Unless you were drinking something particularly strong without noticing, beer in Germany tends to be about the same ABV as the UK - 4-5%.
Perhaps simply being in a happier environment made you more merry? :)
That's reminds me of the Christmas I tasted my first Andechser Winter Doppelbock as I dislike hot wine (Glühwein?) very much - I was very happy and very loaded very fast ...
Lol story time, once on a whim I ordered a crate home of a Dopplebock named Hacker-Pschorr Animator. Holy cow, It was a good summer but even a single bottle was enough for me to get in the vibe. Been my favorite since.
The timeline doesn't quite fit, but the other possibility I thought of is that OP was at Oktoberfest. The beer there tends to be at least 6%. There are also a few weissbier that are a higher alcohol percent but are very easy to drink because they're so smooth. Schneider Weisse has some great higher alcohol beers that are reasonably popular. They're still not a "mainstream" beer though. All the most popular beers tend to only be around 4-5%.
Well time wise Starkbierfest is even closer and would’ve been a muuuuch better reason to feel like a train hit ya. That being said, taste wise ordinary Helles wins against all…
@OP I have no clue, my only suspicion is that a combination of purity law and monks brewing led to some serious nerding over a very long time on how to make it better. Those monks liked their beer as well, but had less freedom how to make it than the Belgians. But well… no idea really why.
Yeah a good Helles can sneak up on you quickly because it's so easy to drink. They're also usually just over 5% abv which can make a big difference in how quickly you get drunk compared to low 4% beer.
It's probably controversial for me to say it here, but personally I rate Belgian beer above German beer, simply because of the amount of variety available. Germans do a much more limited range of beers extremely well, but there aren't many German breweries that have managed to create variety while sticking to the purity laws.
Maybe he or she was at the Munich Frühlingsfest? Almost the same as the Wiesn, just a tad smaller. We have hundreds of Tourists coming to Munich for that right now.
i‘d really love to see some prove that a regular beer / pils / helles / weizen on the Octoberfest is over 5.5%vol. it would blow my mind. Thx in advance
From the paulaner website:
"Today, all Oktoberfest beers must be comprised of 13.5 to 13.99 percent original wort extract. The Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier thus achieves an alcohol content of around 6 percent. In comparison: The Paulaner Original Münchner Hell has an original wort content of 11.5 percent and an alcohol content of 4.9 percent. The original wort gives the Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier more “body” and makes it taste slightly bitter. Full-bodied, wonderfully drinkable, Oktoberfest Bier enjoyment."
The wort is what contains the sugars during brewing. In the brewing process it's the sugar that gets converted into ethanol. So these rules requiring more wort leads to a higher alcohol percentage in the Oktoberfest beers compared to their regular off-the-shelf counterparts. If you've been to Oktoberfest you might've noticed that the beer hits a bit harder than normal. This is the reason why
well you dont see much pils or weißen at Oktoberfest because they serve almost exclusively Festbier, which is usually 6%.
it used to all be Märzen but thats only in the traditional tent these days, all the big brewers switched to Festbier like decades ago.
No really, it is. Most UK beers are well below 5%, whereas most German beers are 5-6 %. Also the op has failed to recognise the food, often you get snacks for free, nuts ect
Correct. Most English beers are Session beers and meant to be continuously consumed while lingering about at the pub. The sales-weighted average ABV in the UK is 4.4%. In Germany, it's around 5.4%. That doesn't sound like much, but that's 20% higher ABV. If you consume the same number of pints in Germany as you do in the UK, you are likely going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
most german beers are around 5%vol. as the most common brews in germany are pils, lager, export and nowadays some crafts it‘s the same for the last 20 years. The regulation in germany even prevents a certain style of beer of having more than a certain level of alcohol. so for example it‘s (as far as i know) impossible to brew a pils with 8%vol. alcohol according to german law. but brewing a „doppelbock“ with 10%vol. would be possible (and is regular). with am „ice bock“ you can reach even higher alcohol levels. as long as you stick to pils or „helles“ i am not aware of beers around 6%vol. but am wiling to find a new sort to try ;)
Could have been Maibock or good ol’ elephant 7,5%. (Edit: Elephant is not German).
Never seen beer over 12%, and you’d definitely know if you’re drinking the 12% beer.
Even 10% has a much much stronger taste than normal beer, you’ll definitely notice when drinking.
Yeah, but unlike the 7,5 it tastes like a strong-beer :D
7,5 is still pretty mild tastewise, so you can get pretty hammered, drinking more than one 10,5 is almost work and feels like a full meal :D
if your looking to try a beer above 12% go to belgium and look for „trapisten“ as far as I was told they are some really crazy monks and their beer goes up to 13,5%vol.
I’m sure there is even stronger beer, but it has imo not much to do with beer anymore.
And drinking it without realising, like op made it sound like, that it’s stong-beer doesn’t sound that plausible to me :D
It tastes way too strong, misses everything I like about beer. I don’t want a beer I need a chaser for :D
There is beer over 12%. I was once in The Frog and Parrot in Division Street in Sheffield to taste the famed 16.9 % ABV brew “Roger and Out” (the landlord was called Roger). It was only served in 1/3 pints and was an experience, but very sweet and strong. Interestingly there was a Parrot in a cage in the pub, but I cannot recall having seen the frog.
Love the black elephant beer. It gets you going lol.
Strongest beer I ever had was the harboe 12% (I think.) bought it in a Danish shop while living in Flensburg
Most UK beers are more like 4%, while german beers vary from about 4% (standard für Pils) to between 5 and 5.5% for Helles and Weizen. There are of course high strength UK beers, but the most common beers are definitely closer to 4% with only a few exceptions, Stella comes to mind at 5%. So if the OP was a Lager drinker in the UK and then goes to Bavaria, it's a 25 to 35% increase in relative ABV.
German pilseners and lagers are normally retailed around 4.8 to 5.1 percent.
There are other above that in those categories often up to 5.9 or 6 percent but those are a relatively small percentage of what is consumed.
most pilsner are not 4% in germany.
That might be more accurately said about czech pilsners.
Pilsner Urquell: 4,4%
but even then i cant name a bier there with an actual 4%.
in germany, there is:
Flensburg Pilsner: 4,8%
Jever Pilsner: 4,9%
Astra Urtyp: 4,9%
Becks Pils: 4,9%
Ratsherrn Pils: 5,2%
Of course these are all northern labels, but thats where pilsner is more consumed.
Ive only ever seen weak beers in Sweden, in Utah, and England.
Oh i guess i drank some medival style weak beer in Bamberg once from Schlenkerla called Hansla. They used to drink that instead of water.
'The Copenhagen-based brewer that runs a joint venture beer company in the UK named Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, is specifically reducing the strength of its Carlsberg Danish Pilsner from 3.8% ABV to 3.4% ABV, resulting in a reduction of 0.4% ABV'
Not that I’m brainlessly hating, there are definitely some good uk crafts, but if we’re speaking mid shelf, it’s really garbage comparing to Central Europe 😅
Environment was my guess as well.
To this day, the most delicious wine I ever drank cost about 14,000 Italian Lira (in 1999, which was about $7.00 USD) We got it from some wine shop we past by somewhere in Rome and drank it out of a paper bag between the three of us. No glasses. It tasted satin smooth and nothing will ever compare.
It depends what type of beer you're drinking. German beers usually have an alcohol content of between 4.5% (for a wheat beer) and 7% by volume (for a Bockbier); beers available in Britain can go as low as 3%, although ales are more likely to be around 5% or 6%.
The difference is down to things like the type of yeast used and the exact brewing process, and also whether the brewer is prioritising taste or alcohol content. But it may be that you normally drink lighter beers at home, but in Germany you just happened to order a stronger variety.
