Name German Beers Worth Drinking that aren't..... Wheats or Lagers

[MisterTipsy]

It occurred to me I don't drink German beers often.

What else to they have worth drinking besides wheats and lagers?

 

[PapsD]

That pretty much just leaves you with koelsh and altbier.

 

[MisterTipsy]

There are no German Ales ???

I prefer ales. Wait...those are ales...doh!

 

[MisterTipsy]

Don't say Rauchbier. It doesn't count.

 

[iaefebs]

Check out this link

http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/styles.html

 

[MisterTipsy]

That's a good link, but I need short and easy answers in the form of German beer recommendations.

 

[iaefebs]

That's a good link, but I need short and easy answers in the form of German beer recommendations.

Beer doesn't ship well. It doesn't store well. The stuff you find here is not a good representation of German beer. I can only tell you what I was told, Come on over and visit.

 

[MisterTipsy]

I don't need to fly to Belgium to drink a great Belgian beer. What's the deal with Germany?

 

[Yooper]

There are many wonderful German beers. My favorites are pilsners, oktoberfests, bocks, dopplebocks, etc, but most of them are lagers of course.

I like Kolsch and altbiers, but they are almost impossible to find in the US.

 

[MisterTipsy]

In retrospect, it appears the Germans really screwed themselves with the Bavarian purity law of 1516.

 

[McGarnigle]

There are good Altbiers available in the US if you have a good beer store. Schwelmer makes one. So does Pinkus.

Freigeist Abraxas is a Lichtenhainer exported to the US (sour-smoke wheat beer, if you're into that). I've seen Kellerbiers and Landbiers at my local store. There are a number of old-style but lesser known styles like these around.

My local store, though most are weizens or pilsners:

http://www.mybeersoftheworld.com/imports/ei/germany.html

 

[passedpawn]

Berliner Weisse is a wheat, but you won't confuse it with a hefeweisen. Effervescent, refreshing, low ABV (most), very light, and moderately sour. This is a German style that is NOT a lager for sure.

 

[Caucasian]

Try a schwartzbeir, they're delicious.

 

[iambeer]

Step one is to find a liquor store that sells an astonishing selection of german beer. These stores do exist but are rare. It's all about access.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Saying you're looking for German beer but not wheat or lager is like asking to try an American-style beer that isn't hoppy or a British beer that isn't malty. Yeah, some do fit your criteria but you have overlooked a huge swath of styles. German wheat beers range from sour to salty to yeasty to malty to hoppy. German lagers pretty much go everywhere, too. Although it's definitely possible you just don't enjoy any of those beers I bet there are some out there that might change your mind.

 

[imaragingbull]

Doppelbock FTW. spaten optimator or ayinger celebrator

 

[iaefebs]

I don't need to fly to Belgium to drink a great Belgian beer. What's the deal with Germany?

Yeah you really do have to fly to Belgium to drink a great Belgian beer. You have to go to California to drink a great California beer. You have to come to Michigan to appreciate our beer. Shipping beer and the number of weeks it sits in a warehouse or on a store shelf does affect the product.

 

[douglasbarbin]

Try a schwartzbeir, they're delicious.

I agree

 

[LoneWolfPR]

Schwartzbier is a lager.

 

[reinstone]

altbier and kolsch.......if you wanna make one....the alt is easier .....if you wanna drink one the kolsch is easier to find...

 

[Koffie]

In retrospect, it appears the Germans really screwed themselves with the Bavarian purity law of 1516.

Nah, don't think so.
Here in Europe we're just not putting al weird stuff in our beers. Just water, malt, hops and yeast

 

[MisterTipsy]

Plenty of European breweries use "weird stuff" in their beers. Having a 600 year old law that says you can't is silly.

 

[patto1ro]

Berliner Weisse is a wheat, but you won't confuse it with a hefeweisen. Effervescent, refreshing, low ABV (most), very light, and moderately sour. This is a German style that is NOT a lager for sure.

If it's moderately sour, it's not right for the style. Berliner Weisse should be as sour as the sourest Lambiek.

 

[DPBISME]

There are no German Ales ???

I prefer ales. Wait...those are ales...doh!

Yep.... Kolsch and Altbier are Ales....

I just may have made my best beer ever (true to style) and it was a Kolsch.

It has a "light" Plisner taste to it... Not over powering (I don't always like Pislners)...

I used a Fermentation Chamber (Freezer) and I am now a fan of fermenting at the "correct" Tem.

DPB

 

[MisterTipsy]

I've enjoyed a few Kolsch beers. I'm not opposed to lagers. I can drink them, but they usually aren't very interesting to me. Octoberfest beers are an exception.

 

[passedpawn]

If it's moderately sour, it's not right for the style. Berliner Weisse should be as sour as the sourest Lambiek.

My berliner wiesse never got really sour. I've made 2. I have a brewing friend who made one last year and we did side-by-side comparisons and they were almost the same (his was better, but not that much more sour). His won NHC gold this year (his picture was in Zymurgy this month!)

The 2 commercial ones I've had weren't that sour either. Odd.

 

[rpe290]

Dampfbier is barley malt with Hefeweizen yeast, its interesting and drinkable. You will have to make it yourself though

Mine was a bit nasty (like ham) when I bottled (must have been the clove flaver) but after a couple weeks conditioning, it is pretty good...

