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!

Beer styles

The most popular beer styles available in Germany include:

• Altbier
• Berliner Weiße
• Bockbier
• Dunkles Weizen
• Export
• Hefe-Weizen
• Kölschbier
• Kristall-Weizen
• Oktoberfest/Märzen
• Pilsner

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, because this will usually get you a Pilsner.

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 – One bottle of beer.

Brands

Here is a list of popular local German brands to look out for next time you come to Germany:

• Beck's
• Berliner Kindl
• Bitburger
• Diebels
• Erdinger
• Hasseröder
• Henninger
• Holsten
• Jever
• Karlsberg
• König Pilsener
• Krombacher
• Kulmbacher
• Licher
• Oettinger
• Paulaner
• Radeberger
• Veltins
• Warsteiner