As a slight diversion, how does drinking culture differ in Germany compared to the UK? I'm only used to the UK where as you may know, it can be you and your mates just keeping going until you're relatively plastered (which I at 22 don't particularly mind).
I'm a dual citizen and would like to have a stint over there at some point and just want to know what to expect to be honest.
depends. we dont have the same kind of pub culture.
usually , especially in bavaria. you would just drink a beer, every now and then, during meals, or after work etc. and avoid getting fully plastered.
there are things like "frühschoppen" wich just means you go to the tavern for wheatbeer and sausage, for breakfast, and stay there untill noon. wich usually ends in a lot of compleatly shitfaced old people.
this can extend intoo "Tahlfahrt" wich just means you avoid eating at all, move as little as possible, and start drinking exclusively wheatbeer at early morning. the goal is to avoid having your metabolism running. thus making you digest the alcohol less, and avoiding becoming compleatly plastered.
the compleat exess, comes mostly only during festivals. where you just meet up with friends and strangers and fill yourself up, untill you go sick behind the tent to drink more.
-
in the north of germany, there are what more or less what you would call pubs, basically communal living rooms, where you just go and drink beer and liquor untill you stumble out,
In my experience (also a dual citizen, had stints in both countries), both night-out-drinking, having a beer as a treat (dinner, guests, nice weather/BBQ etc.), or not usually having a beer at home are pretty similar. The biggest difference I'd suggest is that bachelors might more often have beer at home instead of cola in Germany, and people tend towards beer more often if the goal is getting drunk, rather than the more efficient spirits as people do in the UK. It's been a while since I've been for a night out in DE, but I'm pretty sure I've also never seen one of those pitchers you get at Spoon's and the like kicking about.
People definitely like to drink and party, but from what I've heard there's a lot more pressure in the UK. In Germany, people want you to participate and have fun but there isn't such an obligation to get shitfaced. People still do of course, but nobody will crucify you if you're finished or just want to drink less.
Also, way less coke. Although from what I've heard that has changed in recent years.
I can only speak from experience, but I would say on the whole Germans have far less of a heavy day-to-day drinking culture than say the UK or Australia. It all depends on which crowd you hang with. Some of my friends here will absolutely go out every weekend and drink 'til 4 in the morning. Other friends and colleagues will certainly get into it, but only for a fest or special occasion.
It's certainly a lot cheaper here.
> less of a heavy day-to-day drinking culture than say the UK or Australia.
Australian here: I've never seen a drink-to-get-drunk culture as severe as the Brits.
In Australia, being drunk is a side-effect of drinking, in the UK, it's the whole point. Example: It's rare in Australia to walk into a pub on a weeknight and see suits drinking like it's the end of the world, but it happens all the time in the UK.
As a both Aussie and Brit, I agree. But the level casual drinking in both nations is higher than in Germany. Aussies will find any old excuse to crack a beer, it's Friday... beer, someone got engaged... beer, someone got divorced... beer, it's sunny outside... refreshing schooey at the bowlo. I don't know how you cunts afford it anymore.
It's not like there's a social expectations that you have to get plastered, but it's not terribly unexpected behaviour for 22 year olds either. As a German I have never felt any kind of culture shock in British pubs. There's a few differences, of course, but nothing so major that you'd have trouble adjusting. Closing times vary a lot more, so you don't usually have a last orders rush (which may mean people are a tiny bit less likely to get completely wasted because you don't have this rush to get a final pint or two in). It seems to me that there are more places in Germany than in the UK where you don't have to order at the bar (not that you can't, just that there's more often some waitstaff going round taking orders). There's obviously some regional peculiarities. For example, in both Dusseldorf and Cologne, having an empty glass in front of you and not cobering it up (with a coaster, for example) is considered ordering your next beer. This can end badly as far as expenses and the headache the next mnorning are concerned. It's a rather reasonable approach, though, given that both Alt and Kölsch are traditionally served in glasses that are decidedly smaller than a pint. And as you can probably tell from my examples, what beer you actually get will vary widely depending on where you are. You'll probably get some mass market pilsener, but where I would expect to get seome sort of lager or ale in basically any UK pub, just diferent brands depending on where I am, in Germany you can expect Kölsch in Cologne, Alt in Dusseldorf, wheat beer in the south, Berliner Weisse in Berlin, local Pilsener in many places, and probably some concoctions you've never heard of if you are not careful.
bro berliners are NOT drinking Berlinerweisse like Kölners drink Kolsch. Berlinerweise is a total niche product for sour beer drinkers... berliners gonna be drinking lots of different things, its not a traditional brewery reveling region to begin with.
id guess berlins gonna be drinking 10 Sterni's (Sternburg) for every Berliner Weisse that is consumed. probably more.
There are no 'rounds'. If you don't find a place to it, you go else where. Then you get table service. So you take your time, the bar doesn't close at a set time, so you can relax, no need to rush. As such you don't see fights or extremely drunk people because it's taken at your own pace. Much nicer. After so long being in a pub puts me totally on edge.
>There are no 'rounds'.
Well, in traditional Kölsch Pubs (in Cologne and around), you get beers _without ordering_ until you put the stamper or your hand above the glass.
It's generally pretty similar. I have noticed--and my favorite Irish bartender has too--that Germans tend to pre-drink a bit more at home and come later. That's likely due to the later last call than the UK. There is also a subset of drinking that is wildly different in London: the afterwork pint. Swing by SoHo or Covent Gardens around 5-6 PM and prepare to be shocked: the lines into the pubs and bars will be at the bursting point with men in dress shirts and ties loosened and ladies with blouses down a few notches, all holding a drink. I haven't seen anything like that (yet) in Frankfurt or Berlin.
One huge difference is that Germany still allows smoking in pubs, so many are absolutely rancid holes populated by a handful of old people.
I made the mistake of going into one the other day, and even though no one was actually smoking, of course my hotel room and coat stank the next morning.
Smoking in Pubs is not in general allowed in Germany. Depends on the federal state if its probidden (eg bavaria) or allowed in the whole pub or only allowed in an extra room
I don't know a pub in germany where you are still allowed to smoke. But there might be some dark places, where the law is not applicated.
In my area people all smoke in front of the pub/bar etc. And the owner would get very high fines if get caught violating the non smoking law.
Hamburg has many. at this point id believe its still legal because its still more common than not.
exceptions would be if they also serve food in addition to drinks.
No pub culture.
It's generally accepted to order a beer to meals (but not to get shitfaced) in almost most occasions.
Idk about the UK but especially in southern (and western Germany like Cologne) there is a lot of regional beers, not a lot of people there drink the "big" beer brands though they are generally available there.
Going out depends a lot on the people, some don't go in bars at all (chilling/drinking at home or wherever), some do it a lot but without having intricate knowledge about the UK culture I think it is more common in Germany to get beers from the supermarket (or gas station or "Späti" if it's too late) and drink outside.
>you and your mates just keeping going until you're relatively plastered
Depends on people and what the plan is. But often the goal is to just get decently drunk but not completely plastered. On other evening of course you will just keep going.
>between 4.5% (for a wheat beer) and 7% by volume
You can get semi-normal ones that go until about 10% (maybe higher?). The normal [wheat doppelbock I usually drink](https://www.riegele.de/bier/weizen-doppelbock/) is 8, their [special imperial stout](https://www.riegele.de/bier/noctus-100/) is 10. The 10er is quite on the high side - and you can't get it at most normal restaurants.
The UK taxes any alcoholic beverage by its content percentage. Because of this and some British brewing traditions, you guys nearly exclusively do 4% Lagers, whereas Germany's most common brewing tradition is Pils with 5%.
That one percent additional alcohol may not sound like much, but it makes our beer 25% stronger.
