GERMAN BEER STYLES

A Very Brief Overview

If you think all German beer is just yellow, fizzy, lager stuff then you probably also think that all English beer is warm, flat and brown, like a pretzel, and that all American beer is tasteless, thin and light (sorry, lite), like a tabloid newspaper. Well – are you sitting down? – because it isn’t all yellow and fizzy, like … lager. Okay, so maybe 60% of it is but that other 30% (hang on, I’ll just recalculate) …. anyway, the rest of it is as varied and interesting as any beer producing country in the world. Even Belgium.

As I will be travelling to Germany again soon I wanted to know how many beer styles there were available there and, true to form, it wasn’t that simple. So I have tried to make it simple. This list is fairly comprehensive but not exhaustive, though probably exhausting:

 There are top-fermenting beers, where the yeast does its magic on the yummy sugars, logically, on the surface of the liquid wort and there are bottom-fermenting beers [please finish this sentence for me]. Most people think of this difference as being ales and lagers so I won’t argue that right now. Then, a beer is shaped by which grain is used for those yummy sugars. Most use good old barley but many in Germany use wheat as the grain of choice but most of these will use 50% barley and 50% wheat for what are referred to as wheat beers (weiss or wit, even). With me so far? As with any beer, the amount of time the grain is cooked for (malted, roasted, kilned) decides how dark and rich the beer is so I have included a colour chart from very pale (helles) to very dark (dunkels) but, of course, it isn’t THAT straightforward either. So I have made it straightforward by great big generalizations and assumptions. There are probably as many exceptions as there are true examples but I have tried to make this as succinct as possible.

Finally, there are categories which all beer styles are in yet sometimes a beer will be sold simply with that generic category name so it could be any colour, using any grain(s), of any strength! In the chart below I have coloured these green. And why not?

The styles in bold are the main ones you are likely to encounter in Germany but I am sure such a beer-loving country will be embracing the current boom in interest for innovative styles and I hope to find some of them when I visit soon (which will, of course, make this entire chart redundant).

 I have made a simple code  for the colour of the beers but, as these can vary in most styles (most helpful), do not be surprised if you receive a dark beer when you were expecting a pale one. This is only a 'Typical' guide. If you do find glaring errors though do tell me. I've not tried all these styles. Yet. I hope this helps someone make a relatively informed choice when they next want to try a German beer.

Beer Colour Key:
0	White
1	Pale	5	Red
2	Golden	6	Brown
3	Amber	7	Dark Brown
4	Bronze	8	Black

German Beer Styles

Style

Colour

Strength

Region

Season

Description

Best

(Name)

(Typical)

(Typical)

(Typical)

(Primary)

(Very brief)

example(s)

