Beer

Few traditions color the world's perception of Germany more than the brewing and drinking of beer.  And with 1300 active breweries, beer is still an important part of German culture.  German beer is far more than the blond pilsners it's known the world over for, however.

Germany offers a rich and diverse beer landscape, with local specialties that challenge and delight the palette.  From salty Leipziger Gose, to smoky Rauchbier from Bamberg, to the tart urban tonic of Berliner Weiße to the powerhouse dinner in a bottle of Bavarian Bock, Germany offers a beer for every taste. 

Brewery © picture-alliance/dpa

Brewing up Energy-Efficient Beer

Most beer drinkers don't realize that that they are consuming a drink that requires huge amounts of energy to produce. Luckily, engineers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have put their heads together to improve the energy efficiency of Germany's national beverage.

Pils, Kölsch, and Altbier © picture-alliance/ dpa

Beer Specialities of the Rhineland

Does Altbier translate as “old beer?” And is Kölsch simply the dialect of the Cologne metropolitan region? Although these assumptions seem feasible, Altbier is not an aged beer and Kölsch is much more than just a regional dialect. 

A nun shows market products © picture-alliance/ dpa

Healing Herbs and Spirited Liquors

What nuns and monks have boiled, baked, mixed, brewed and distilled – that's what less pious people on the other side of the thick monastery walls also enjoy. Beer is still the money-maker among the consumable products of German monasteries.

Half-full beer glasses © picture-alliance / Sven Simon

A New Look at an Old Tradition

The tradition of brewing beer in Germany is almost 500 years old, and the regional diversity of Germany’s popular brew is phenomenal. Connoisseurs admire the color spectrum ranges, the aroma, and the bouquet.  But is Germany really a beer-drinking nation?

Beer

Beer © picture-alliance/dpa

Auch Wasser wird zum edlen Tropfen, mischt man es mit Malz und Hopfen!

(deutsches Sprichwort)

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Mix water with malt and hops to make a few nobler drops.

(traditional German saying)

Oktoberfest - A Truly German Tradition

Oktoberfest waitress © picture-alliance/ dpa

Over the course of the 15-day festival in Munich—which takes place this year from September 19 to October 4—some 1.75 million gallons of beer and hundreds of thousands of pork sausages and spit-roasted chickens are consumed by over six million visitors from around the world. How and why did this popular tradition begin?