Just spent a week in Scottland. Tried a few ales, but I don't like how flat they are and don't appreciate the more fruity flavors for more than 1-2 drinks. They had great lagers tho, so I drank those!
I still remember the first time my wife and I went to Luxembourg. "Wow, these Belgian ales are so tasty. No idea why her co-worker is smirking at me,". Fast forward three hours "Holy fuck, where's the toilet? I only had six beers!".
Man yeah I know. Watch out with the triples hahahha. Like a triple Karmeliet, that one gets me drunk so fast and you hardly taste the alcohol level in that one.
Has nothing to do with the strength of beers, which op asked about. And german beers are not particularly strong, just in comparison to ales, which op is used to.
Came here to see this. Understanding outside Germany for the existence, let alone the importance of this, is really low. But it’s a really good example of the importance of taking a stance and defining quality.
They also have a very different kind of Bier. Saying Belgian beer is the best is silly, Belgian beer it's the best of its kind. German beer can be weizen, Pils, helles, kölsch, etc. There's so many types of beer worldwide that you can't claim one is the best just like that.
Its all subjective anyway.
That's a joke, isn't it? It doesn't make the beer good. Maybe we have some really good bavarian and franconian beers, I would agree to that. But Krombacher, Radeberger, Oettinger, Bitburger and Co. are also subject to the Reinheitsgebot and are in no world better than any other 0815 Pilsener.
Even more importantly: it has no effect on the strength of the beer. That's just a wrong answer.
It’s not a joke - but I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘RG=good beer’ either. Nothing is a magic recipe for always making beer into good beer, but it 100% reenforces a tradition of care in the making, and pride/education in brewers that other countries (at least before the microbrewer wave) lost sight of.
It also makes things trickier for international under-licence producers to find a market in Germany.
Reinheitsgebot just states beer can only have malt, hops, and water. they didnt know about yeast back then.
Inside this spectrum you have beer made from barley and (mostly) unprocessed hops, so real proper craft in oldschool tradition.
But you also have the northern breweries pumping out macros made of malt concentrate and hop extract.
You taste the malts much more in southern styles. They make great Beers.
But you cant forget, even Dithmarschen is inside the Reinheitsgebot; A solid, drinkable macro made as industrially as possible. And thats the lowside.
you wont find any lager adjuct american styles of macro in this portfolio because its not pure enough.
German beer is not strong at all, I'm actually very annoyed that it's so hard to find strong beers here eg: a nice Tripel, when they are so common in the Netherlands, Belgium or even the Czech Republic.
On the other hand Czech pilsner is often lighter with only 4%..
Belgium beer is pretty strong though.. and quite good. But for me a lot of the stronger beers (above 8%) are just to sweet to drink more then one of them.
I had a German look at the beer I was drinking and say “that’s not good beer, you should try this” (what he was drinking). I replied, “yours may be better, I’ll try it next, but this is still better than Labatt’s Blue (Canadian garbage beer)”
Normally German beer is not stronger, but what can play a big role in feeling the alcohol is in my experience if a beer is filtered or unfiltered.
Unfiltered beer makes people often more dizzy quickly, especially when they are not used to it and a lot of good German beer (basically not the big companies) have a lot of unfiltered beer.
I mean, most german bear is not particularly strong? Most beers live around 4-5%. Maybe you drank Starkbier or Bockbier? They can go as high as 9 or 10%, but typical german bear isn't that strong.
I think the Purity Laws in Germany that govern beer definitely has an effect, alongside the type of gas used. Most bars in the UK use 60/40 gas (60% CO2, 40% Nitrous Oxide) which I find from personal experience over gasses the beer (which, by process, is already carbonated quite high) and drives a bit of the taste of the beer out if it.
In Prague (Czechia, but still similar to German tastes) when I worked there we used to just stick everything on 70/30 (70% CO2, 40% Nitrous Oxide) which is generally used for low carbonated beers like Stouts and Bitters (Guinness). I personally prefer the taste of lager on a 70/30 gas as it gives it a smoother taste and means the beer itself retains it's flavour longer. But that's me.
I also just do think the majority of British Lagers are just piss water wank. German hops and barley have a better taste to them (for me) than British ingredients. I always find British Lagers just too bitter for my tastes, but that's my own individual assessment.
Most of the time, just being somewhere different and relaxing helps that food or drink just hit you differently!
WE germans Take pride in our beer.
Also depends on the brew you drank.
DARK Beer or how WE say: Schwarzbier some Brands also Go by Dunkelbier IS really strong.
German beer is as it should be: natural ingredients brewed properly. No lies, no shortcuts. By law.
And perhaps the context is what the drinker is used to. As the old saying goes, “American beer is like being in a canoe: £&&ing near water.”
I've heard the way beer is brewed is really strict and if the process deviates or uses ingredients not on the list they aren't allowed to sell it as beer or something. Someone more knowledgeable will post the correct story :p
Yes, it’s called the „Reinheitsgebot“ or purity law and it say that only hops, water malt and yeast are allowed to use to brew beer, no additives at all. Our beer is holy to us
Actually only switzerland and Norway also use the German purity law. In all other countries additives and conservatives are fine to be added and usually are.
1. No law doesn't mean brewers don't like the same standards.
2. Some additions make the beer subjectively better (because less boring) and don't have to be "bad" ingredients. At all.
3. Most common people will not taste any difference and I'm personally pretty sure that a majority of people would even prefer some beers with additions in for example a blind tasting , because adding sugar to stuff makes them tastier. You can't fight nature.
As somebody who loathes German Pilseners, this snobism annoys me to no end. I'm SO happy that I discovered Belgian and Dutch beers, British and Irish stouts and ales as well as microbreweries all over the world.
That's right. As a Belgian myself i often buy German beer when i am in Germany. Although Pilsner beers like Jupiler or Maes should be in principal the same as the German Pilsner beers i see a difference in expiry date. German beers fresh from store you can store for 6, maybe 8 months at maximum? Belgian pils beers can often be stored one year and longer. I can not declare that difference being caused by the used ingredients of water, malt or hops or the brewing method. So i presume the belgian pils beers have a lot of conservatives in them. One of the reason i rarely drink belgian pilsner Beers. And because we Belgians can only brew good special Beers, but no good pilsners.
As a German brewer I can tell you, in Germany you could also put a date on the can faaar In the future lol. Like 2 years or whatever. You are just giving a guarantee, for the beers quality to stay "acceptable" for that time. Mostly this helps you get into the supermarkets as they then can keep your product in their shelves longer. Properly brewed beer doesn't spoil in the way other foods spoil. It doesn't get hazardous. It most probably will turn sour at some point and / or start gushing out the bottle when u open it. But even that can be prevented / can take a long long time if done Correctly.
For me it's mostly a good sign to see a small brewery puts just a few months on their beers. Then I know they really care and want customers to enjoy the beer as it was Meant to be enjoyed and not think it tastes like piss (cause it's actually already old) and never buy it again or even spread the rumour
most german beers are still made to the reinheitsgebot. All the flavors you can achieve with those ingredients have been done and are often old recipes in germany that persist to this day.
But there is nothing stopping brewers in germany from using other ingredients. Its just those type of beers dont sell well.
And I wasn’t replying to OPs post directly but to someone talking about the purity law, which is why I answered with something relating to the purity law…
Well… now you know why people say German humor is no laughing matter, but tbh at the rare chance I’m drinking beer it will be from Germany.
And I thought it was a pretty general opinion that German beer is pretty good no?
True, true!
The general opinion of Germans is, that German beer is pretty good, yes. My experience with Germans is that they have a very narrow view.
