| German beer is a part of the culture like wine is in | | | | Not only will you get to know something about the |
| France. Every region has its own kind of beer. Each | | | | different kinds of German beer but you will meet a |
| has a distinctive flavour. Beer is not just beer in | | | | lot of Germans. The normally reserved, hard working |
| Germany. If you are going to ask for a beer in | | | | Germans become much more out going at their beer |
| Germany you need to know what kind. when you | | | | festivals. You will see a side of them that you would |
| are travelling in Germany try different types and get | | | | not otherwise get to know if you only meet them in |
| to know the one you like best. | | | | a business context. |
| Nowadays German beer is exported worldwide but | | | | The German beer that is best known abroad is |
| the best ones are still to be found in Germany. There | | | | Pilsner. It is a lager type beer. That means it is made |
| are many lesser known German beers that you will | | | | with a top fermenting kind of hops. It has a light |
| only find in Germany itself. Small local breweries | | | | golden colour and clean taste with no after taste. In |
| produce interesting beers that you will only find within | | | | Germany itself you will find many more brands of |
| a one area of the country. | | | | pilsner than you will find exported. Seek out some of |
| All these different kinds of beer are made of the | | | | the lesser known ones. Pilsner is a far more |
| same basic ingredients. They are made of water, | | | | interesting drink than you think from the big export |
| malted barley and hops. The differences in flavour | | | | brands which can be a little bland. |
| come from the kind of hops, the malting process and | | | | But pilsner is not the only German beer. There are |
| the even the water that has been used in the | | | | other darker beers that are made with bottom |
| brewing process. | | | | fermenting hops. They have more complex tastes |
| No matter where the beer is made and what kind it | | | | than the typical pilsner. Some people may find them a |
| is, it must conform to rigorous purity standards. | | | | little heavy but if you like beer they may be for you. |
| German beer is carefully regulated to preserve the | | | | Altbier is a dark beer with a very hoppy flavour. It |
| quality of the product and to ensure that customers | | | | may not be to everyone's liking. It is something of an |
| get exactly what they expect. | | | | acquired taste. |
| Every October there are beer festivals in Germany - | | | | Then there is Rauchbier. It has a smokey, barbecue |
| the Oktoberfest. Every town has them, but the | | | | kind of flavour. You will find Altbier and Rauchbier all |
| most famous is the Munich beer festival. People sit at | | | | over Germany. You will also find Maerzen, Boch, |
| long wooden tables, drinking, talking and singing. They | | | | Dunkel and Helles. The names alone make them |
| are very social events. German beer is not for | | | | worth trying. They sound like something out of The |
| drinking alone. Beer festivals are good humoured | | | | Lord of the Rings. |
| events and well worth making a point of visiting if | | | | Big companies such as St. Pauli, Warsteiner, Beck and |
| you are in Germany. | | | | Krombach tend to dominate the industrial areas of |
| Only local breweries serve beer in the main tents at | | | | northern Germany. In the south there are lots of |
| the Munich Oktoberfest. It is the best place to find | | | | smaller breweries. Some of these small southern |
| out about them. It is estimated that some 5 million | | | | breweries have been in business for hundred of |
| people attend the Munich Oktoberfest every year. It | | | | years. One of them was been brewing since 1040. |
| runs from late September to early October. | | | | That's over a thousand years of brewing history. |
