-9% so watch out. This beer will overpower almost anything you’re eating so save it for strong meals like steak and potatoes.
Eisbock
A concentrated form of bock where the beer is frozen and then a portion of water is removed to make a thicker, fortified version that is stronger, m richer and more flavorful than doppelbock, average ABV can be above 10%.
Schwarzbier
This beer with surprise you initially. It is pitch black in color and thus most expect it to have the same bitter, roasted malt flavor that you’ve come to expect from similar appearing stouts and porters. However, this beer has a refreshing lightness that contrasts its think dark appearance. Similar to a Guinness, you will taste notes of chocolate and malt but without any harsh or bitter burnt after taste. Alcohol content is similarly middle of the road as they average around 5%. Make sure to pair this beer with heavy home cooked meals like pot pies and venison stew.
Radler/Colabier
This isn’t a separate beer category, but rather an odd cultural quirk of the Germans. They have no problem cutting their beer with soft drinks. A Radler is beer mixed with 7-Up or Sprite and Colabier is beer mixed with Coca-Cola or Pepsi. They’re not necessarily my thing but they are surprisingly tasty and refreshing on a hot summer day.
Photos of beer above are stock photos and not copyright
of Jay DiCicco Photography