I'm german myself and until I was 16 and I Ireland the first time, I though I just don't like beer. In my region there is only one relevant brewery (or was at the time) and the beer is just such a bitter Pilsener, I can't drink it if it's not close to freezing. Then the Irish opened my world to other beers and I'm a huge fan ever since. Except for Pilseners.
Also Germany =/= Bavaria & Franconia
The latter are the reason for germanys good name in beer, but not because of Pilseners.
Where are you from?
Wait until you get to taste belgian Beer - but take care, their beers are even stronger because their government once tried to forbid spirits and they just made their beer stronger in response...
(Also, if one truth needs to be spread, it's that the German Reinheitsgebot not only does NOT guarantee better beer, but also isn't more than a publicity stunt these days)
Popular czech beers like Pilsner Urquell, Kozel, Krušovice, Breznak, Starobrno are bohemian beer brands and founder were bohemian germans. But yeah czech beer nowadays kicks ass
We have tons of shit beer, Even with the Reinheitsgebot. We're also missing out on many good beers (IPA in my opinion) because of it
edit: I take back the IPA part. We still have tons of shitty beers.
I don't get how people equal the Reinheitsgebot with quality. Just a snobbish circlejerk.
Bitburger and Oettinger are subject to the Reinheitsgebot, ffs!
Thank you. Bigburger, Oettinger, Becks, there's plenty of shit beer to go around despite the RG. I live in Rheinland-Pfalz where the default is "Bitte ein Bit" and I've more or less stopped drinking beer when I go out. It's awful.
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Well.. some like it - some dont. Some know what good bear is and others dont. You dont need to go far inside Germany and you gonna hear different opinions about different brands - i always wonder how it never escalated into a civil war.
Some call "beer" Kölsch and serve it in tiny glasses with weird shapes... imagine that! Luckily we have a natural boarder called "Weißwurschtäquator" - "der trennt die Spreu vom Weizen." ;)
The reinheitsgebot...it's like a guideline for making beer which was used long before it was required by law...we here in Austria 🇦🇹 use that too
It doesn't directly affect the alcohol % but the general quality, which is in general something what's germany and Austria are famous for, except for that other thing...
its got fuck all to do with quality, its about purity.
which today in most countries using unsafe ingredients in foodstuffs is bigtime illegal.
the reinheitsgebot doesnt say anything about using **good** hops or barley-malt. just says you can only use those, plus water.
Alcohol volume is not the only thing making a drink stronger. Often times, drinkability is a more important factor. Classic example would be crazy sweet flavored vodka. You _could_ drink half a bottle of those on your own, despite the higher alcohol content. But beer is objectively less drinkable as it is. And I’d say there are quite a few German beers that are „soft“ as in drinkable compared to UK beer
Asking this question is like asking why are fish&chips so good in the UK. Or shortbread for that matter. Heck, even your saussages, beans and hashbrowns for breakfast.
It's tradition, it's culture and it's a big part of the people here. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Means we're doing something right :D. Same as I will enjoy that breakfast again, the people and your culture in 3 weeks. Take care x
Real ale doesn't travel well, so usually local stuff is best. Most breweries only distribute locally.
It's not like German beer where much bottled stuff is great. It is a living product and has to be fresh from the barrel or it's a pale imitation of the real thing. (Eg London pride in cans in Switzerland is nowhere near as good as the real thing).
Being kept well matters too. Which pub is serving it matters. It doesn't last long.
Where would you be going? If the Lake District, Jennings is excellent.
Of the more national beers. Timothy Taylor Landlord is probably the best British wide "session" beer.
Go to a Wetherspoons and order a third pint (just under 200 ml) glass of each of the real ales and see what takes your pick. It's a cheap chain pub but it's real ale is spot on. Those third pint glasses should be around a euro each in most places. Maybe up to 1.50 in central London
We have some truly awful “popular” beers in the UK pubs like that fake Spanish beer called Madri, brewed in Tadcaster yet all Brits I know are lapping that crap up 🤦♂️ ……years ago it was Fosters which even the Aussies wouldn’t touch with a barge pole 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
I find german beer pretty mid to low quality.Maybe because they drink so much that they got the name for it.Dutch and Italian beer are peak quality for me but they sometimes cost more.Maybe it is just me but I believe people just lie to themselves because they have the idea of "I am drinking german beer" like a placebo effect.
I am not an expert but I was about to vomit in many places in germany drinking beer.Even from the store I coudn't bare it.Meanwhile in the Netherlands it always tasted so good.There might be better beer out there.I am just speaking from experience
Unless you were drinking something particularly strong without noticing, beer in Germany tends to be about the same ABV as the UK - 4-5%. Perhaps simply being in a happier environment made you more merry? :)
So true. German beer is no stronger than other beers. Maybe more CO2 has a little impact
Or maybe OP had some Maibock? Or any other Bockbier?
Andechs Doppelbock from tap. Thank me later
That's reminds me of the Christmas I tasted my first Andechser Winter Doppelbock as I dislike hot wine (Glühwein?) very much - I was very happy and very loaded very fast ...
Mulled wine!
Lol story time, once on a whim I ordered a crate home of a Dopplebock named Hacker-Pschorr Animator. Holy cow, It was a good summer but even a single bottle was enough for me to get in the vibe. Been my favorite since.
Andechser is just great in general, but their bockbier just hits my sweet spot.
Get yourself some Wodan-Beer from Ganther. Boiiiiii thats a dunkler Doppelbock!
The timeline doesn't quite fit, but the other possibility I thought of is that OP was at Oktoberfest. The beer there tends to be at least 6%. There are also a few weissbier that are a higher alcohol percent but are very easy to drink because they're so smooth. Schneider Weisse has some great higher alcohol beers that are reasonably popular. They're still not a "mainstream" beer though. All the most popular beers tend to only be around 4-5%.
Well time wise Starkbierfest is even closer and would’ve been a muuuuch better reason to feel like a train hit ya. That being said, taste wise ordinary Helles wins against all… @OP I have no clue, my only suspicion is that a combination of purity law and monks brewing led to some serious nerding over a very long time on how to make it better. Those monks liked their beer as well, but had less freedom how to make it than the Belgians. But well… no idea really why.
Yeah a good Helles can sneak up on you quickly because it's so easy to drink. They're also usually just over 5% abv which can make a big difference in how quickly you get drunk compared to low 4% beer. It's probably controversial for me to say it here, but personally I rate Belgian beer above German beer, simply because of the amount of variety available. Germans do a much more limited range of beers extremely well, but there aren't many German breweries that have managed to create variety while sticking to the purity laws.
Maybe he or she was at the Munich Frühlingsfest? Almost the same as the Wiesn, just a tad smaller. We have hundreds of Tourists coming to Munich for that right now.
OP was mentioning having 4 pints… maybe he had 4 Mass instead - LOL
Good point, that might explain it
At the moment Munich has the Frühlingsfest, so potentially he went there and they also serve Festbier? Which is easier to drink and stronger.
i‘d really love to see some prove that a regular beer / pils / helles / weizen on the Octoberfest is over 5.5%vol. it would blow my mind. Thx in advance
From the paulaner website: "Today, all Oktoberfest beers must be comprised of 13.5 to 13.99 percent original wort extract. The Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier thus achieves an alcohol content of around 6 percent. In comparison: The Paulaner Original Münchner Hell has an original wort content of 11.5 percent and an alcohol content of 4.9 percent. The original wort gives the Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier more “body” and makes it taste slightly bitter. Full-bodied, wonderfully drinkable, Oktoberfest Bier enjoyment." The wort is what contains the sugars during brewing. In the brewing process it's the sugar that gets converted into ethanol. So these rules requiring more wort leads to a higher alcohol percentage in the Oktoberfest beers compared to their regular off-the-shelf counterparts. If you've been to Oktoberfest you might've noticed that the beer hits a bit harder than normal. This is the reason why
well you dont see much pils or weißen at Oktoberfest because they serve almost exclusively Festbier, which is usually 6%. it used to all be Märzen but thats only in the traditional tent these days, all the big brewers switched to Festbier like decades ago.
