Bolten brewery in Korschenbroich (near Düsseldorf in Germany) have just released their latest beer, they call is 'Altbier to go'.
For more see the news clip!
Crazy Germans.
Showing posts with label German Beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German Beer. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Thursday, 2 April 2009
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 olde
st 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
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Beers of Germany-Part 1 (Introduction & Background)
Introduction
German beer = Lager.
One word with the emphasis (in England at any rate!) on the aaaa-ger part of the word!
That is probably what you are thinking right now as you read this, ‘there’s only lager in Germany, it is fizzy, clear, served cold and rather easy to drink!’.
Right, or wrong?
Well, right and wrong.
Before we start, there are quite a few German words which have been unwisely adapted by the English speaking world and turned into something that the original word doesn’t really mean and the word lager is one of them! So it is probably best that we really start with the actual definition of the word lager-a quick German lesson-when we are talking about lager within the context of beer then it simply means ‘cold maturing’ and no it doesn’t refer to a primary top or bottom fermented style of beer either!
Another very important definition-within this article the terms top, bottom and spontaneous fermentation is used to define the primary fermentation when beer is brewed, the use of ale and lager is just too simplistic within the context of German beer! Sorry!
Background
It is hard to believe that in this country of 85 million people with around 1300 breweries (of which around half are in Bavaria), there are in fact over 20 different ‘styles’ of beer in Germany which can be more or less clearly defined, unfortunately the fizzy liquid which we call lager in the UK and the USA is in fact usually just a sort of a version of a style of beer called Pilsner (originating in the town of Pilsen in the Czech Republic) which swept through Europe during the 1800s and has remained here ever since! Mass immigration from Germany during the late 1800s could attribute to this and yes you’ve guessed it, the immigrants took the new Pilsner (Pils) style beer across to the USA and the rest is history! For the ‘style police’ amongst you; whereas the Beer Judge Certification Programme (BJCP) is an attempt to ‘judge’ beer, this article outlines how to ‘drink’ beer! Smile.
On the left photo you can see some Lagering tanks at Eck Brauereigasthof in the Bavraian Forest. The tanks are in a cellar dug many years ago deep below the hamlet of Eck, the temperature is held just above zero °C, wakes you up if you have had one or 5 too many the night before! Mike the brewer showed us around. Thanks Mike-awesome place!
One of the very sad facts that is within Germany it is very unusual to have more than around 3 different types of beer in a pub, there will usually be a lighter coloured beer such as a Pils or in Bavaria a Helles, a darker beer and also usually a bottled Weizen beer, in many country breweries especially in Franken, Düsseldorf and Köln there will be just one beer available!
We will now attempt to make sense of all the beer and styles of Germany so that at the end of this you will find yourself wanting to get out for a few fresh German beers yourself!
Prost!
Coming up in the next installment.., part 2-a quick bit of history!
German beer = Lager.
One word with the emphasis (in England at any rate!) on the aaaa-ger part of the word!
That is probably what you are thinking right now as you read this, ‘there’s only lager in Germany, it is fizzy, clear, served cold and rather easy to drink!’.
Right, or wrong?
Well, right and wrong.
Before we start, there are quite a few German words which have been unwisely adapted by the English speaking world and turned into something that the original word doesn’t really mean and the word lager is one of them! So it is probably best that we really start with the actual definition of the word lager-a quick German lesson-when we are talking about lager within the context of beer then it simply means ‘cold maturing’ and no it doesn’t refer to a primary top or bottom fermented style of beer either!
Another very important definition-within this article the terms top, bottom and spontaneous fermentation is used to define the primary fermentation when beer is brewed, the use of ale and lager is just too simplistic within the context of German beer! Sorry!
Background
It is hard to believe that in this country of 85 million people with around 1300 breweries (of which around half are in Bavaria), there are in fact over 20 different ‘styles’ of beer in Germany which can be more or less clearly defined, unfortunately the fizzy liquid which we call lager in the UK and the USA is in fact usually just a sort of a version of a style of beer called Pilsner (originating in the town of Pilsen in the Czech Republic) which swept through Europe during the 1800s and has remained here ever since! Mass immigration from Germany during the late 1800s could attribute to this and yes you’ve guessed it, the immigrants took the new Pilsner (Pils) style beer across to the USA and the rest is history! For the ‘style police’ amongst you; whereas the Beer Judge Certification Programme (BJCP) is an attempt to ‘judge’ beer, this article outlines how to ‘drink’ beer! Smile.
On the left photo you can see some Lagering tanks at Eck Brauereigasthof in the Bavraian Forest. The tanks are in a cellar dug many years ago deep below the hamlet of Eck, the temperature is held just above zero °C, wakes you up if you have had one or 5 too many the night before! Mike the brewer showed us around. Thanks Mike-awesome place!
One of the very sad facts that is within Germany it is very unusual to have more than around 3 different types of beer in a pub, there will usually be a lighter coloured beer such as a Pils or in Bavaria a Helles, a darker beer and also usually a bottled Weizen beer, in many country breweries especially in Franken, Düsseldorf and Köln there will be just one beer available!
We will now attempt to make sense of all the beer and styles of Germany so that at the end of this you will find yourself wanting to get out for a few fresh German beers yourself!
Prost!
Coming up in the next installment.., part 2-a quick bit of history!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The Beers of Germany
Coming soon...The Beers of Germany!
We thought you may all like the article that was published in the Oct/Nov/Dec edition of Beers of the World magazine, 'probably' the UK's premier beer magazine. Sally the editor has given us the green light to put it on our blog.
Thanks Sally.
We will be publishing the expanded version of the article which waffles on a bit more than you can put in a 5-page magazine spread!
We believe that Beers of the World magazine is the the UK's only beer magazine. The magazine comes out 4 times a year and deals with all types of beer (regardless of the amount of hectolitres they produce-we like that!) We just wish you had the magazine out every month....
Articles are written by established beer writers as well as well of course the not so established 'beer tour guides'!
You can subscibe to the magazine on the magazine's website.
Oh, and please don't take the article too seriously though, it is after all only our opinion (and we all know what opinions are like.....)
After all it's just beer.....
Hope you enjoy it.
Cheers,
Andy
PS, the photo on the top right was in the Katacomben underneath the Bayreuther Bierbrauerei and Maisel's Brewery Museum in Bayreuth-we visit the brewery museum (and cooperage) during our Franconia nd Bamberg Special tours.
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