The Different Types of German Beer

An interesting statistic indicates that Germany is only behind the Czech and the Irish when it comes to the consumption of beer, and for anyone who has been drinking beer for a while now, they would know that there are several types of German beer prepared in almost 1300 breweries that are located in different part of Germany.

German beer is divided into three types namely, top-fermenting beers, bottom-fermenting beers and hybrids that use only barley-malt, hops and water as their main ingredients, according to the ‘German Beer Purity Law” (Reinheitsgebot) put forward as early as 1487. Yeast and sugar are also permitted these days.

Some of the popular top-fermenting German beers are Weizen/Weißbier, Berliner Weisse, Weizenbock, Roggenbier and Leipziger Gose, and are called so because of the formation of foam at the top of the ‘wort’ during fermentation while the foam forms at the bottom for bottom-fermenting beers. In the case of hybrid, the foam forms at both the top and bottom.

Some of the popular German bottom-fermenting beers are Märzen, Eisbock, Doppelbock, Maibock, Dunkler Bock, Bock, Rauchbier, Dunkel, Spezial, Export, Pilsener, Schwarzbier and Helles while the popular hybrids are Kölsch and Altbier.

German beer is also classified according to the color and alcohol content of the beer available as Helles, Pilsener, the dark, white and Bock beers are the types that one can order for at a pub.

The reason why German beer is so popular is because it is 100% vegan, while in comparison to American beer; German beer is not pasteurized thus preserving the beer’s real flavor.

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submit on March 27th 2010 in Food

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