The Beers of Germany-Part 2 (History)

Welcome back to our blogspot.....been awhile! So to continue with the Beers of Germany.

Firstly a bit of history.
As man came in from the trees and decided that he could have a better life cultivating the land and growing crops he realised that the barley, wheat and the whole host of other cereals that he grew could be mashed and then fermented to make an alcoholic beverage we now call beer. It was great to drink, nutritious and was a great way to use any leftover cereal he had. There started man’s love affair with the amber nectar of life-beer!
The oldest remains of a brewery in Germany is near the town of Kulmbach in Bavaria and dates from around 800BC (in other words a long long time ago) and the Germanic tribes have been brewing beer ever since, initially the responsibility was down to the women folk who combined beer ‘cooking’ with the baking of bread, well they are from the same ingredients after all!
The picture on the left doesn't show a Jewish cookpot but shows the original brewery, the sign is from Alchemy and denotes the 4 ingredients of beer!
Before we continue we must mention caves. It was most likely by accident that in the Middle Ages (or maybe before!) the Bavarians discovered that if beer was left in cellars in the rock at just above freezing then the yeast sank to the bottom of the barrels and however continued to ferment very very slowly, hence started the original ‘Lagerbier’.
Some of the best examples of these caves or Felsenkellers (rock caves) can be found in Forchheim’s Kellerwald in Franconia, tours can be arranged via the tourist office or Bier-Mania!.
The picture on the right shows the 'chute' where ice was 'stuffed' down the cellar, cool eh?

Bier-Mania! Cultural Beer Tours are running 2 tours to this year's Annafest where you can see the caves and experience a traditional Franconian folk festival, complete with funfair!
For more information email andy@bier-mania.com