For serious
beer drinkers,
Germany is the ultimate paradise.
Wherever you go, you can be sure
of getting a product made locally,
often brewed in a distinctive
style. The country has well over
1200 breweries, with over half the
total in Bavaria alone. By far the
densest concentration is in Upper
Franconia, where the traditional
institution of the Hausbrauerei, a
combination of a small brewery and
a pub-restaurant (often offering
accommodation as well) still
survives in force. All German
breweries voluntarily adhere to
the
Reinheitsgebot (Purity
Law) of 1516, whichlays down
stringent standards of production,
including a ban on chemical
susbtitutes. Despite a growing
trend towards takeovers and
amalgamations, particularly among
large and medium-sized brewers,
the effect on consumer choice has
been minimal. Often, production
has been allowed to continue as
before in different locations,
though in others the brewing for
several different labels has been
consolidated in a single site.
Another positive aspect has been
the revivalof long-forgotten
techniques, often put into
practice in new-generation
Hausbrauereien. Usually
subsidiaries of larger local or
regional breweries, these are
springing up all the time, and are
deservedly very popular, often
being the trendiest spot in town.
More generally, there's an
encouraging continuation of
old-fashioned top-fermented
brewing styles. Until the
nineteenth century, all beers were
made this way, but the interaction
of the yeasts with a hot
atmosphere meant that brewing had
to be suspended during the summer.
It was the Germans who discovered
that the yeast sank to the foot of
the container when stored under
icy conditions; thereafter,
brewing took on a more scientific
nature, and yeast strains were
bred so that beer could be bottom-fermented
, thus allowing its production all
year round. The top- fermentation
process, on the other hand, allows
for a far greater individuality in
the taste (often characterized by
a distinct fruitiness), and can,
of course, now be used throughout
the year, thanks to modern
temperature controls. All wheat
beers use this process.
A quick beer tour of Germany
would inevitably begin in Munich
, which occupies third place in
the world production league table.
The city's beer gardens and beer
halls are the most famous drinking
dens in the country, offering a
wide variety of premier products,
from dark lagers through tart Weizens
to powerful Bocks . Nearby Freising
boasts the oldest brewery in the
world, dating back to the eleventh
century. In Upper Franconia,
distinctive traditions are found
in Bamberg (national
champion for beer consumption per
resident), Kulmbach and Bayreuth
.
In Baden-Württemberg, the
local brews are sweeter and
softer, in order to appeal to
palates accustomed to wine; Stuttgart
and Mannheim are the main
production centres. Central
Germany is even more strongly
wedded to wine, though there are
odd pockets of resistance. Indeed,
Frankfurt , the German
cider metropolis, also has, in
Binding, one of the country's
largest breweries.
Further north, where it's too
cold to grow grapes, the beer
tradition returns with a
vengeance. Cologne holds
the world record for the number of
city breweries, all of which
producethe jealously guarded Kölsch
. Düsseldorf again has its
own distinctive brew, the dark Alt
. Dortmund even manages to
beat Munich for the title of
European capital of beer
production, and is particularly
associated with Export .
Equally good are the delicate
brews of the Sauerland and Siegerland
, made using the soft local spring
water. One of these, the heavily
promoted Pils produced by
Warsteiner, is now Germany's
best-selling beer, albeit with
less than 5 percent of the total
market.
Hannover, Bremen and Hamburg
all have long brewing pedigrees,
with many of their products widely
available abroad. The most
distinctive beers of the
northernmost Länder, however, are
those of Einbeck (the
original home of Bock ) and
Jever . In contrast to
these heady brews is the acidic Weisse
of Berlin , which is
completely transformed into a
refreshing summer thirst-quencher
by the addition of a dash of
syrup.
East German brews are far less
exciting, with the notable
exception of Köstrizer ,
an outstanding black beer made in Bad
Köstritz in the outskirts of
Gera. Leipzig has managed a
revival of its varied brewing
tradition since the fall of
Communism, but elsewhere there's
seldom anything other than the
standard fare of light beers and
local variations of Pils ,
of which the best are from Radeberg
near Dresden and those made from
the soft water of the Vogtland.
Many people's knowledge of German
wine starts and ends with
Liebfraumilch
, the medium-sweet easy-drinking
wine. Sadly, its success has
obscured the quality of other
German wines, especially those
made from the Riesling grape, and
it's worth noting that the
Liebfraumilch
drunk in Germany tastes nothing
like the bilge swilled back
abroad.
The vast majority of German
wine is white since the northern
climate doesn't ripen red grapes
regularly. If after a week or so
you're pining for a glass of red,
try a Spätburgunder (the Pinot
Noir of Burgundy).
First step in any exploration
of German wine should be to
understand what's on the label:
the predilection for Gothic script
and gloomy martial crests makes
this an uninviting prospect, but
the division of categories is
intelligent and helpful - if at
first a little complex.
Like most EU wine, German wine
is divided into two broad
categories: Tafelwein
("table wine", for which
read "cheap plonk") and Qualitätswein
("quality wine"),
equivalent to the French Appellation
Contrôlée.
