The German Beer Consumer

I always get that look when I show up at the counter of a new Getränke Shop with 12 different individual beers. Like I'm some sort of weirdo who can't make up his mind about what he likes to drink. Maybe it's because they have to scan 12 bottles instead of 1. Some specialized beer shops are more than happy to see customers leave with a variety of beers and I think these will be more and more popular as the craft beer scene expands.

That's the way I do it, not how our local Bavarian friends do it.

From what I gather they find a favorite and stick to it. After speaking with family and friends who are German natives it seems there's a two step process to finding "your" favorite beer.

Step one: find the type of beer you like, most choice will be covered by Hell, Weiss or Pils. If you're from Köln you'll swear by Kölsch and I've heard that Düsseldorf's choice would be their homebrew "Altbier". Dopplebocks are rarely the "go to" beer and mostly viewed as seasonal.

Step two: find the brand you like the most and the next two alternate brands you will opt for if the first one is not offered.

Tasting anything other than their type of beer will make them cringe, I've seen it. A different brand will be "not as good as the one brand I like". The brand they choose will greatly depend on the availability in the specific region and the price.

There's "construction worker's beer" which is very cheap and also very horse piss-like. You have the beers which are exported all over the world such as Löwenbräu, Becks, Warsteiner, etc. which you'll get for a very decent price and they have a steady quality but are all very generic. Then you get into the interesting beers which are mostly local, here in Munich you have Augustiner, Hofbräu, Andechs, Chiemseer and Tegernsee.

The younger generations seem very open to try other beers but I still hear some individuals who will refuse to drink Weissbier even if I give them 10 different brands to try. I hear things like "I know this one is good, why would I try anything else." No one here is ready for a double IPA, especially if it comes in a 0,5L bottle!

Read Part 1: A first glance at the Munich craft beer scene

A first glance at the craft beer scene... in Munich

This is likely going to be the first part of a few articles as I venture into the endless beer culture of Bavaria. I have been a fortunate Canadian living in Ottawa for the most part of my legal drinking days and a part of me was reluctant to leave the expanding craft beer scene behind and move to Munich. What we have in Canada is nowhere near the boom that is happening in the United States but it is much closer than the baby steps taken by a handful of Germans who want to stay in the beer game. After all, if they want to keep their title they must find a way to merge culture and craft in order to compete with the new wave of expanding micro breweries worldwide.

This is an interesting point in time where the German brewers want to have the Reinheitsgebot inscribed in of the UNESCO's World Heritage list and also where other brewers are trying to get away from the traditional brewing methods and break through the conservative German palate with new flavors and ingredients that are being shamed by the purists.

Why would one dare brew some American Pale Ale when we have perfectly good Helles? Who needs a Belgian Wit when we have our Weissbier? Porters and stouts are nothing compared to our Dopplebock. The simple answer is variety.

That simple answer leads to the first problem craft brewers will encounter, the customer.

A good read:

Germany Wants World Heritage Status for Its Beer

Part 2: The German Beer Consumer

A robot pouring a weissbier

Most beer lovers already know that there are a few neat techniques to pour a Weissbier but this technique is by far the laziest and coolest one!

Almost human-like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP4LG64lUeA

The Maibock

So you think you know red ales, you've got what it takes to drink strong beers and you've tasted all the brown ales you could find? Well combine all of that together and you might get very aroused by Maibocks.

I've always been a fan of German style beers and now would be a great opportunity for me to give a warm shout out to the homeboys at Beau's. I've been living in Munich, the beer heart of Germany and let me tell you I'm discovering something new every week. Just want to let you guys know that Beau's has been dead on with what they've been sellin' ya.

At first I was looking at German beers the wrong way, I thought you have your Pils which are bah, normal, you have your Weißbier, you'll find good consistent ones and pretty bad ones. Then we proceed to the typical Helles which every brewery can make, it's usually regarded as the "regular" type of beer. In the winter and the cold months you have your dopplebock, starkbier (strong beer) and the Maibock which I'm sipping on right now.

Only a handful of breweries seem to be interested in making the Maibock, it's lighter than the starkbier but still contain on average 7% alcohol and is dark orange/light brown in color. It's the bridge between the cold winter and the summer time and opening of beer gardens. If you're interested in a bit of culture I wrote a piece on Maypoles.

Wherever you are there's likely a brewery trying to reproduce this spring flavor, check it out and let us know what you think about it. The one from HB is the best I've had so far. Cheers!

Beer culture: Pouring a weissbier

Weissbier 101

The weissbier is usually good. It is also know as Hefeweizen, Weiss, Weizenbier and Wheat Ale. It is pronounced "vice-beer". It means white beer in German. It is unfiltered, hence the residue at the bottom of the bottle.

The glass

You should always pour a weissbier in a glass. There is residue at the bottom of the bottle, you don't want to drink it out of the bottle. Never wash the glass in a dishwasher, traces of detergent may affect the integrity of the glass and the quality of the head.

The bottle

You should store the bottle in an upright position so that the residue stays at the bottom of the bottle. This will prevent the yeast from moving around and you'll end up with too much head. If you can, the suggested temp. is 5º - 7ºC.

The pour

There's the slow and steady method where you angle the glass and when there's just less than a third of beer left in the bottle you give it a twirl to dissolve the residue still at the bottom and then pour the rest.

The other method is the inverted pour which takes a little more skills but definitely a crowd pleaser .

For Hoegaarden lovers, this guy seems to have found a way to pick up at a party.