Renaissance or rebellion? The new wave of German brewing

I don't have enough insight into the current scene there to be sure, but I think the reason it may seem like more of a rebellion is needed has a lot to do with tradition. In the US, there was really no tradition to break. Beer was an industrialized alcohol delivery system that had been outlawed only a short time ago.

Another thought - the rebirth of beer in the US could almost be seen as casting aside the previously-embraced, albeit bastardized, German brewing tradition. German brewers, their descendants, and their students were largely responsible for the way beer tasted in the US up until the craft movement. It probably takes a lotta nuts for a German brewer to embrace American trends and label it as innovation.

 

I don't think it's to the point where you can start calling it either, to be honest. Not yet.

I've had a few swings-and-misses at non-German styles here (and a few hits as well). My thought - at the risk of offending certain one horned animals here - is that I hope Germany sticks to what it does well and lets America (and the UK and Belgium...and Italy...) do what they do well. There are positives and negatives to everything. I'll take what Germany has to offer. Complaining about the lack of (A/I/DI)PA's in Germany is like going to The Netherlands and complaining that there are no mountains. I mean, it maybe true, but then again you're missing the point. What I wish for in Germany is that more people (Germans) would embrace the non-local-but-still German traditions like Alt, Kölsch, Gose, Rauchbier or whatever and make more (drink more) of those. I could live very happily off of only German style beers.

 

I am not sure it's either a renaissance or a rebellion - it might be a simple survival tactic. As I have shown many times before here, the German brewing industry has been in the doldrums for decades. Shrinking consumption, homogenization (or dumbing-down) of the pilsner style, pay-to-play mentality and price-driven consumers have made life for brewers terrible. You might say they have created their own mess but this is just the beginning from what I can see it can still go in many directions.

 

A bunch of eggheads trying to score scene points on american beer boards because they can't get their feet on the ground in reality does not constitute as rebellion. There is a certain resurgence of regional styles coming from the ground up which is a good thing. Other than that German beer is fine and doesn't need "fixing".

The reasons why alcoholic beverages (consumption goes down across the board) are consumed less and less around here are many and none have to do with a perceived lack of variety. Not that many Germans would see it that way to begin with.

 

What is it that Italy does well ? Besides switching governments like underwear I mean ?

 

the aimless (and largely fruitless) experimentations of a bunch of highschool kids who try everything, get nothing done right and praise each other for their experiments and how great they are while in reality they are pretty much the laughing stock of people who REALLY know about brewing.

Now, before you explode, I hasten to assure you, that is NOT my personal opinion. I've been to the US often enough and know for a fact there's some really good beer there. However, whenever I speak to friends, aquaintances, family or even at the local Stammtisch about beer in the US, people get that funny look and I can tell they are thinking that I've lost my marbles.

My point is, people around here are happy with the way things are and would view your opinions a joke at best and a hostile incursion at worst.

 

Back to that incredibly long "Epiphany" thread: Italians do beer very well, thank you. They're 3 steps ahead of Germans in a craft beer explosion. For proof, check out this map. So Stahly... your assumption of Italian beer is outdated and wrong for today, though the gov. part is still correct.

I plan on getting to my reviews of what I drank at BrauKunst Live! (BKL!) eventually, but as of now, I'm swamped with teaching and I don't have time to do the write up I want to do. But I promise... it will be good and there will be a few pics (though my hands weren't steady enough to take more pics), and you will be surprised at what I've got to say about the beers in general and the German beers I tried, so . I worked up the pics yesterday to enhance them for posting, so that task is done; now just gotta find time to write, but please forgive me if I don't get to it before this weekend.

Also, I want to add my 45 cents to this discussion, but I think most of you know my positions already, right? However, it would be good to summarize them and update my opinions with my experiences from drinking only Bayern beers recently and the BKL! experience.

 

I wish you'd stop to refer to me as a "German" Your opinion may be valid for Germany but here in the great State of Bavaria we don't need a "Craft beer explosion" because we never lost the craft to begin with.

So there's quite a few red dots all over Italy. What are those ? And since when does quantity count ? I have not had a notable Italian beer all my life which, admittedly is mostly due to me rather going for a Brunello Di Montalcino when I'm down there. Which, come to think of, sadly also has been quite a while. :/

 

I had a few beers recently while in Italy. I thought one was just awful, although I'm starting to think that it was a style that I just don't care for (sweet stout). The other two were good, with this one being really delicious if memory serves:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14046/43133

 

Italians brewing an "American Pale Ale"... That's a whole new level of cultural bastardization as far as I'm concerned....

"Schuster, bleib' bei Deinen Leisten !"

 

I know, but don't get too caught up in the nomenclature. I would like to strike the word "American" from that category and simply call it a Pale Ale but what do I know. In either case it was a pretty good beer.

 

I know, but using it like that is a dead giveaway of their attitude.

 

If people consider THAT the "New Wave of German brewing" we are doomed.

 

So you think that Americans drinking all our dreck, thinking it's gold, will create a shortage of said dreck over here and the actually worthy breweries will get more customers ?

 

A number of alcoholic trends that have started in The USA have been quickly followed by Britain (eg Alcopops, Light Beer) and have arrived in Germany a few years later. It is obvious that Germany will never be California when it comes to new breweries but there are signs of evolution.

I think Germany needs to brew some of it's own mainstream gateway craft beers along the lines of Sam Adams Boston Lager and SNPA to show the mases there can be so much more to beer than the 5 Euro crate of Oettinger. The question is, who would brew them and be prepared to take an initial loss? I doubt any new beer priced at more than 14 Euros a crate could sell enough to be profitable.

The main problem is the mindset most people have, I've read that most Germans buy 3 or less types of beer over the course of a year. By nature they don't stray from what they know.

I think regional distribution needs to improve, I've seen Schlenkerla and St Georgen Brau beers in a couple of north German outlets but more progress is required. This is a major challenge for the new micro-breweries.

Personaly I think there is room for significant change but doubt the appetite is there.

 

And here exactly is your mistake The "industry" and their hunger for revenue is the polar opposite of anything even remotely "craft". Even should they thrive like you hope / predict, they would simply buy up more small and medium breweries here.

There's so much written about Germans not drinking anymore and we still drink way more than most others so all this doomsaying about the downfall of German brewing is really completely laughable. Every small brewery I know around here operates at capacity and so what if some of those Fernsehbier piss-mongers sell a few barrels less ? Good riddance I say, I hope they all go bankrupt (or at least give up brewing) and won't soil our good name anymore.

The real reason why people today drink 2 beers instead of 4 like they did 20 years ago are because for once, the economic situation for many is rather dire with almost 20 % of the entire population are depending on government handouts and many others hardly making enough money to support their families and cellphone plans and secondly because they lowered the legal limit to 0.08% in 1973 and to 0.05% in 2001. Now you can loose your license after the 2nd beer so people prefer to not bother at all anymore.