Your Quick Guide to German Beer

Posted on August 30, 2018

It’s hard to imagine Oktoberfest without good beer. It’s like peanut butter and jelly or hot dogs and baseball. Today we’re going to take a look at some of the most popular German beer styles and what makes them so interesting. Let’s roll!

Märzen & Dunkel

In the 1500’s, wild yeast and bacteria often laid waste to beer stock in Bavaria. Thus, the local government banned the brewing of beer during the summer months. Without realizing, these government officials were giving birth to several important beer styles, including the Märzen and the Dunkel.

The Märzen was created in March as quickly as possible before the summer ban. The Dunkel, on the other hand, was brewed in winter and early spring, then left to ferment in cool caves for a good long time.

Kölsch

The Kölsch is a type of ale that is fermented at cooler temperatures than are usually reserved for lagers. It tends to be a good, easy-drinking summer beer that offers a mellow malt presence with a pronounced hop profile.

Wheat Beers

If you’ve ever heard of Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen, or a Weizenbock, then you’ve heard of wheat beers. These beers are brewed with a special yeast strain that gives them their bannana-clove-like flavors and aromas. The Dunkelweizen is a darker version of the classic. The Weizenbock is a wheat beer brewed to a “bock” strength.

Bock

There aere several different kinds of bocks. There’s the Maibock, the Dopplebock, and The Eisbock to name a few. Bock beers are bottom fermenting lagers that take a few months of extra cold storage. They tend to be a bit stronger than typical lagers with a nice, robust malt character.

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Categories: 2018