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German Beer

German Beer makes an excellent german gift. Why?
In America, when you think of all things German, the first things that come to mind are great beer, delicious food, and Oktoberfest in wine country.

The most sensible gift and one you can’t go wrong with is "Bier aus Deutschland".

With so many to choose from, it is easy to make a gift basket with a variety of this beverage for every season, and come up with an excellent gift of distinctive types of beers.

High Consumption

Germany is third in highest per-capita beer consumption in the world, behind Czech Republic and Ireland. They also produce 10% of the world’s beer.

There are 1200 hundred or more breweries in Germany that produce lagers, ales, wheat beers, smoked beers and warm or spontaneously fermented ones.

There are over 65,000 people employed in the beer making industry in Germany.

Historical Overview

It used to be that every German town had its own way of brewing beer, which led to many different types in the 16th & 17th century.

By using different fruits, grains and fermentation methods, each beer had a different distinct flavor and shelf life.

Four Classes, mainly top-fermenting

The 50 years of the lager revolution between 1870 and 1920, all but wiped out the unique blends from the 16th & 17th centuries.

Since then, most German Beers now fall into four classes, mainly top-fermenting:

• Very dark, stronger beers with lighter hops content,
• Pale, lighter hops content beers,
• Pale, heavily smoked wheat beers,
• Golden, pale, clear, heavily hopped beers.

Top 10

A basket of these Top Ten "Deutsche Biere" give a good variety and overall sampling of the best ones:

Pilsner has a crisp, hoppy flavored taste.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is a unique wheat beer with yeast added to ferment the blend of malted barley and wheat

Spaten Oktoberfest is a sweet, brown beer, traditionally served in the autumn.

Einbecker Ur-Bock is a dark, malty style beer.

Paulaner Salvator Doppel Bock is darker and richer than the other bock lagers.

Avinger Brau-Hell-Helles or Maibock are pale colored, which is generally hoppier than other bocks.

Kölsch are brewed with ale yeast and aged like lagers, pale and somewhat hoppy

Alt-brown or amber and can be rather bitter and slightly malty.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier is a smoked beer, sweet and malty.

Berliner Kindl Weisse has deliberately soured grains and is good to add fruit or herb syrups to.

Learn her even more about german beer brands
and german beer styles.

Quality - hard to beat:

It is hard to beat German beer quality on the worldwide market, and a couple of the beers listed above, such as Kölsch and Alt hardly make it out of Germany.

You may have to buy substitutes of these styles of beer made in other parts of the world or in the United States, to complete this Top Ten in a special gift basket.

Learn german beer terms & expressions

In case you are travelling through Germany and would like to order a beer find in the following a free video with the most important beer terms and expressions.

Beer Glasses & Steins

Beer can make an excellent gift idea and you can pair it with some cheese and fruit for a memorable gift.

Another great option is to add a special type of beer glass or stein to your gift. Find in the following a great selection:

- german beer glasses
- german beer stein

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