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What You Should Know About German Beer
Crisp, fresh quaffs with funny names
German beer doesn’t get the attention it deserves from today’s beer snob, who gravitates toward extreme flavors and marketing. You’re not going to find a German beer containing massive hops with Hindu deities on its label or a snowboarding reference in its name.
Good German beer (and there’s a lot of it—this is a country with 800 years of brewing history) is like a well-made Shaker chair: simple, traditional, and perfectly balanced, with clean, wholesome flavors. Many brewers still adhere to a now-repealed 16th-century law called the Reinheitsgebot, 
which forbids adding anything to beer besides the basic water, hops, and malt.
Germans love to drink beer, ranking third in beer consumption behind the Czechs and the Irish. (Americans rank 13th.) And they love to drink outside, weather permitting, in beer gardens with communal picnic tables and simple menus of meats and cheeses. Because German beer is so crisp and well-balanced, it’s easy to drink a lot of it without feeling burnt out by any of the flavors. So if you want to be authentic, drink a lot of beer, drink outside if possible, and pair your beer with sausage, cured meats, hearty seeded bread, and cheese.
Here’s CHOW’s guide to the most common types of German beer, as well as some more obscure regional varieties, plus a little history. The words light and dark refer to color, not body—you’ll find many golden-colored German beers to be hearty, and some dark beers to be much less filling than you’d expect.
Pilsner a.k.a. Pils
The vast majority of beer drunk in the world is pilsner. American macrobrews like Bud and Coors are bastardizations of this style, with little resemblance to the traditional German variety. Pils is a crisp, dry, refreshing lager beer. (Lager is the type of yeast used; it doesn’t produce many of the phenols 
and esters that ale yeasts do, making for a cleaner flavor.) It’s got a little herbal bitterness and a slight floral aroma from the hops, as well as pleasantly balanced malty cereal flavors.
Interesting Factoid: The Czechs invented this style in the 19th century. Germans saw that people went mad for it, so they copped it and called it pils instead of pilsner. German pils taste similar to Czech pilsners, though a little drier and hoppier.
Try: Spaten Pils, König Pilsener, Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu Pilsner
Helles
The name means “light one” in German, but don’t mistake that for “lite.” Full-bodied and full-flavored, this golden-colored lager tastes like earthy, lightly toasted grains, with less herbal hoppiness than a pils.
Interesting Factoid: According to beer writer Tomm Carroll from Celebrator Beer News, the style was invented in Munich in the late 1800s by the Spaten brewery to compete with pilsners. “They couldn’t get the clean, crisp hops to come out with their water,” says Carroll, so they made it maltier instead.
Try: Spaten Premium Lager, Hacker-Pschorr Münchener Gold, Weihenstephaner Original, Augustiner-Bräu Edelstoff
Hefeweizen a.k.a. Weissbier, Weisse, Weizen, etc.
German wheat beers are generally unfiltered, cloudy ales that are a far cry from most one-dimensional, crisp, easy-drinkin’ wheat beers made in the United States. Their lush smells and flavors can include banana, clove, grapefruit, and bread, and no, they’re not traditionally served with a slice of lemon. The flavors of a hefeweizen come only from the pure yeast, hops, and grains, not from any added spices in the manner of, say, a Belgian witbier. (Unless we’re talking about Gose—see Regional Specialty Beers on the next page.)
Interesting Factoid: If offered the choice of a hefeweizen on tap or in a bottle, many beer-lovers will choose the latter. You get more aromas and flavors, because the yeast in the bottle has continued to ferment the beer after bottling. Plus you can swirl the tasty yeast sediment that settles to the bottom of the bottle, pour it into your glass, and drink it—a delicacy! Watch this video for tips on how to pour hefeweizen.
Try: Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrüb, Ayinger Bräu-Weisse, Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse Naturtrüb. Sierra Nevada also makes a great, authentic-tasting unfiltered German wheat beer called Kellerweis.
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I second ChristinaMason's comment. Purity is nice and all, but some American brewers are putting out the most interesting, creative beers in the world right now. What's wrong with massive hops?!
PS- If you dig Kölsch and want to try another American-brewed example, Stoudt's Brewing Company in Adamstown PA has a Karnival Kölsch is really great.
Paulaner Salvator is my all-time favorite doppelbock. I was actually introduced to it in the employee cafeteria of the Paulaner brewery in Munich- good times. Out of the bottle, however, I find it has a funny soy sauce flavor; I'm reduced to creeping around Brauhaus Schmidtz here in Philly and hoping its on tap. Totally worth it for that beautiful reddish brew.