I used the BYO magazine article for the most part (search in google will find it), I may have preferred WLP300 to 380 if I had tried that, but that is purely a guess.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Berliner Weisse doesn't have to be a wheat beer... you can make it out of 100% barley malt (I read somewhere that some commercial breweries do this). That'd be a German sour ale without wheat.

Other styles I can think of are Rheinisches Bitterbier (essentially a dry-hopped Koelsch) and Wiess (unfiltered Koelsch).

 

[StoneHands]

Octoberfest beers are an exception.

I think this is telling. My guess is you just haven't had the opportunity to try good examples of German beers. I think a helles can be very interesting, but they're so subtle a lot can be lost in shipping them over here. Bocks, dunkels, oktoberfests - they all can have a depth of character.

I don't think the Germans screwed themselves with the Reinheitsgebot, they just figured out the only "correct" way to brew beer and stuck with it. When you perfect something, why change?

 

[ktblunden]

I'm actually in the same boat as the OP. I don't typically like most wheat beers and lagers, but recently I find myself liking some of the darker lagers like oktoberfest (in the Sam Adams Fall pack, the Octoberfest is the only one I liked). I need to start looking into these styles that I've just overlooked this whole time. So that being said, what are some good German bocks, dunkels and oktoberfests available in the US? I'll hit up Bevmo on my way home today.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Also keep in mind that for much of Germany, the Reinheitsgebot didn't apply until German unification in 1871, and in some regions, it wasn't enforced until 1906 - and then only for lagers.

 

[StoneHands]

So that being said, what are some good German bocks, dunkels and oktoberfests available in the US? I'll hit up Bevmo on my way home today.

The "Big Six" in Munich are Augustiner, Hacker Pschorr, Spaten, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, and Hofbrau. Spaten from my experience is the easiest to find, but I think their dunkel is almost too malty (plus, they like green bottles). Ayinger is fairly easy to find, their Celebrator is very good, and Jahrhundert when it's traveled well is good. Paulaner Salvator is a very good doppelbock. There are a bunch, and right now you should be able to find most Oktoberfests.

 

[MisterTipsy]

I don't think the Germans screwed themselves with the Reinheitsgebot, they just figured out the only "correct" way to brew beer and stuck with it. When you perfect something, why change?

Certified codswallop! :cross:

 

[MisterTipsy]

The German beer labels are really boring too. I think their beer might taste better with a Three Floyds label.

 

[patto1ro]

My berliner wiesse never got really sour. I've made 2. I have a brewing friend who made one last year and we did side-by-side comparisons and they were almost the same (his was better, but not that much more sour). His won NHC gold this year (his picture was in Zymurgy this month!)

The 2 commercial ones I've had weren't that sour either. Odd.

The ones brewed in Berlin were incredibly sour. For some reason modern versions form elsewhere sometimes only have token sourness. Historically, Berliner Weisses were some of the sourest beers ever brewed.

 

[solbes]

Kolsch and altbiers are both really great hybrid ale styles. I've made 3 Kolsch batches and 1 Dusseldorf style alt. Used Kolsch yeast for both, so you can brew them in succession quite easily. I would ferment the 2565 around 60F for the Kolsch to give a little yeast character, then lager at 35F for 4 weeks. Ferment the washed yeast (from Kolsch) for the Alt at 57/58 and follow the same lager schedule. As long as you pitch lots of yeast for both, you will make great brews that combine aspects of an ale and a lager.

 

[patto1ro]

Dampfbier is barley malt with Hefeweizen yeast, its interesting and drinkable. You will have to make it yourself though

Mine was a bit nasty (like ham) when I bottled (must have been the clove flaver) but after a couple weeks conditioning, it is pretty good...

I used the BYO magazine article for the most part (search in google will find it), I may have preferred WLP300 to 380 if I had tried that, but that is purely a guess.

Dampfbier is not fermented with a hefeweizen yeast. I've been to the brewery that's home to the style and specifically asked the brewer. It's just a normal top-fermenting yeast. The beer itself tastes like a lightly-hopped Alt.

I don't know where the story about hefeweizen yeast came from. Possibly its a mistranslation from German.

 

[ArcaneXor]

The ones brewed in Berlin were incredibly sour. For some reason modern versions form elsewhere sometimes only have token sourness. Historically, Berliner Weisses were some of the sourest beers ever brewed.

pH ranges for BW beers range from about 3.3 to 3.8 (as of the late 1970s; source: VLB Berlin). Most Belgian sours are between 3 and 3.6 (according to Wild Brews). For comparison, the Scottish 80/- I have sitting in front of me is right around 4.5.

 

[MisterTipsy]

I'll try this one. Schlüssel Alt. Should be able to get it.

 

[StoneHands]

Certified codswallop! :cross:

Don't make me shake my fist at you and tell you to get off my lawn. It may be a matter of taste, but I'm of the opinion that German lagers are excellent, and can have very interesting flavors. Try a doppelbock or a dunkel, and give more than one a chance.

Do you smoke? I think some of the subtle flavors can be lost on smokers. A buddy of mine quit smoking last year, he went from loving IIPA's to almost hating them, and now enjoys a helles or a dunkel instead since he says he can taste them now. And you know I must be right on this, since I have a tremendous statistical sample of 1.