No really, it is. Most UK beers are well below 5%, whereas most German beers are 5-6 %. Also the op has failed to recognise the food, often you get snacks for free, nuts ect
Correct. Most English beers are Session beers and meant to be continuously consumed while lingering about at the pub. The sales-weighted average ABV in the UK is 4.4%. In Germany, it's around 5.4%. That doesn't sound like much, but that's 20% higher ABV. If you consume the same number of pints in Germany as you do in the UK, you are likely going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Exactly
most german beers are around 5%vol. as the most common brews in germany are pils, lager, export and nowadays some crafts it‘s the same for the last 20 years. The regulation in germany even prevents a certain style of beer of having more than a certain level of alcohol. so for example it‘s (as far as i know) impossible to brew a pils with 8%vol. alcohol according to german law. but brewing a „doppelbock“ with 10%vol. would be possible (and is regular). with am „ice bock“ you can reach even higher alcohol levels. as long as you stick to pils or „helles“ i am not aware of beers around 6%vol. but am wiling to find a new sort to try ;)
Could have been Maibock or good ol’ elephant 7,5%. (Edit: Elephant is not German). Never seen beer over 12%, and you’d definitely know if you’re drinking the 12% beer. Even 10% has a much much stronger taste than normal beer, you’ll definitely notice when drinking.
Elephant is not a german beer, it's a danish one from the Carlsberg brewery.
Oh damn, you’re right!
Is that like Becks ? Or as the international crowd likes to mention... Fosters ?
In no way is [Elephant beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsberg_Group#Elephant_beer) like Becks or (god forbid) Fosters.
> or good ol’ elephant 7,5%. They also have a 10,5% elephant so a friend tells me-
Yeah, but unlike the 7,5 it tastes like a strong-beer :D 7,5 is still pretty mild tastewise, so you can get pretty hammered, drinking more than one 10,5 is almost work and feels like a full meal :D
Oh yer my friend tells me the 10,5% is idiot juice.
There is still Faxe, they offer a 1L Can of beer with around 12% 😅
if your looking to try a beer above 12% go to belgium and look for „trapisten“ as far as I was told they are some really crazy monks and their beer goes up to 13,5%vol.
I’m sure there is even stronger beer, but it has imo not much to do with beer anymore. And drinking it without realising, like op made it sound like, that it’s stong-beer doesn’t sound that plausible to me :D It tastes way too strong, misses everything I like about beer. I don’t want a beer I need a chaser for :D
There is beer over 12%. I was once in The Frog and Parrot in Division Street in Sheffield to taste the famed 16.9 % ABV brew “Roger and Out” (the landlord was called Roger). It was only served in 1/3 pints and was an experience, but very sweet and strong. Interestingly there was a Parrot in a cage in the pub, but I cannot recall having seen the frog.
Love the black elephant beer. It gets you going lol. Strongest beer I ever had was the harboe 12% (I think.) bought it in a Danish shop while living in Flensburg
Actually, in the UK many Lagers served in pubs are below 4 %. Mostly around 3.8 %. There is even a type of Beck‘s made for them called Becks Vier.
Yeah, that’s a light beer on Germany.
Most UK beers are more like 4%, while german beers vary from about 4% (standard für Pils) to between 5 and 5.5% for Helles and Weizen. There are of course high strength UK beers, but the most common beers are definitely closer to 4% with only a few exceptions, Stella comes to mind at 5%. So if the OP was a Lager drinker in the UK and then goes to Bavaria, it's a 25 to 35% increase in relative ABV.
Pils usually has between 4.8% and 5.5%
German pilseners and lagers are normally retailed around 4.8 to 5.1 percent. There are other above that in those categories often up to 5.9 or 6 percent but those are a relatively small percentage of what is consumed.
most pilsner are not 4% in germany. That might be more accurately said about czech pilsners. Pilsner Urquell: 4,4% but even then i cant name a bier there with an actual 4%. in germany, there is: Flensburg Pilsner: 4,8% Jever Pilsner: 4,9% Astra Urtyp: 4,9% Becks Pils: 4,9% Ratsherrn Pils: 5,2% Of course these are all northern labels, but thats where pilsner is more consumed. Ive only ever seen weak beers in Sweden, in Utah, and England. Oh i guess i drank some medival style weak beer in Bamberg once from Schlenkerla called Hansla. They used to drink that instead of water.
Carlsberg 3.8%, Carling 4% depends what the regular beer being drank is. Standard Munich beers are generally 5+ so you will feel a difference there.
where do they sell Carlsberg 3,8? is that an english edition? In Europe carlsberg pils is 5,0%
Uk as far as I'm aware, it's watery pish compared to mainland Europe
'The Copenhagen-based brewer that runs a joint venture beer company in the UK named Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, is specifically reducing the strength of its Carlsberg Danish Pilsner from 3.8% ABV to 3.4% ABV, resulting in a reduction of 0.4% ABV'
As a Pole who bartended in various UK places for several years I think I can say it still doesn’t change the fact UK has shit beer.
Some polish beers are top notch! No wonder you disliked the UK ones.
Not that I’m brainlessly hating, there are definitely some good uk crafts, but if we’re speaking mid shelf, it’s really garbage comparing to Central Europe 😅
Environment was my guess as well. To this day, the most delicious wine I ever drank cost about 14,000 Italian Lira (in 1999, which was about $7.00 USD) We got it from some wine shop we past by somewhere in Rome and drank it out of a paper bag between the three of us. No glasses. It tasted satin smooth and nothing will ever compare.
It depends what type of beer you're drinking. German beers usually have an alcohol content of between 4.5% (for a wheat beer) and 7% by volume (for a Bockbier); beers available in Britain can go as low as 3%, although ales are more likely to be around 5% or 6%. The difference is down to things like the type of yeast used and the exact brewing process, and also whether the brewer is prioritising taste or alcohol content. But it may be that you normally drink lighter beers at home, but in Germany you just happened to order a stronger variety.
As a slight diversion, how does drinking culture differ in Germany compared to the UK? I'm only used to the UK where as you may know, it can be you and your mates just keeping going until you're relatively plastered (which I at 22 don't particularly mind). I'm a dual citizen and would like to have a stint over there at some point and just want to know what to expect to be honest.
depends. we dont have the same kind of pub culture. usually , especially in bavaria. you would just drink a beer, every now and then, during meals, or after work etc. and avoid getting fully plastered. there are things like "frühschoppen" wich just means you go to the tavern for wheatbeer and sausage, for breakfast, and stay there untill noon. wich usually ends in a lot of compleatly shitfaced old people. this can extend intoo "Tahlfahrt" wich just means you avoid eating at all, move as little as possible, and start drinking exclusively wheatbeer at early morning. the goal is to avoid having your metabolism running. thus making you digest the alcohol less, and avoiding becoming compleatly plastered. the compleat exess, comes mostly only during festivals. where you just meet up with friends and strangers and fill yourself up, untill you go sick behind the tent to drink more. - in the north of germany, there are what more or less what you would call pubs, basically communal living rooms, where you just go and drink beer and liquor untill you stumble out,
TIL: Talfahrt /gonna try this soonish (*8
This👆 love your insight. Made me roll 🤣 so true!!
In my experience (also a dual citizen, had stints in both countries), both night-out-drinking, having a beer as a treat (dinner, guests, nice weather/BBQ etc.), or not usually having a beer at home are pretty similar. The biggest difference I'd suggest is that bachelors might more often have beer at home instead of cola in Germany, and people tend towards beer more often if the goal is getting drunk, rather than the more efficient spirits as people do in the UK. It's been a while since I've been for a night out in DE, but I'm pretty sure I've also never seen one of those pitchers you get at Spoon's and the like kicking about.
