All About German Beer

All About German Beer

However many fingers you want to hold up, just remember the easy-to-pronounce Bier (beer) Bit-te (please) when ordering a beer. The tricky part is, Germans don't just produce one beverage called beer; they brew more than 5,000 varieties. Germany has about 1,300 breweries, 40% of the world's total. The hallmark of the country's dedication to beer is the purity law, das Reinheitsgebot, unchanged since Duke Wilhelm IV introduced it in Bavaria in 1516. The law decrees that only malted barley, hops, yeast, and water may be used to make beer, except for specialty Weiss- or Weizenbier (wheat beers, which are a carbonated, somewhat spicy, and sour brew, often with floating yeast particles).

Most taverns have several drafts in addition to bottled beers. The type available depends upon the region you're in, and in southern Germany the choice can also depend on the time of year. The alcohol content of German beers also varies. At the weaker end of the scale is the light Munich Helles (a lager, from 3.7% to 4.8% alcohol by volume); stronger brews are the bitter-flavored Pilsner (around 5%) and the dark Doppelbock (more than 7%).

Germany's biggest breweries are in the city of Dortmund, which feeds the industrial Ruhr region. Popular northern beers are Export Lagers or the paler, more pungent Pilsners. Köln and Düsseldorf breweries in the Rhine region produce "old-fashioned" beers similar to English ales. But Bavaria is where the majority of breweries -- and beer traditions -- are found. The Bavarians and the Saarlanders consume more beer per person than any other group in the country.

In Munich you'll find the most famous breweries, the largest beer halls and beer gardens, the biggest and most indulgent beer festival, and the widest selection of brews. Even the beer glasses are bigger: a Mass is a 1-liter (almost 2-pint) serving; a Halbe is half liter and the standard size. The Hofbräuhaus is Munich's most well-known beer hall, but its oompah band's selections are geared more to Americans and Australians than to your average Münchener. You'll find locals in one of the English Garden's four beer gardens or in the local Wirtshaus (tavern).

Not even the widest Bavarians can be held wholly responsible for the staggering consumption of beer and food at the annual Oktoberfest, which starts at the end of September and ends in early October (it is always 3 weekends long, ending on the first weekend in October). On average, around 5 million liters (1,183,000 gallons) of beer, as well as 750,000 roasted chickens and 650,000 sausages, are put away by revelers of many nationalities in the two-week period. To partake, book lodging by April, and if you're traveling with a group, also reserve bench space within one of the 14 tents. See Munich's Web site, www.muenchen-tourist.de, for beer tent contacts. The best time to arrive at the grounds is lunchtime, when it's easier to find a seat -- by 4 PM it's packed and they'll just close the doors. The beer tents are actually huge pavilions, heaving and pulsating with thousands of beer-swilling, table-pounding "serious" drinkers, animated by brass bands pounding out their music on boxing-ring-style stages. The grounds close by 11:30 PM. Take advantage of an hour or two of sobriety to tour the fairground rides, which are also an integral part of Oktoberfest. Under no circumstances attempt any of these rides -- all of which claim to be the world's most dangerous -- after a liter or two of the Oktoberfest beer. The disgrace of throwing up on the figure eight is truly Germanic in scale.

-Robert Tilley