Know Germany's famous beers - By beer author Howard Hillman

German Beer

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German beer
tips and insights

The 2 most popular
German beer categories

Germany has many beers and beer categories. One popular way to classify the so-called normal brewed beers is into these two categories:

Dunkles

In most instances, dunkles beers are on the sweet, full side and have a low hop content. They are dark hued and are translucent to opaque.

Helles

The helles beers have a higher hop content and, therefore, are slightly more bitter in flavor. They are light hued and semi transparent.

However, German beers cover the full spectrum between these two extremes.

Other beer types

The non-normal brewed beers include the dark, sweet, low-alcohol Malzbier (malt beers) and the wheat beers such as Berliner Weisse (traditionally spiked with raspberry syrup).

Other classifications

German beers may also be classified by their origin, their alcoholic strength, whether they are top or bottom fermented, and their method and duration of storage (lager means "stored").

Serving temperature

Remember that the proper serving temperature is warmer than American, colder than English.