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Itching to Sample an Awesome Beer? Do German!

The German people are famous for many things; one of them is beer. Beer is a crucial part of their tradition and heritage, with over 1300 different breweries spread across the land. The Czechs and the Irish are the only ones above the Germans as far as beer drinking per capita. The history of Germanic brew goes back to the beginnings of the nation when monks began to experiment with brewing about 1000 A.D. The nation's leaders eventually started to legislate the manufacturing of beer as brewing started to be more and more lucrative. The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, or purity standard, was enacted in fifteen-sixteen and is still the most prominent and influential component to effect Germanic brewing.

The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot was ordered by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria to guarantee Bavarian beers were made of the highest quality. Water, hops, and barley are the only ingredients that should go in in beer according to the law. The Reinheitsgebot is the oldest legislation put on food in the world and has not been changed in almost 500 years. The only addition to the act is the adding of yeast to the cache of essential ingredients. Yeast that was naturally in the air was what brewers in the past used. Because of the stringent code of quality followed by the purity requirement, Bavarian manufacturers were soon known as the superior manufacturers of beer. As the prominence of the Bavarian breweries spread around the nation other manufacturers began to follow the proclamation as well.

As a result of the Reinheitsgebot, German brews have a long-standing reputation of making quality beers made out of the best ingredients. Many places became famed brewing spots as time went on and Germany began to ship out beer. By 1500, Scandinavia, Holland, England, and even as far as India principally received their beer from one of the 600 breweries in the city of Bremen. Einbeck and Braunschweig were two more famous brewing cities. In modern-day Germany, the majority of the country's beer-drinking people still prefer fabbier, or draught beer, over bottled beer because of it's robust taste and right amount of head foam. In an effort to prevent further breakouts of the black plague German beer steins became popular around the time the purity requirement came about and are still used today.

During the time of the bubonic plague, Germany started many laws to prevent its citizens from becoming sick. Infection would spread as large amounts of diseased flies flew in people's food and drink. This led to the German beer stein, a beverage holder with a hinged lid that is used with the thumb so somebody could prevent disease and still be able to drink with one hand. Beer drinking rose exponentially as people started to realize the plague spread in unclean conditions with brackish pools of water. German beer steins were originally crafted from stoneware with pewter tops. Steins started to be made completely of pewter for almost three-hundred years as the pewter guild became more powerful. Still manufactured today, silver and porcelain German beer steins were eventually introduced.

More than five-thousand kinds of beer are manufactured nowadays from over thirteen-hundred and fifty breweries within Germany's borders. The Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan, which has been producing beer since 1040, is considered the oldest brewery in the world. The most concentrated area in Germany for beer makers is the Franconia region of Bavaria by the city Bamberg. German breweries manufacture a large range of flavors and types of beer with the majority of them able to be placed under ales or lagers. Some brands of beer may have an alcoholic content as high as 12%, making them stronger than many wines even though the majority of beers have an alcoholic content ranging from 4.7% to 5.4%.

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Michael Usry is a long-time beer lover and contributing author for "Beer Maniac" fanzine in Austin, Tx. He is also a top affiliate at beer tap handles, and german beer steins, websites for household draft beer accessories.

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