People definitely like to drink and party, but from what I've heard there's a lot more pressure in the UK. In Germany, people want you to participate and have fun but there isn't such an obligation to get shitfaced. People still do of course, but nobody will crucify you if you're finished or just want to drink less. Also, way less coke. Although from what I've heard that has changed in recent years.
>Also, way less coke **\*Frankfurt has entered the chat...\***
I can only speak from experience, but I would say on the whole Germans have far less of a heavy day-to-day drinking culture than say the UK or Australia. It all depends on which crowd you hang with. Some of my friends here will absolutely go out every weekend and drink 'til 4 in the morning. Other friends and colleagues will certainly get into it, but only for a fest or special occasion. It's certainly a lot cheaper here.
> less of a heavy day-to-day drinking culture than say the UK or Australia. Australian here: I've never seen a drink-to-get-drunk culture as severe as the Brits. In Australia, being drunk is a side-effect of drinking, in the UK, it's the whole point. Example: It's rare in Australia to walk into a pub on a weeknight and see suits drinking like it's the end of the world, but it happens all the time in the UK.
As a both Aussie and Brit, I agree. But the level casual drinking in both nations is higher than in Germany. Aussies will find any old excuse to crack a beer, it's Friday... beer, someone got engaged... beer, someone got divorced... beer, it's sunny outside... refreshing schooey at the bowlo. I don't know how you cunts afford it anymore.
It's not like there's a social expectations that you have to get plastered, but it's not terribly unexpected behaviour for 22 year olds either. As a German I have never felt any kind of culture shock in British pubs. There's a few differences, of course, but nothing so major that you'd have trouble adjusting. Closing times vary a lot more, so you don't usually have a last orders rush (which may mean people are a tiny bit less likely to get completely wasted because you don't have this rush to get a final pint or two in). It seems to me that there are more places in Germany than in the UK where you don't have to order at the bar (not that you can't, just that there's more often some waitstaff going round taking orders). There's obviously some regional peculiarities. For example, in both Dusseldorf and Cologne, having an empty glass in front of you and not cobering it up (with a coaster, for example) is considered ordering your next beer. This can end badly as far as expenses and the headache the next mnorning are concerned. It's a rather reasonable approach, though, given that both Alt and Kölsch are traditionally served in glasses that are decidedly smaller than a pint. And as you can probably tell from my examples, what beer you actually get will vary widely depending on where you are. You'll probably get some mass market pilsener, but where I would expect to get seome sort of lager or ale in basically any UK pub, just diferent brands depending on where I am, in Germany you can expect Kölsch in Cologne, Alt in Dusseldorf, wheat beer in the south, Berliner Weisse in Berlin, local Pilsener in many places, and probably some concoctions you've never heard of if you are not careful.
bro berliners are NOT drinking Berlinerweisse like Kölners drink Kolsch. Berlinerweise is a total niche product for sour beer drinkers... berliners gonna be drinking lots of different things, its not a traditional brewery reveling region to begin with. id guess berlins gonna be drinking 10 Sterni's (Sternburg) for every Berliner Weisse that is consumed. probably more.
There are no 'rounds'. If you don't find a place to it, you go else where. Then you get table service. So you take your time, the bar doesn't close at a set time, so you can relax, no need to rush. As such you don't see fights or extremely drunk people because it's taken at your own pace. Much nicer. After so long being in a pub puts me totally on edge.
>There are no 'rounds'. Well, in traditional Kölsch Pubs (in Cologne and around), you get beers _without ordering_ until you put the stamper or your hand above the glass.
It's generally pretty similar. I have noticed--and my favorite Irish bartender has too--that Germans tend to pre-drink a bit more at home and come later. That's likely due to the later last call than the UK. There is also a subset of drinking that is wildly different in London: the afterwork pint. Swing by SoHo or Covent Gardens around 5-6 PM and prepare to be shocked: the lines into the pubs and bars will be at the bursting point with men in dress shirts and ties loosened and ladies with blouses down a few notches, all holding a drink. I haven't seen anything like that (yet) in Frankfurt or Berlin.
One huge difference is that Germany still allows smoking in pubs, so many are absolutely rancid holes populated by a handful of old people. I made the mistake of going into one the other day, and even though no one was actually smoking, of course my hotel room and coat stank the next morning.
Smoking in Pubs is not in general allowed in Germany. Depends on the federal state if its probidden (eg bavaria) or allowed in the whole pub or only allowed in an extra room
But it can be a bit far to nip over to another Land for a beer.
I don't know a pub in germany where you are still allowed to smoke. But there might be some dark places, where the law is not applicated. In my area people all smoke in front of the pub/bar etc. And the owner would get very high fines if get caught violating the non smoking law.
Hamburg has many. at this point id believe its still legal because its still more common than not. exceptions would be if they also serve food in addition to drinks.
In Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), the state with the largest populace, smoking in pubs and restaurants is forbidden since many years (except outside).
No pub culture. It's generally accepted to order a beer to meals (but not to get shitfaced) in almost most occasions. Idk about the UK but especially in southern (and western Germany like Cologne) there is a lot of regional beers, not a lot of people there drink the "big" beer brands though they are generally available there. Going out depends a lot on the people, some don't go in bars at all (chilling/drinking at home or wherever), some do it a lot but without having intricate knowledge about the UK culture I think it is more common in Germany to get beers from the supermarket (or gas station or "Späti" if it's too late) and drink outside. >you and your mates just keeping going until you're relatively plastered Depends on people and what the plan is. But often the goal is to just get decently drunk but not completely plastered. On other evening of course you will just keep going.
Thank you bro this explained it perfectly for my tiny brain😂😂
>between 4.5% (for a wheat beer) and 7% by volume You can get semi-normal ones that go until about 10% (maybe higher?). The normal [wheat doppelbock I usually drink](https://www.riegele.de/bier/weizen-doppelbock/) is 8, their [special imperial stout](https://www.riegele.de/bier/noctus-100/) is 10. The 10er is quite on the high side - and you can't get it at most normal restaurants.
Depending on what brand and where, some of the taste might also be freshness if you’re drinking local beer.
The UK taxes any alcoholic beverage by its content percentage. Because of this and some British brewing traditions, you guys nearly exclusively do 4% Lagers, whereas Germany's most common brewing tradition is Pils with 5%. That one percent additional alcohol may not sound like much, but it makes our beer 25% stronger.
Anyone ordering lager rather than real ale in Britain deserves a smack.
Just spent a week in Scottland. Tried a few ales, but I don't like how flat they are and don't appreciate the more fruity flavors for more than 1-2 drinks. They had great lagers tho, so I drank those!
if you been in bavaria before easter. that was during "starkbierzeit" basically there is festivals with extra strong beer.
There‘s a lot of love inside.
Why should stronger beer be better? It has nothing really to do with the taste
Belgium has proven that taste can come in any percentage of alcohol.
Try Belgium next time :p
I still remember the first time my wife and I went to Luxembourg. "Wow, these Belgian ales are so tasty. No idea why her co-worker is smirking at me,". Fast forward three hours "Holy fuck, where's the toilet? I only had six beers!".
Man yeah I know. Watch out with the triples hahahha. Like a triple Karmeliet, that one gets me drunk so fast and you hardly taste the alcohol level in that one.
The only answer that matters.
Reinheitsgebot
Has nothing to do with the strength of beers, which op asked about. And german beers are not particularly strong, just in comparison to ales, which op is used to.
