German Beer

Germany boasts an extremely proud and highly regarded brewing tradition. The "Rheinheitsgebot" or Beer purity law of 1516 prohibits the use of any ingredients other than water, barley, wheat, hops and yeast in brewing. Bavaria alone is home to many hundreds of breweries ranging from the six large Munich breweries to innumerable village breweries and brew-pubs. Styles vary from region to region but include dark and light wheatbeers, Dusseldorf Altbier, Kolsch in Cologne, sour wheat beers from Berlin, dark lagers, double bocks (somewhat like barley wine), Smoked beers from the Bamberg area and some very high quality pilseners. Germany consumes unbelievable amounts of beer per capita each year (vying with the Czechs for pole position!) which can only stand as testimony to the quality of this country's beers.