Bottom Fermentation (Lagered beers) Biobier 2 5.0% Any beer made with all organic ingredients Bock(bier) 4 6.0% Munich Strong beer. Can vary in colour Kneitinger Braunbier 7 6.0% Bayreuth Seasonal Rare, seasonal Diätbier/ "Diet Beer" 2 5.0% Thin, reduced carbohydrate pilsener Doppelbock 7 7.0% Bayern March Dark, strong, sweet Dunkel(s) 7 5.0% SE Germany North: Dry, hoppy. South: Malty Eisbier 2 5.0% Frozen Pils or Helles with ice removed. Smooth Eisbock 7 7.5% March Frozen bock with ice removed! Rare Export (Dortmunder) 2 5.2% Dortmund Low-hopped, dry, maltier and sweeter than a pilsener DAB Festbier 2 5.5% Festivals Any beer brewed for a festival G'frorns/ Gefrorenes 7 7.5% Franconia April Literary 'something frozen' like Eisbock Kulmbacher Hanfbier 2 5.0% Saxony Hemp instead of hops! Hell(es) 1 5.0% Generic name for pale beers usually slighty malty Spaten/ Augustiner Helles Bock 2 7.0% Bayern April/May Strong, golden lager (AKA Maibock) Kellerbier 3 5.0% Bamberg Low-carbonated, unfiltered, hazy, dry and hoppy Kräusenbier 2 5.0% High-carbonated, unfiltered beer with added wort Lagerbier 3 5.0% Franconia A standard product but can be any style Augustiner Hell/ Krug Landbier 3 5.0% Low-carbonated, usually filtered but can vary Maibock 2 7.0% Bayern April/May Strong, golden lager (AKA Hellesbock) Märzen 4 5.5% Bamberg Summer Brewed full-bodied to last through the summer Münchner Dunkel 7 5.0% Munich Roast malt and low hopped Münchner Hell 1 5.5% Munich Malty with no bitterness Ökobier 2 5.0% Any beer made with all organic ingredients Oktoberfestbier 4 6.0% Munich Summer Märzen made strong to last the warm summer Pils/Pilsener 2 5.0% North Germany Standard. North: Dry, hoppy. South: Slightly malty Konig/ St Georgen Porter 7 5.8% Karlsruhe Complex dark beer with Tettnang noble hops. Rare Hoepfner Rauchbier 2 5.0% Bamberg Other beer styles but using smoked malt Spezial Rauchbier Lager Schankbier 1 4.0% Rare lighter version of Hell Schwarzbier 8 5.0% SE Germany Strong roast malt, no bitterness Köstritzer Schwarzbier Spezial 2 5.5% Bayern (South) Lightly hopped, bitter-sweet, full-bodied Pinkus Muller Starkbier 7 7.0% Summer Tax category for Bockbiers, Doppelbocks, Eisbocks Steinbier 2 5.0% Caramelised using a red-hot stone! Very rare Ungespundet 2 5.0% Bamberg Low-carbonated, unfiltered, dry and hoppy Lowen-Brau/ Mahrs Vollbier 4 5.0% Franconia Standard name but more full-bodied than Lagerbier Weihnachtsbier 6 7.0% Bayern Nov/Dec Strong, full-bodied Christmas beer Weihnachts-bockbier 7 8.0% Bayern Nov/Dec Very strong, full-bodied Christmas beer Zoigl(bier) 4 4.5% Franconia Low-carbonated, unfiltered, hazy, malty and hoppy Zwickel(bier) 2 5.0% Bayern Unfiltered versions of other beer styles Schlossler Wheat Beers Wheat beers are usually made with 50%  wheat and 50% barley Berliner Weisse 1 3.0% Berlin Sour wheat often served with syrup Kindl/ Schultheiss Dunkelweizen 7 5.0% Dark malty wheat beer Hefeweizen 0 5.0% Unfiltered so with natural sediment Hefeweizen Dunkel 7 5.0% Dark and unfiltered so with natural sediment Karg Dunkles Kristallweizen 1 5.0% Filtered wheat beer so cleaner tasting Urbock 6 6.5% Einbeck Original Bock. Strong, cold-conditioned brown ale Einbecker Weissbierpils 0 5.2% Bayern Blend of Weissbier (fruity-spicy) and Pils (bitterness) Fürst Wallerstein Weizenbock 7 6.0% March Strong wheat beer. Can vary in colour Weizendoppelbock 7 8.0% March Dark, strong, sweet wheat beer Schneider Aventinus Weizeneisbock 7 5.0% March Frozen Weizenbock with ice removed! Sweet, fruity Speciality Beers Very rare or no longer made Emmerbier 4 5.0% Spelt type grain (Emmer). Rustic, nutty, spicy, astringent Haferbier 2 5.0% Rare beer brewed with Oats Keutbier 6 5.0% Hannover Well-hopped, medieval ale AKA Mumme No longer made Mumme 6 5.0% Hannover Well-hopped, medieval ale AKA Keutbier No longer made Gruitbier 8 5.0% Dark-ages beer made with herbs ('root beer') Top Fermentation (Old style beers) Altbier 6 4.8% Düsseldorf Closest to traditional English style Dampfbier 3 5.0% Bayern Dry, fruity, low carbonated steam beer Doppelsticke 6 8.5% Düsseldorf Jan/Oct only Double strength Altbier like English old ale Uerige Kölsch 1 4.8% Köln Slightly fruity very pale delicate beer Latzenbier 7 5.5% Düsseldorf Sep/Nov only Full-bodied and well-hopped Altbier Schumacher Lüttje Lage 7 2.8% Hannover Served as 0.1L and drunk with a shot of schnapps Sticke Alt 7 5.5% Düsseldorf Jan/Oct only Darker, stronger, seasonal variation of Altbier Uerige Wheat Beers Wheat beers are usually made with 50%  wheat and 50% barley Dinkelbier 3 4.5% Bayern Made with spelt malt. Cloudy, fruity Gose (Leipziger) 2 5.0% Leipzig Sour wheat with coriander and salt! Weissbier/ Weizenbier 0 5.0% Bayern Unfiltered, highly-carbonated, fruity wheat beer Ayinger/ Maisel Rauchweizen 7 5.0% Bamberg Weiss beer using smoked malt Heller Schlenkerla Roggenbier 7 5.0% Bayern Dark and unfiltered rye beer with natural sediment Paulaner Low/No Alcohol Beers (Lagered beers) Not recommended Alkoholfreies Bier 1 0.5% Very low or no alcohol pilsener Alster(wasser) 2 2.5% Bayern Pilsener mixed with lemonade! Dünnbier 1 2.5% North Germany A thin, light beer Einfachbier 1 1.0% Literally 'simple' or 'plain' beer. Very light Erntebier 1 2.5% Bayern 'Harvest' beer. Mildly hopped with a weak body Leichtbier/ Light 2 2.5% Low-alcohol pilsener or hefeweissen Malzbier 7 0.0% Totally non-alcoholic malt drink. Not actually beer! Radler(mass) 2 2.5% Pilsener mixed with lemonade! Russ 0 2.5% Bayern Weissbier mixed with lemonade!

And here are some numbers I found about what the Germans and Bavarians drink (not comprehensive but interesting):

	Germany	Bayern
Pils	61%	20%
Export	12%
Weissbier	10%	35%
Helles		25%
Bock	1%
Others	16%	20%
Bier	100%	100%
Vollbier	99%
Einfachbier	0.1%
Schankbier	0.2%
Starkbier	0.7%
Bier	100%
Breweries	1250
Beers	5000

Final note: About half the breweries are in Bayern yet Dortmund (in North Rhine-Westphalia) produces more beer than the perceived capital of German drinking, Munich (Bayern).
For more reading on German beer:
German Beer Institute   http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/
Prost!