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Eating in Germany
German Beer
The Germans have a reputation as a true beer-loving
nation. In Germany you will come across an amazingly wide
range of beer varieties and brands, both local and foreign.
Beer is reportedly a German’s favourite drink, according
to the results of a representative survey:
- 79%
of German adults drink beer regularly.
- 67%
of German women and 91% of German men drink beer at least
once a month.
History
The history of this yellow drink can be traced back to ancient
times when a people called the Sumarians stumbled across the
fermentation process. That happened around 6000 years ago.
From then on, the Babylonians, the Egyptians and even the
Romans tasted the drink, although the latter considered it
a drink for barbarians. However for the ancient Germans called
the Teutons, beer was a sacrifice to the gods.
During the Middle Ages, beer flourished due to monks and monasteries.
This was when beer began to be brewed scientifically and it
was the Barbant monasteries which first began experimenting
with flavouring beer. This was how the Barbant king, Gambrinus,
came to be the patron saint of beer.
Nowadays beer is immensely popular all over the world and
is thus an important economic factor. The brewing process
has been greatly refined and is an art in itself.
German breweries produce an immense variety of beer styles
which vary in their ratio of ingredients, brewing temperature
and technique, alcoholic content, aging time, color, and,
of course, taste. This “hops-barley-water-yeast”
blend is not as simple and straightforward as it seems!
The beer styles available in Germany
include
Altbiers
Berliner Weisse
Bocks
Dopplebocks
Dortmunder Export
Dunkler Bocks
Dunkels Weizen
Eisbocks
Hefe Weizen
Heller Bock
Kölschbier
Kristall Weizen
Munich Dark
Munich Hells
Octoberfest/Märzen
Pilsner
Vienna
Weizenbocks
In Germany, Pils (Pilsner) is the most popular beer variety,
with Export taking a distant second.
When
going for a beer in Germany, it is best to be a little more
specific than just ask for a plain beer. Here is some vocabulary
that will come in handy:
Dunkles
Bier - dark beer
Helles Bier – light beer
Grosses Bier – large beer
Kleines Bier –small beer
Bier vom Fass – draft beer
Eine Flasche Bier – beer in a bottle.
Here is a list of popular local
German brands to look out for next time you come to Germany.
Krombacher
Warsteiner
Bitburger
Oettinger
Veltins
Hasseröder
König
Holsten
Radeberger
Beck's
Paulaner
Diebels
Jever
Karlsberg
Kulmbacher
Henninger
Erdinger
Licher
Berliner Kindl
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