Hello to all!
Every couple of years, I return to Germany, particularly to Bavaria, in order to check on the local beer scene. I have just returned from a two week visit (November 2007).
As expected, many of the breweries that I knew just a few years ago have been bought out by bigger breweries and have been closed. This is a real tragedy as the beer landscape is changing for the worse.
It was always the small, often family owned breweries which made the best beer - the beer with the most taste and character. Big breweies in Germany, just as in other countries, are shooting for a mainstream appeal. Consequently, it is often extremely difficult to distinguish between beers of a certain style from competing brewers. Take Pilsener for example. Buy a variety of them from around Germany and try to tell them apart. Good luck! All are good and of high quality, but not very interesting. The IBU's (International Bitterness Units) in the Pilseners has dropped and continues to drop. My taste puts most of them at 26 or less! They taste more like the Helles Lager beers of years past.
Another factor is the German tax law situation. Beers in Germany are taxed according to their original gravity based in degrees Plato. This is a weight ratio of the total fermentables in the wort before fermention divided by the total weight of the wort. It used to be that in order to be called "Vollbier" (full strength beer), the original gravity had to be between 11 and 14 degrees Plato. Many beers tended to be on the high side of that scale, giving them more body and depth. Nowadays, you are taxed per degree Plato and as a result, most brewers are staying below the 12 degree Plato mark in order to lower their tax bracket. This is coupled with a higher degree of attenuation in order to get the most alcohol out of the wort. The result: full strength beers with very little body and mouthfeel. Shall I say thin? The tax man comes by the breweries on a regular basis to collect wort samples, so there is no cheating here.
Yet a third reason for the changes is the fact that German beer consumption has been declining for years, particularly among younger drinkers. You will find that these younger drinkers are looking for less characteristic, blander beers and even pre-mixed flavored beers, which explains the explosion of these products on the market.
Finally the rising cost of malt, hops and energy has caused German brewers to rethink their formulations, using less ingredients to obtain the same amout of beer.
Beer prices are still low in the stores, as low as about 6 Euros ($9) for a case of 20 half-liter bottles. Most are around 12 Euros ($18) and up. Even with the dollar at an all time low against the Euro, this still makes for a pretty cheap bottle of beer. The situation in the bars and restaurants is quite different. Expect to pay over 2 Euros ($3) for a half-liter glass of Helles or a .3 liter glass of Pilsener. The cheapest that I could find was 2.10 Euros ($3.15) for a half-liter. In Munich, I payed 3.60 Euros ($5.90) for a 0.33 liter bottle of Pils. At the Hofbraeuhaus in Munich, you will pay 6.60 Euros ($9.90) for a liter mug of Helles and 3.50 Euros ($5.25) for a half-liter glass of Hefeweizen!
Finally a note to all you smokers out there! Germany is no longer the smoker's paradise that it used to be. The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (around Stuttgart) has already banned smoking in all public places to include restaurants and bars. It is quite an interesting sight to see smokers outside of the taverns bundled up in blankets which the tavern provides and sitting under heat lamps out on the patios. The state of Bavaria is scheduled to follow suit and ban smoking on the first of January, 2008. This will mean that Munich will have its first smoke-free Oktoberfest ever.
As for me, I continue to brew Das Bierhaus beer the old way, with plenty of body and character. My Pilsener, for example, has over 13 degrees Plato original gravity, 38 IBU's and gets a heavy hop aroma infusion in the whirlpool after the boil. Let me know if you can find an aromatic Pilsener in Germany, because I could not.
The best beer that I could find was brewed by my colleague Oliver Feick in Baden-Baden at a small brewpub called Amadeus which is located right downtown. Try his unfiltered Kellerbier, you will not be disappointed!
Questions and comments, please feel free to e-mail me at: