Category: Lifestyle

What do Germans like eating?

Germans enjoy hearty home-cooked meals, especially the national and regional dishes we have looked at. But they are increasingly starting to open up to foreign food, especially in the more cosmopolitan cities. In major cities you will be able to enjoy everything from US, French, Italian, Thai, Chinese, and Indian food.

Notably, thanks to a large Turkish community, Turkish food is very popular in Germany. Did you know the Döner Kebab was invented in Berlin?

Learn more about the German beverages and the beer culture

Germans enjoy a wide range of drinks, which are consumed both at mealtimes and throughout the day. They tend to have a more relaxed but also moderated view of alcohol than many other countries; typically, they do drink plenty, but don’t tend to ‘binge’; drinking beer is very much about enjoying the taste. The legal drinking age is 16 for beer and wine, but 18 for spirits or liquor.

What do they drink in Germany?

By day, Germans drink a lot of coffee (Kaffee), although tea (Tee) is becoming increasingly popular. Black filter coffee is typically enjoyed first thing and throughout the morning. But coffee is also consumed in the afternoon with cake during Kaffee und Kuchen, when it tends to have milk or cream added. At mealtimes, locals drink juices such as apple juice, as well as sparkling water. Juice mixed with carbonated water (Schorle) is a refreshing and popular choice, too.

In Germany, drinking alcohol is common among adults. Beer, schnapps, brandy, and German wines such as Riesling are all enjoyed in bars, restaurants, and at home.

What is the most popular drink in Germany?

The most popular alcoholic drink in Germany is beer, whilst the most popular non-alcoholic drink is coffee.

Beer is a very important aspect of German culture

Germany is the third biggest beer-drinking country in Europe after the Czech Republic and Austria. The average German consumes around 104 liters of beer per year. In bars, beer is typically served in a choice of 300 ml or 500 ml tulip glasses or in half-liter or full-liter steins. A stein is a type of tankard made traditionally of ceramic of metal but more commonly today in glass. They are heavy, handled vessels that sometimes feature levered lids, which are said to have originated from the Black Death to protect the beer from flies.

Germany produces a lot of the beer that its residents consume although the country does import some Belgium, French, Austrian, and Czech beers. The nation is thought to be the world’s oldest beer-brewing country, with the earliest commercial brewery thought to have been in an 11th-century Benedictine Abbey. This brewery, Weihenstephan, is still operating today.

Originally, beer in Germany was brewed in homes, but as the monks took over the responsibility of making it, they worked hard to improve the process, taste and purity. Essentially, the monks modernized beer production throughout the Middle Ages, and it’s these medieval practices that are still often used today.

Types of German Beer

It is said that you can drink a different German beer every day for 15 years before you need to have the same one again. But within those thousands of beers are some key, specific varieties of the drink that you should familiarize yourself with.

Pale Lager

Pale lager is the most common beer in Germany and includes varieties such as export, Helles, and, of course, pilsner beers. Pilsner is characterized by a light body, a hoppy flavor, and a typical ABV of around 4.5-5%. Pilsner accounts for almost two-thirds of all beer enjoyed in Germany. It is commonly served in a tulip glass usually in a choice of 300 or 500 ml – roughly comparable to the UK’s half pint or pint measures.

Dark Lager

Dark lagers tend to be both bitter and sweeter as well as more malty. They also tend to be stronger with ABVs ranging from 5% up to 12%. Types of dark lager include Altbier and Bock.

Wheat Beer

Wheat beers may be labelled as both Weizenbier, Hefeweizen (both mean ‘wheat beer’) or Weißbier (white beer). It is a light-colored, top-fermenting beer with a higher proportion of wheat to barley. Wheat beer is sold in bottled and decanted into dedicated glasses that can hold around 500 ml of beer but also have space for the large frothy ‘head’. Dark (Dunkel) versions are also popular.

Unfiltered Lager

Conditioned in a similar way to English cask ale is German unfiltered lager, known as Kellerbier (cellar beer) or the weaker Zwickelbier. Naturally cloudy thanks to the retention of the yeast, and either top or bottom fermented, it is much less carbonated than standard lagers and tends to be stronger in taste.

Beer with mixers

For a country with such purist brewing laws, it may come as a surprise that many Germans ask for their beer to be mixed with a soft drink to make it lighter. Radler (lemonade and lager 50/50) resembles a British shandy, and it is sometimes known as a Russ when the beer is Wheat Beer. The terms Diesel, Krefelder and Colabier all refer to beer and cola mixed 50/50.

German Breweries

The biggest selling German breweries are:

• Oettinger
• Krombacher
• Bitburger
• Radeberger

The big, commercial breweries tend to be located in the north of the country, whilst the smaller, more traditional breweries are found to the south. In total, there are around 1,300 breweries in Germany, together producing 5,000 brands of beer.

Much of the beer made in Germany is exported – in fact, Germany produces a third of the world’s beer and boasts 15,000 beer brands. In trendy cities such as Berlin, craft beer is enjoying huge popularity.

German Beer Festivals

Around the time of the harvest (late September, early October), traditional beer festivals take place all over Germany. The most famous of course is the Munich Oktoberfest festival, which attracts over six million visitors each year. More than just a celebration of beer, attendees dress up in traditional Bavarian clothes and enjoy entertainment and a funfair too.

Only beer over 6% which has been brewed in the Munich area can be served. Each year, around seven million liters of beer are enjoyed at this major event. Other Oktoberfests take place in Stuttgart, Berlin, and Frankfurt, so wherever you are in Germany, you are never that far from a beer festival.