When You Think of Beer …

Though beermaking did not originate in Germany, the Germans may very well have the world’s longest continuous brewing tradition. Other European countries have prominent and storied brewing histories, but for no other country is beer as much a part of its national identity as it is with Germany.

There’s archeological evidence (from 800 BCE) that Germans were brewing beer during their late Bronze Age. Centuries later (in the first century ACE), when the Romans invaded Germany, they found the Germans brewing. Being the Romans they said, “Jove’s beard! This barbaric grain-wine you guys are drinking is soooo much inferior to actual wine … but because we’re running out of real wine, give us a moment and we can show you how to do it better,” which they did. In 1978, archeologists uncovered the remains of a Roman brewery in Bavaria that now is the earliest evidence of early brewing techniques like malting and mashing.

Centuries later, after the fall of the empire and the withdrawal of their forces, Germans were still brewing, with women making beer as a regular practice that went along with making bread. Beer was safer than water to drink, and as a product of barley, wheat, spelt, rye, or whatever fermentable grains they could grow or purchase, it had caloric content and nutritional properties.

The next big advance in German brewing came as a result of spiritual conquest. Starting in the 500s, Irish and English monks crossed into Germany, set on its Christianization. Of course, they brewed like everyone else brewed, but, being studious and literate, the monks were more prone to experimentation and were able to document their missteps and successes. Thus, it should be no surprise that they advanced brewing practices.

Focusing back on Bavaria, by the early 1400s, Bavarians had discovered that beer fermenting in colder temperatures had residue that sunk to the bottom of their fermentation vessel instead of floating on the top as happened with warmer fermenting beers. What they had stumbled upon was a new strain of yeast, a strain that allowed them to brew beers in the cold winter months and prompted them to store those beers in cool caves or cellars when temperatures warmed up. The German word that means “to stock” or “to store” and that also refers to a storage place like a warehouse or a cellar … is “lager.”

Now, at this time, fermentation was done in open-topped vessels. This means that ales, fermented at warmer temperatures, were more likely to be infected by organisms that spoiled the beer than lagers, fermenting in their colder environments. Thus, lager brewing produced beers of more reliable quality. Not understanding why this difference was happening, Bavarian Duke Albrecht V (successor of Duke Wilhelm IV — see next paragraph) declared that Bavarian brewers could only brew in the winter. This decree effectively made Bavaria a lager culture, promoting the style of beer which is the most brewed style today worldwide.

Undoubtedly, the most famous event in German brewing was in 1516, when Duke Wilhelm IV of Munich pronounced his Reinheitsgebot — Purity Law. This decree took some local bans and applied them to all of Bavaria, so that Bavarian brewers were encouraged to only make beer from three ingredients — water, barley, and hops. This decree influenced the nature of German beer for centuries. By extension, it has had a decades long effect on this hemisphere’s brewing, which was dominated by German immigrant brewers in the late 19th and almost entire 20th century.

This week, we go back to the source by tasting some German beers (and one Austrian beer, because why not?). Please join us anytime between 5:00 and 6:30 PM for this free walk-up tasting. Prost!