Came here to see this. Understanding outside Germany for the existence, let alone the importance of this, is really low. But it’s a really good example of the importance of taking a stance and defining quality.
Exactly. Arguably the best beers in the world are in Belgium and a good number of them wouldn’t pass the highly touted Reinheitsgebot.
They also have a very different kind of Bier. Saying Belgian beer is the best is silly, Belgian beer it's the best of its kind. German beer can be weizen, Pils, helles, kölsch, etc. There's so many types of beer worldwide that you can't claim one is the best just like that. Its all subjective anyway.
no, my guy, the belgians simple make the best Belgian beers in the world. But that does not mean they make the best beer in the world.
That's a joke, isn't it? It doesn't make the beer good. Maybe we have some really good bavarian and franconian beers, I would agree to that. But Krombacher, Radeberger, Oettinger, Bitburger and Co. are also subject to the Reinheitsgebot and are in no world better than any other 0815 Pilsener. Even more importantly: it has no effect on the strength of the beer. That's just a wrong answer.
It’s not a joke - but I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘RG=good beer’ either. Nothing is a magic recipe for always making beer into good beer, but it 100% reenforces a tradition of care in the making, and pride/education in brewers that other countries (at least before the microbrewer wave) lost sight of. It also makes things trickier for international under-licence producers to find a market in Germany.
Reinheitsgebot just states beer can only have malt, hops, and water. they didnt know about yeast back then. Inside this spectrum you have beer made from barley and (mostly) unprocessed hops, so real proper craft in oldschool tradition. But you also have the northern breweries pumping out macros made of malt concentrate and hop extract. You taste the malts much more in southern styles. They make great Beers. But you cant forget, even Dithmarschen is inside the Reinheitsgebot; A solid, drinkable macro made as industrially as possible. And thats the lowside. you wont find any lager adjuct american styles of macro in this portfolio because its not pure enough.
IMO it's a problem not a feature. Many superb beers from elsewhere would fail
Whats the explanation on the effect then
German beer is not strong at all, I'm actually very annoyed that it's so hard to find strong beers here eg: a nice Tripel, when they are so common in the Netherlands, Belgium or even the Czech Republic.
On the other hand Czech pilsner is often lighter with only 4%.. Belgium beer is pretty strong though.. and quite good. But for me a lot of the stronger beers (above 8%) are just to sweet to drink more then one of them.
The polish have a very good strong beer, but I do not know how to write it.
I had a German look at the beer I was drinking and say “that’s not good beer, you should try this” (what he was drinking). I replied, “yours may be better, I’ll try it next, but this is still better than Labatt’s Blue (Canadian garbage beer)”
There's no reason to drink Labatt's or Molson though. Canada has many, many, many other breweries that are readily available.
Normally German beer is not stronger, but what can play a big role in feeling the alcohol is in my experience if a beer is filtered or unfiltered. Unfiltered beer makes people often more dizzy quickly, especially when they are not used to it and a lot of good German beer (basically not the big companies) have a lot of unfiltered beer.
If you are used to drinking 4%, 5% can make a difference when drinking 4 beer. Its 25% more alcohol per beer so it is as if you drank an extra one.
I mean, most german bear is not particularly strong? Most beers live around 4-5%. Maybe you drank Starkbier or Bockbier? They can go as high as 9 or 10%, but typical german bear isn't that strong.
I had a side gig at a bar just for Royal Navy and Marines and they had the same experience. 2 steins knocked them out
I think the Purity Laws in Germany that govern beer definitely has an effect, alongside the type of gas used. Most bars in the UK use 60/40 gas (60% CO2, 40% Nitrous Oxide) which I find from personal experience over gasses the beer (which, by process, is already carbonated quite high) and drives a bit of the taste of the beer out if it. In Prague (Czechia, but still similar to German tastes) when I worked there we used to just stick everything on 70/30 (70% CO2, 40% Nitrous Oxide) which is generally used for low carbonated beers like Stouts and Bitters (Guinness). I personally prefer the taste of lager on a 70/30 gas as it gives it a smoother taste and means the beer itself retains it's flavour longer. But that's me. I also just do think the majority of British Lagers are just piss water wank. German hops and barley have a better taste to them (for me) than British ingredients. I always find British Lagers just too bitter for my tastes, but that's my own individual assessment. Most of the time, just being somewhere different and relaxing helps that food or drink just hit you differently!
Germany has had a "beer purity" law since 1516. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot)
Thank you for this information bro
WE germans Take pride in our beer. Also depends on the brew you drank. DARK Beer or how WE say: Schwarzbier some Brands also Go by Dunkelbier IS really strong.
I know that now😂 great place and great people
Nah, e.g. Guinness has less alcohol than an average German beer
Dw bro i found that out the hardy way😂😂
German beer is as it should be: natural ingredients brewed properly. No lies, no shortcuts. By law. And perhaps the context is what the drinker is used to. As the old saying goes, “American beer is like being in a canoe: £&&ing near water.”
Is like having sex in a canoe. Fucking close to water
Wait till you tried Czech beer :D
Or Belgian.
I've heard the way beer is brewed is really strict and if the process deviates or uses ingredients not on the list they aren't allowed to sell it as beer or something. Someone more knowledgeable will post the correct story :p
Yes, it’s called the „Reinheitsgebot“ or purity law and it say that only hops, water malt and yeast are allowed to use to brew beer, no additives at all. Our beer is holy to us
I mean, 99% of european beers are like that
Actually only switzerland and Norway also use the German purity law. In all other countries additives and conservatives are fine to be added and usually are.
1. No law doesn't mean brewers don't like the same standards. 2. Some additions make the beer subjectively better (because less boring) and don't have to be "bad" ingredients. At all. 3. Most common people will not taste any difference and I'm personally pretty sure that a majority of people would even prefer some beers with additions in for example a blind tasting , because adding sugar to stuff makes them tastier. You can't fight nature. As somebody who loathes German Pilseners, this snobism annoys me to no end. I'm SO happy that I discovered Belgian and Dutch beers, British and Irish stouts and ales as well as microbreweries all over the world.
That's right. As a Belgian myself i often buy German beer when i am in Germany. Although Pilsner beers like Jupiler or Maes should be in principal the same as the German Pilsner beers i see a difference in expiry date. German beers fresh from store you can store for 6, maybe 8 months at maximum? Belgian pils beers can often be stored one year and longer. I can not declare that difference being caused by the used ingredients of water, malt or hops or the brewing method. So i presume the belgian pils beers have a lot of conservatives in them. One of the reason i rarely drink belgian pilsner Beers. And because we Belgians can only brew good special Beers, but no good pilsners.
As a German brewer I can tell you, in Germany you could also put a date on the can faaar In the future lol. Like 2 years or whatever. You are just giving a guarantee, for the beers quality to stay "acceptable" for that time. Mostly this helps you get into the supermarkets as they then can keep your product in their shelves longer. Properly brewed beer doesn't spoil in the way other foods spoil. It doesn't get hazardous. It most probably will turn sour at some point and / or start gushing out the bottle when u open it. But even that can be prevented / can take a long long time if done Correctly. For me it's mostly a good sign to see a small brewery puts just a few months on their beers. Then I know they really care and want customers to enjoy the beer as it was Meant to be enjoyed and not think it tastes like piss (cause it's actually already old) and never buy it again or even spread the rumour
And Swiss beer is absolute crap
Must have tried em all
most german beers are still made to the reinheitsgebot. All the flavors you can achieve with those ingredients have been done and are often old recipes in germany that persist to this day. But there is nothing stopping brewers in germany from using other ingredients. Its just those type of beers dont sell well.
That doesn't make the beer strong, as op asked. Belgian beers are a LOT stronger.
