Recommend me a german beer

Wurzelbert

slayerking wrote: »

I think there's a bit of a general misconception about the German purity law. The law places restrictions on the ingredients that can be used in the brewing process, this absolutely does not guarantee in any way a better or superior tasting beer.

There is plenty of crap German beer.

of course it does not guarantee great taste, nobody ever claimed that. yet it does (when observed) guarantee the absence of chemical additives, preservatives etc. which in itself is a good thing...and it is part of an old and proud brewing tradition in bavaria and the rest of (old) germany...

BeerNut

Wurzelbert wrote: »

it does (when observed) guarantee the absence of chemical additives, preservatives etc. which in itself is a good thing...and it is part of an old and proud brewing tradition in bavaria and the rest of (old) germany...

It also killed off lots of local German beer styles and made it difficult to find a beer in Germany that isn't pale lager, dark lager or weissbier.

slayerking

Wurzelbert wrote: »

of course it does not guarantee great taste, nobody ever claimed that. yet it does (when observed) guarantee the absence of chemical additives, preservatives etc. which in itself is a good thing...and it is part of an old and proud brewing tradition in bavaria and the rest of (old) germany...

It doesn't even guarantee this. The law itself doesn't even include yeast as it pre-dates the discovery of yeast as a vital part of the brewing process. In fact, wheat beers are technically forbidden from the law (they contain wheat, only malted barley is permitted).
The ingredient water, in itself, is the main ingredient in beer and also a complex chemistry. You better believe German brewers are adding minerals and 'additives' to this to ensure they hit things like mash pH's and water profiles to hit the flavour profile they desire. Water is still technically water even when you add chemicals to it.
I also find it interesting that many German beers list hop extract as an ingredient - not even using hops, surely that's cheating!

When a beer states that it obides by the Reinheitsgebot, its really just because they want to make people believe they beer is 'pure'.

The reason German beer (or any beer) is good is because of the skill of the brewer, of which Germany has many.

Wurzelbert

BeerNut wrote: »

It also killed off lots of local German beer styles and made it difficult to find a beer in Germany that isn't pale lager, dark lager or weissbier.

you are of course right in that strict observation does limit the scope of experimentation and variety in german brewing...like you cannot use strawberries and stuff like that, but we have the belgians for that sort of thing anyway...and good beer has been made of rice and other stuff, too...interestingly, a number of those international beers (e.g. tsingtao) have their origins in german brewing as well...

Wurzelbert

slayerking wrote: »

It doesn't even guarantee this. The law itself doesn't even include yeast as it pre-dates the discovery of yeast as a vital part of the brewing process. In fact, wheat beers are technically forbidden from the law (they contain wheat, only malted barley is permitted).
The ingredient water, in itself, is the main ingredient in beer and also a complex chemistry. You better believe German brewers are adding minerals and 'additives' to this to ensure they hit things like mash pH's and water profiles to hit the flavour profile they desire. Water is still technically water even when you add chemicals to it.
I also find it interesting that many German beers list hop extract as an ingredient - not even using hops, surely that's cheating!

When a beer states that it obides by the Reinheitsgebot, its really just because they want to make people believe they beer is 'pure'.

The reason German beer (or any beer) is good is because of the skill of the brewer, of which Germany has many.

think you better stick to your dutch gold...cheaper too...

slayerking

Wurzelbert wrote: »

think you better stick to your dutch gold...cheaper too...

Not a chance mate though its probably as good as if not better than some Reinheitsgebot brewed German beer.
I'll stick to my craft beer, preferably Irish and have an odd German one every now and again for kicks.

To keep on topic, OP if you want to try a fun German beer, look up one called Schlenkerla Marzen. Its a smoked beer.

Wurzelbert

slayerking wrote: »

Not a chance mate though its probably as good as if not better than some Reinheitsgebot brewed German beer.
I'll stick to my craft beer, preferably Irish and have an odd German one every now and again for kicks.

To keep on topic, OP if you want to try a fun German beer, look up one called Schlenkerla Marzen. Its a smoked beer.

yeah sorry, was a slightly snide comment and as such unnecessary...wouldn’t accuse anyone of being a dutch gold drinker anyway...
i too really like some irish (and scottish and other) craft brews...though the word “craft” seems to be used almost like a synonym for special quality nowadays, in marketing and all, which can be a tad misleading...yet that’s a different discussion altogether...