Kristallweizen is indeed served with a lemon slice
Who researched this? The Czech did NOT invent pilsner beer. It was a german brew master (from Munich) who got called to Pilsen to do something about their horrible beer.
Augustiner Weissbier has always been my favorite wheatbeer
Maisels is a close second.
The cost of german beer due to the worthless american dollar
is forcing me to drink american swill instead.
I'm currently living in Berlin, and although there are some very good pilsners and some decent Schwarzbiers, I desperately miss American beer.
Yes, I'm serious. I think American craft beer is more interesting and more varied than what you typically find in Germany. Some American favorites include Old Rasputin imperial stout, Bell's Two-Hearted IPA, Brooklyn Brown, 3 Philosophers, Rogue Mocha...+READ
I'm currently living in Berlin, and although there are some very good pilsners and some decent Schwarzbiers, I desperately miss American beer.
Yes, I'm serious. I think American craft beer is more interesting and more varied than what you typically find in Germany. Some American favorites include Old Rasputin imperial stout, Bell's Two-Hearted IPA, Brooklyn Brown, 3 Philosophers, Rogue Mocha Porter, Dale's Pale Ale, Brooklyn Lager, a few of the Goose Island brews...I could go on. Ten years ago this was not the case, but these days, there is an amazing selection of widely varied, lovingly handcrafted beers in addition to the Miller and Busch blandness.
Sometimes I think the Reinheitsgebot was more of a curse than a blessing to beer brewing in Germany. I find Belgian beers to be much more varied and interesting because (as I understand it) they didn't have the same historic restrictions on additives and flavorings. This left more room for creativity, and as a happy consumer of Kriek and Kasteel, I'm grateful for it.
Germany is great if you love Pilsner or Hefeweissen. But if your tastes extend to the (even slightly) more exotic, going out for a brew can be something of a letdown.
That said, the Augustinerbraeu is putting out some good, crisp, flavorful pilsners and helles.-COLLAPSE
Why no mention of Altenmunster? IMO, it's simply the best of the German beers.
When I got heavily into the American craft beer scene in 1994, I, too, very stupidly took about 8 years off from drinking German beers. I was too excited by the local scene to care. Now, in the last five years, I have re-embraced the best Germany has to offer and I couldn't be happier. Several of my all time fave beers are mentioned in this article, but I have to give a special shout out to Gose....+READ
When I got heavily into the American craft beer scene in 1994, I, too, very stupidly took about 8 years off from drinking German beers. I was too excited by the local scene to care. Now, in the last five years, I have re-embraced the best Germany has to offer and I couldn't be happier. Several of my all time fave beers are mentioned in this article, but I have to give a special shout out to Gose. Tart, salty, spiced and refreshing. When I find it, I buy it by the case.
Now, I also bailed on English beer years ago and, guess what, I still haven't come back. Yawn.-COLLAPSE
I think the knock on American hefes that seems to be current in beer tasting reviews has some of the earmarks of being the beer equivalent to the anti-Merlot crowd in wine: appearing to be very discriminating when one is being more affected than discriminating.
And, yes, it's kristallweizen that might be taken with lemon by some at certain times of year.
Zeta, I didn't say these beers are fermented with lager yeast. I said that many of them are conditioned with lager yeast.
The fact that a beer is bottle-conditioned doesn't mean it can't be pasteurized after the fact, and I'm told this is generally the case.
I got my information from the importer of Schneider Weisse. I know a bit about beer, so you needn't talk down to me. cheers, Jim
Jim, sorry, but you are completely wrong. Hefe- (and Kristall-) weizen are made with top-fermenting yeast, Lager with bottom-fermenting. Traditionally, hefeweizens are bottle conditioned and therefore cannot be pasteurised.
I'm told that most hefeweizens are bottled with lager yeast, so any fermentation in the bottle is not going to add any appreciable flavor to the beer, particularly not the signature clove and banana notes. A notable exception is Schneider Weisse.
I believe most bottled hefeweizens are pasteurized, in which case nothing at all would occur, except perhaps autolysis.
"Many brewers still adhere to a now-repealed 16th-century law called the Reinheitsgebot, which forbids adding anything to beer besides the basic water, hops, and malt."
The law actually states "barley," not "malt" - and most brewers also add yeast to start the fermentation process. The Reinheitsgebot predates the discovery of yeast ergo it is not included in the law.