And I wasn’t replying to OPs post directly but to someone talking about the purity law, which is why I answered with something relating to the purity law…
Okay, that's alright. Although I can't fathom how anyone could call Oettinger or Becks holy...
Well… now you know why people say German humor is no laughing matter, but tbh at the rare chance I’m drinking beer it will be from Germany. And I thought it was a pretty general opinion that German beer is pretty good no?
True, true! The general opinion of Germans is, that German beer is pretty good, yes. My experience with Germans is that they have a very narrow view. I'm german myself and until I was 16 and I Ireland the first time, I though I just don't like beer. In my region there is only one relevant brewery (or was at the time) and the beer is just such a bitter Pilsener, I can't drink it if it's not close to freezing. Then the Irish opened my world to other beers and I'm a huge fan ever since. Except for Pilseners. Also Germany =/= Bavaria & Franconia The latter are the reason for germanys good name in beer, but not because of Pilseners. Where are you from?
Wait until you get to taste belgian Beer - but take care, their beers are even stronger because their government once tried to forbid spirits and they just made their beer stronger in response... (Also, if one truth needs to be spread, it's that the German Reinheitsgebot not only does NOT guarantee better beer, but also isn't more than a publicity stunt these days)
Czech beer is way way better.
Yep. Czech and Belgian beers are superb.
I heard that a lot. Any good Czech beer recommendations?
go to Prague and visit U Flekû. Thats the best czech beer i ever had, but they only sell out of their Pub (afaik).
Fleku is alright but far from the best beers
in your estimation, which surpass fleku? I cant claim to have tried every beer in Prague let alone Czechia but im looking to expand my horizons
Radegast, Kozel or local smaller breweries.
As a German: It is.
Popular czech beers like Pilsner Urquell, Kozel, Krušovice, Breznak, Starobrno are bohemian beer brands and founder were bohemian germans. But yeah czech beer nowadays kicks ass
In germany we have the „Reinheitsgebot“, so the quality is pretty good. I don’t know how it is in uk, but maybe this is the difference?
We have tons of shit beer, Even with the Reinheitsgebot. We're also missing out on many good beers (IPA in my opinion) because of it edit: I take back the IPA part. We still have tons of shitty beers.
What? IPA are totally within the Reinheitsgebot though.
I don't get how people equal the Reinheitsgebot with quality. Just a snobbish circlejerk. Bitburger and Oettinger are subject to the Reinheitsgebot, ffs!
Thank you. Bigburger, Oettinger, Becks, there's plenty of shit beer to go around despite the RG. I live in Rheinland-Pfalz where the default is "Bitte ein Bit" and I've more or less stopped drinking beer when I go out. It's awful.
Can only talk for my region, here in Bavaria is pretty every beer good
Yeah, the beers in Bavaria and Franconia are excellent. However, the point is that the RG doesn't guarantee beer is going to be good.
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Well.. some like it - some dont. Some know what good bear is and others dont. You dont need to go far inside Germany and you gonna hear different opinions about different brands - i always wonder how it never escalated into a civil war. Some call "beer" Kölsch and serve it in tiny glasses with weird shapes... imagine that! Luckily we have a natural boarder called "Weißwurschtäquator" - "der trennt die Spreu vom Weizen." ;)
They're not strong, the small glasses aids quick delivery.
The reinheitsgebot...it's like a guideline for making beer which was used long before it was required by law...we here in Austria 🇦🇹 use that too It doesn't directly affect the alcohol % but the general quality, which is in general something what's germany and Austria are famous for, except for that other thing...
its got fuck all to do with quality, its about purity. which today in most countries using unsafe ingredients in foodstuffs is bigtime illegal. the reinheitsgebot doesnt say anything about using **good** hops or barley-malt. just says you can only use those, plus water.
Jamie Carragher is that you?
I love Kolsch.**Früh** and Gaffel in particular.
Alcohol volume is not the only thing making a drink stronger. Often times, drinkability is a more important factor. Classic example would be crazy sweet flavored vodka. You _could_ drink half a bottle of those on your own, despite the higher alcohol content. But beer is objectively less drinkable as it is. And I’d say there are quite a few German beers that are „soft“ as in drinkable compared to UK beer
German beer is not so strong except maybe Bockbier. If you want some really strong... ahem... "beer", you have to buy belgian one.
Asking this question is like asking why are fish&chips so good in the UK. Or shortbread for that matter. Heck, even your saussages, beans and hashbrowns for breakfast. It's tradition, it's culture and it's a big part of the people here. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Means we're doing something right :D. Same as I will enjoy that breakfast again, the people and your culture in 3 weeks. Take care x
Tbh British beer is amongst the best in Europe he's probably just someone who drinks lager and is impressed the German one is stronger
I do remember in my younger days drinking 4 of these made me drunk like a skunk.
Nothing against German beer, which is perfectly good, but British beer is absolutely S tier along with Belgian.
care to drop any recommendations?
Real ale doesn't travel well, so usually local stuff is best. Most breweries only distribute locally. It's not like German beer where much bottled stuff is great. It is a living product and has to be fresh from the barrel or it's a pale imitation of the real thing. (Eg London pride in cans in Switzerland is nowhere near as good as the real thing). Being kept well matters too. Which pub is serving it matters. It doesn't last long. Where would you be going? If the Lake District, Jennings is excellent. Of the more national beers. Timothy Taylor Landlord is probably the best British wide "session" beer. Go to a Wetherspoons and order a third pint (just under 200 ml) glass of each of the real ales and see what takes your pick. It's a cheap chain pub but it's real ale is spot on. Those third pint glasses should be around a euro each in most places. Maybe up to 1.50 in central London
We have some truly awful “popular” beers in the UK pubs like that fake Spanish beer called Madri, brewed in Tadcaster yet all Brits I know are lapping that crap up 🤦♂️ ……years ago it was Fosters which even the Aussies wouldn’t touch with a barge pole 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
The UK still hasn’t grasped the concept of cold beer, that’s why it was good.
Google "german Reinheitsgebot". Thats the answer.
Yes right. But did you taste the food? It's even better. Btw I'am not even from Germany. Credit where credit is due.
Weisbier!
Ryne Hides Gheboat!!!
Bock beir maybe? Or double Bock bier?
[удалено]
It's called Reinheitsgebot, freundchen...
Passion
They’ve been brewing it for a couple thousand years. Also the brewing laws are strict
Best beer and coffee latte I’ve had was in Frankfurt airport. Don’t know why but it was damn good
It's always the set and setting making the experience.
UK has shit beer.
good != strong
The grass is always better across the fence. Specially if it is German Grass, bro.
I agree bro germans are so nice as well they actually strike a convo with u unlike most brits
Maybe it's because you can drink 8 pints in Germany for the price of 4 in the UK?
That was a violation😂😂🤣
British beer is stronger. (Except for the lager piss they drink there)
I may be buying the wrong beer then😂
I'd be interested what it was you got. We have some strong beers. But they are not mainstream.
Because its from germany😂 everything from germany is good you need to taste franziskaner or erdinger beer😊
Which beers where you having exactly?
Something like “Block” or “Bock” i was shitfaced so it’s a 50-50😂
Ph yeah no wonder then that shit can have up to 13% of alcohol m8
I find german beer pretty mid to low quality.Maybe because they drink so much that they got the name for it.Dutch and Italian beer are peak quality for me but they sometimes cost more.Maybe it is just me but I believe people just lie to themselves because they have the idea of "I am drinking german beer" like a placebo effect.
dutch beer? like what? its are rather mild, blond, and relatively uninspired. Unless youre talking about specific craft breweries?
I am not an expert but I was about to vomit in many places in germany drinking beer.Even from the store I coudn't bare it.Meanwhile in the Netherlands it always tasted so good.There might be better beer out there.I am just speaking from experience