Herb Powell

BeerNut wrote: »

It also killed off lots of local German beer styles and made it difficult to find a beer in Germany that isn't pale lager, dark lager or weissbier.

Yes, you really notice it's 90% lager. Some of it is fantastic, but at least in Ireland if you want to drink different styles it's not too hard to do.

I was lucky enough to be living near the Gose breweries. Spent a few hot summer days in the beer garden at the Bayerischer Bahnhof brewery sipping cold, fresh gose. That's a beer you should get your hands on if you want to try something different, OP!

blueshed

Reputable Rog wrote: »

Alt Biers if you can find them are very good.

anybody know where Altbiers can be bought in Ireland.

Trond

24 big bottles of Hofbrau just arrived at my door! That's the next few days taken care of now!

spongebob89

Bongalongherb wrote: »

Perlenbacher is the way to go, ye just can't beat the taste of this beautiful beer. You want good pils beer, here ye go. Quality at it's best. In Lidl stores €7.29 the last I checked for 6 500ml bottles.

Why did no1 warn me about this piss water

Wurzelbert

spongebob89 wrote: »

Why did no1 warn me that this stuff was piss water

well, sorry…it is contract-brewed for lidl by some brewery, so not really quality german beer by any normal standards...

spongebob89

Well i have tasted 5 or 6 german brews since my first post and I think we have a winner

weihenstephaner. Just beautiful, went down so well.

And yet the most expensive at 3.20 a bottle sadly it will be the last time I buy this but it was dam tasty booze. I think no matter how good any of them are, ill only at best afford the Erdinger pack from tesco at 2.50 a bottle. The other stuff is just too expensive any nearly the same price as a pint in a pub

St. Lupulin

spongebob89 wrote: »

Well i have tasted 5 or 6 german brews since my first post and I think we have a winner

weihenstephaner. Just beautiful, went down so well.

And yet the most expensive at 3.20 a bottle sadly it will be the last time I buy this but it was dam tasty booze. I think no matter how good any of them are, ill only at best afford the Erdinger pack from tesco at 2.50 a bottle. The other stuff is just too expensive any nearly the same price as a pint in a pub

Spaten at 1.79 a bottle?

Don't mind the clowns badmouthing it.

spongebob89

St. Lupulin wrote: »

Spaten at 1.79 a bottle?

Don't mind the clowns badmouthing it.

Didn't try it yet as it got bad reviews here but its on tap in the pub im going new years eve that and paulener so ill be sure to give it a try

St. Lupulin

spongebob89 wrote: »

its on tap in the pub im going new years eve

Where would that be?

spongebob89

St. Lupulin wrote: »

Where would that be?

Sorry not necessarily on tap, its just on their beer menu i looked up in advance. The place is called "the cock n bull" cant throw in a link as im using my phone

St. Lupulin

It'll be bottles so.

You're probably better off waiting for the next time your in Aldi, instead of paying 6 quid a bottle.

marco_polo

Nothing wrong with Spaten tbf, sure some of the local competition is better but its well priced and still much better than most of what we get dished up over here.

Niall_daaS

As a German I enjoyed reading this thread (ok, not every single word but most of it) and it is really interesting how people from outside Germany see German beer.

It's true Germany comes from a very long history of brewing with countless little breweries mostly in the southern parts like Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria and big famous players of which many where mentioned in your posts. Also some towns are famous for a brewing tradition like Cologne for the Koelsch or Duesseldorf (and surroundings) for the Alt or Dortmund for the Dortmunder Export. Btw selling Alt is not restricted to an area. You could find it in larger stores probably over most parts of Germany.

