In the background I've been collecting as much data about German beer as I can. As much as I can collect within a reasonable time frame. The set has about 350 beers, mostly from Bavaria. Assigning styles to them has been fun. And by definition, to a certain extent arbitrary. I thought to myself "Why not check up the official German style definitions?" So I have done. No, it's not the BJCP deinitions. I've opted for those of the Deutscher Brauer-Bund, the German brewers' trade organisation. They should know what they're talking about, shouldn't they?
I'll admit that it's a pretty slimmed down set. They've lumped together plenty of things I would have split apart - the different colours of Hefeweizen, for example, and Lager Hell and Export Hell. And it's odd they've not bothered with a separate entry for Doppelbock, which is defined in German law.
What I'll be doing is to compare the specs I've harvested with the definitions of the Deutscher Brauer-Bund. I doubt there will be any huge disconnect because of the restrictions on gravity for certain types of beer. For example, any beer in a Vollbier style cannot have a gravity below 11º Plato, while a Bock must be above 16º Plato.
Here's the Deutscher Brauer-Bund's schema:
| Modern German beer styles | ||||
| Style | category | OG Plato | ABV | Comment |
| Alt | Vollbier | 11.5 | 4.8 | |
| Berliner Weisse | Schankbier | 7 to 8 | 2.8 | |
| Bockbier | Starkbier | min 16 | 7 | |
| Kölsch | Vollbier | 11.3 | 4.8 | |
| Lager dunkel | Voll- or Schankbier | 10 to 12 | 4.6-5.1 | min 50% dark malt |
| Export dunkel | Vollbier | 12 to 14 | 5.1-5.6 | min 50% dark malt |
| Lager hell | Voll- or Schankbier | 10 to 12 | 4.6-5.1 | |
| Export hell | Vollbier | 12 to 14 | 5.1-5.6 | |
| Pils | Vollbier | min 11 | 4.8 | |
| Schwarzbier | Vollbier | min 11 | 4.8-5 | |
| Weizenbier | Vollbier | 11 to 14 | 5.4 | |
| Leichtbier | Voll- or Schankbier | 7 to 12 | 2-3.2 | |
| Malztrunk | Vollbier | 11.7 | 0.5 | top-fermenting |
| Kellerbier/ Kräusenbier/Zwickelbier/Zoigl | Vollbier | 11 to 14 | 4.5-5.5 | |
| Märzen | Vollbier | min 13 | 4.8-5.6 | |
| Oktoberfestbier | Vollbier | min 13.5 | 4.8-5.6 | |
| Rauchbier | Vollbier | 11 to 14 | 4.5-5.5 | |
| Roggenbier | Vollbier | min 11 | 5 | |
| Dinkelbier | Vollbier | min 11 | 5 | |
| Source: | ||||
| Deutscher Brauer-Bund | ||||
| http://www.brauer-bund.de/bier-ist-genuss/biersorten-im-portraet | ||||
The distinction between Lagerbier Hell and Export Hell seems to have been pretty much eroded. Many are just called Helles by the brewery no matter what their gravity. Overall, I've not too many arguments with their definitions.
Their list of styles I've identified in my 350 sample beers is a little bit longer:
Blond
Bock Rauch
Bock, Bernstein
Bock, Dunkel
Bock, Hell
Doppelbock
Doppelbock Rauchweizen
Dunkles
Eisbock
Erntebier
Export
Export, Bernstein
Festbier
Festbier, Bernstein
Hefeweizen
Hefeweizen Dunkel
Helles
IPA
Kellerbier
Kellerbier DunkelKellerbier, Bernstein
Kristallweizen
Kristallweizen
Lagerbier, Bernstein
Lagerbier
Landbier
Maibock
Märzen
Pale Ale
Pils
Porter
Rauchbier
Roggenbier
Rotbier
Schwarzbier
Spelt Beer
Spezial
Steinbier
Stout
Vienna Lager
Weizenbock
Though many of my extra entries are due to splitting a style like Bock into substyles and including foreign styles like Pale Ale and IPA.
This is all going to be handy background information for my slow trawl through the style numbers. I won't claim it'll be great fun, but it will be educational.
First under the microscope will be Helles. Or Lager Hell as I should really call it. Lager Hell - sounds like being in a pub that only sells Carling and Tennents
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7 comments:
An interesting undertaking. Nice to see Rotbier on there, with new versions having appeared in Nürnbergerland recently, some according to historic recipes, some not.
Curiosity prompts two questions: Why two identical Kellerbier entries, and is "Festbier" to be hell explicitly, or will it include dunkel?
If your list is mostly Bavarian, it's not "German". (-;
Ones I can see missing include:
Winterbock (mostly northern, so missing from your sample)
Rauch Weizen (rare. eg. Schlenkerla)
Weissbier Schwarz (eg. Kapuziner, the Scneider Porter Weisse also kind of fits here)
You might also want to differentiate Munich Dunkel from some of the other Dunkels, especially some of the northern ones)
Oh, and of course Lichtenhainer, Gratzer and Gose!
BryanB,
there's a simple reason those styles don't appear in the list is that there were no examples of them in my set of data.
Erlangernick.
the two Kellerbiers was just a mistake. I'm assuming Festbier to be pale. Dark and amber versions get their own substyle.
Does it strike you as odd that leichtbier is described as 12P but 3.2%? That would mean it finishes at 6P. Leicht, indeed.
Gordon,
the ABV is for Schankbier strength It does seem odd the Leichtbier can bre brewed at Vollbier strength.
A style I've spotted, but forgot to mention is Leicht Pils. Most of the ones I've come across were just under 8º Plato and about 2.8% ABV. There's one at 9.6º Plato, which is neither Schankbier nor Vollbier.
I've a post queued up for the beginning of next month with nmore details.
Well, the list from the Brauerbund is kind of a list for beginners, a simple introduction into a complex field.
Lagers are grouped by six degrees of strength, which, to make it difficult, can overlap.
And there are four basic colours (pale, amber, dark and black).
Other characteristics like Rauch, unfiltered, seasonal or special grain are totally independent from strength and colour.
To make it even more difficult, many brewers do not care about the Brauerbund's list.
And finally, a term like "Landbier" is just a marketing term that does not tell you anything about the beer in the bottle.
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