Another thing the...+READ
"Many brewers still adhere to a now-repealed 16th-century law called the Reinheitsgebot, which forbids adding anything to beer besides the basic water, hops, and malt."
The law actually states "barley," not "malt" - and most brewers also add yeast to start the fermentation process. The Reinheitsgebot predates the discovery of yeast ergo it is not included in the law.
Another thing the Reinheitsgebot included was a maximum price one could charge for a beer, this was also punishable.
Brilliant!-COLLAPSE
franziskaner is probably the best hefeweizen i've ever had. surprised it didn't make it into the article...
F.Y.I. "Factoid" means "a non-truth."
Whoops. Yeast was not originally stipulated, as it wasn't recognized as an ingredient at the time the law was written.
"Many brewers still adhere to a now-repealed 16th-century law called the Reinheitsgebot, which forbids adding anything to beer besides the basic water, hops, and malt." Fortunately the Germans also stipulated yeast. The malt was barley malt. No other malted grains. No expert here, just someone who did a little research a few years back....
Pils was not invented by the Czechs. The first pilsener - in the modern sense - was brewed by a bavarian brewer who was called to Pilsen to make a proper beer. But since this was way before Germany or Czechoslovakia were founded, these terms of nation-states are pretty useless anyway.
hey weirjf,
can you recommend any German stouts?
As for filtered german style american wheat beers I think sierra has a nice Kristal (clean, dry like Weihenstephaner Kristal) and they have another beer 'Kellerweis" (unfiltered) which tastes almost exactly like Franziskaner....
chris of CHOW
while I love microbrews... I'm also a fan of a nice stout german beer. German wine is also awesome and underappreciated.
the lemon is only added to kristallweizen.
"Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier" is actually three beers, an Urbock, a Marzen (as pictured) and a Weizen, all using smoked malt. I've not had the first. The Marzen is incredibly smoky, I found it to be nearly undrinkable except as an accompaniment to similarly strong food. The Weizen is much more drinkable, so make that one your first rauchbier, I'll suggest.
regarding hefeweizen: "and no, they’re not traditionally served with a slice of lemon"
While that statement is true, I might add that it is not unusual to get a drink in the summer that is half hefeweizen and half lemonade. Very light and refreshing - perfect when hiking in the Black Forest and emerging at a restaurant.
American craft brewers are doing great versions of some of these German...+READ
regarding hefeweizen: "and no, they’re not traditionally served with a slice of lemon"
While that statement is true, I might add that it is not unusual to get a drink in the summer that is half hefeweizen and half lemonade. Very light and refreshing - perfect when hiking in the Black Forest and emerging at a restaurant.
American craft brewers are doing great versions of some of these German styles - this summer I very much enjoyed Red Lodge (MT) Glacier ale, an altbier, and New Glarus (WI) Black Wheat, a dunkelweizen. Altbier is a very little known style. I was in Red Lodge with a German friend and when they said the Glacier ale was a German style, my friend said "there is no ale in Germany." So we are all learning.-COLLAPSE
DiveFan - Their are a lot of very good American wheat beers, including hefeweiss beers. I don't think the article was knocking these. I think the knock was on Blue Moon, Shock Top, and the other mass produced beer with marketing strategies designed to fool you into thinking you're drinking a craft beer.
I'm curious after reading this, is Weihenstephaner Original really only a bit over a century old? The Weihenstephan Abbey Brewery is officially dated back to 1040, but they were likely producing beer over 250 years before that date. If their Original is a Helles, and Helles originated over 800 years after the brewery was officially licensed, the Original must not really be their original style,...+READ
I'm curious after reading this, is Weihenstephaner Original really only a bit over a century old? The Weihenstephan Abbey Brewery is officially dated back to 1040, but they were likely producing beer over 250 years before that date. If their Original is a Helles, and Helles originated over 800 years after the brewery was officially licensed, the Original must not really be their original style, correct? Have any of their other styles been in production for longer?
It would be a shame if the oldest beer at the oldest brewery in the world only dates to the late 1800's.-COLLAPSE
Really? Maybe you could suggest some for me to try. I've tried a whole bunch of American style "wheat" beers and been disappointed overall. The best I've found are Victory's "Sunrise Wheat" and Brooklyn Brewery's "Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen Weiss" which is really a collaboration with the German brewery Schneider.
I'm a great fan of unfiltered wheat beer, but you lost me at 'one-dimensional, crisp, easy-drinkin’ wheat beers' made in the U.S.
Who makes those?
Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but the U.S. 'hefeweizens' I've tried are all unfiltered and pretty good (but not quite to the described German level).