I also agree with the one of you saying that the Reinheitsgebot (purity law) doesn't make a beer a good beer. There are crappy beers spreaded all over the country. And nowadays most popular beers are hardly do be divided by taste. Many people here in Germany buy 'their' local beer, but in the end it's all Radeberger (=Dr Oetker) or a similiar industrial big player. A good example to show the historical development is my hometown Dortmund. Not so many people know that Dortmund was in the mid 90s the 2nd biggest place for beer in the world, famous for its special variety called Export. There were like 10 different breweries all over the city. All that remains today are the brands of which most are still alive - and they all belong to Dr Oetker and are brewed in the same brewery at Dortmunder Actien Brauerei. So if you enjoy a Dortmunder Kronen, a Stifts or a Brinkhoff's - it might taste different (surely it does), but the differences are more marketing, not caused by the art of brewing. And this phenomena is to be found all over the country and probably you could referr a story like this to most beers you guys mentioned before. That's why most popular beers are tasting the same. If you buy a Warsteiner or a Krombacher doesn't really matter. If you drink Paulaner or Hofbraeu is not really important.

Anyway Germany still is a place of big choice for the beer lover. From dark beers, smoked beers, Pils, Export, Alt, Koelsch, White, you could start today and get a different beer each day for the next couple of years. And if I have to choose from Heineken, Bud or a German Pils I definitly would choose the German one. Not for patriotic reasons, but for the taste. Somebody mentioned the body of a beer in his description - most German beers do have one. To me Heineken is like water with a beerly flavour. It's ok, but...you know?

Hope some of you found it interesting reading the pov of a German on this topic! Cheers mates!

braddun

look for 21% one

The Hill Billy

21% what? Dunkel, hell, alt, other? Why do you specifically recommend one so strong? What particular 21% beer have you tried?

spongebob89

Where did the myth come from about german beer not giving severe hangovers, erdinger gave me one of the worst ever! I had 4 bottles of franiskaner two different days and the next day the head was a bit rough. Love the taste and will continue to drink it but its possible I actually got less of a hangover on other non german stuff

Wurzelbert

spongebob89 wrote: »

Where did the myth come from about german beer not giving severe hangovers, erdinger gave me one of the worst ever! I had 4 bottles of franiskaner two different days and the next day the head was a bit rough. Love the taste and will continue to drink it but its possible I actually got less of a hangover on other non german stuff

yeah weissbier tends to give nasty headaches, that lies in the nature of the stuff, top fermented and all…some fermentation by-products are to blame afaik…

Trond

spongebob89 wrote: »

Where did the myth come from about german beer not giving severe hangovers, erdinger gave me one of the worst ever! I had 4 bottles of franiskaner two different days and the next day the head was a bit rough. Love the taste and will continue to drink it but its possible I actually got less of a hangover on other non german stuff

I think its some of the lighter pils that it applies to.

When I drink Erdinger in rounds on a proper session it can give me black outs never mind hangovers when im into double figures!!!!

Niall_daaS

Trond wrote: »

I think its some of the lighter pils that it applies to.

I don't think it really depends on the type of beer. There might be differences, but I guess it's rather about what you eat & drink beside than the beer itself.

the beer revolu

Niall_daaS wrote: »

I don't think it really depends on the type of beer. There might be differences, but I guess it's rather about what you eat & drink beside than the beer itself.

And mostly, how much you drink and its strength.

spongebob89

Ah feck the wheat beer anyway.. Love the taste but 4 bottles and ive a pounding headache the next day, Erdinger.. Fransizkaner.. Paulener.. Kill me!

Im able to have 5 maybe 6 pints of carlsberg and dodge the headaches but that wheat beer gets me everytime now without fail. May have to revert back when im planning on drinking more than 4 pints

Curry Addict

spongebob89 wrote: »

Well i have tasted 5 or 6 german brews since my first post and I think we have a winner

weihenstephaner. Just beautiful, went down so well.

And yet the most expensive at 3.20 a bottle sadly it will be the last time I buy this but it was dam tasty booze. I think no matter how good any of them are, ill only at best afford the Erdinger pack from tesco at 2.50 a bottle. The other stuff is just too expensive any nearly the same price as a pint in a pub

I used to order beer from german websites and get cases of augustiner helles shipped over. It worked out around €2 a bottle all inclusive when ordering a certain amount. I havent done it in about 5 years so i cant make a recommendation.

irish_goat

The thing about a lot of German beers is they're normally over 5% so if you have 4 or 5, it's the equivalent of having a few more regular session strength beers (4.3%).