European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 4, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse By Peter Kuhrt staff writer Beer buffs have Long been bugged by the ridiculous rites of win connoisseurs who Over the centuries have managed to build up an air of mysticism Over the grape juice. Actually there s no reason Why hebrew should be upstaged by wine except that Beer drinkers usually Are to thirsty to bother with ceremony. By the time the wine fan has sniffed chewed and sipped his Way through a thimble of "1959 Trockena Erenaus Lese our Man has already caught the waiter s Eye for another Mug s enjoyment of Beer is almost As old As civilization. Babylonian priests a Munich waitresses carry from 8 to 16 full one liter Glass steins at the same time. Early As 6000 . Used it for sacrificial purposes and quickly developed a taste for it. The egyptians too loved the stuff As attested by Barneset ill s boast of having consecrated 466,303 jugs of Beer to the gods. The egyptian brands Madras they were from under baked bread of coarsely crushed germinated Barley were a far cry from today s brew. By the Middle Ages however Beer brewing had become an honoured act and the germans were almost universally recognized As the champions. And they be been jealously protecting this title up to this Day. D up Munich mayors tap first barrel at Beer fest. Tuesday june 4, 1968 despite the Advance of technology from crude vats to gleaming brewing plants one thing has remained unchanged for centuries the brewing pro Cess itself. ,.,.in Germany this is guaranteed by the Meinheit Gesetz the ancient purity Law which restricts ingredients to Barley malts hops yeast and water ruling out any other purity edict was first proclaimed in 1516 by Bavaria s Duke Wilhelm Ivand is still found essentially unchanged in paragraph 9, Section 1 of the West German Beer tax Law. Experts distinguish not Between dark and Light Mellow and tart but be tween top fermented Obe Gaeng in Ger Man and Bottom fermented Unter Gai Rig depending on yeast movement inthe unfiltered Beer. Most lager Beers Are of the latter Voe while All malt Beers ales and stouts As Well As Berliner Weisse an bavarian Weiss birr Are top fermented. The stars and stripes until artificial refrigeration was introduced the world knew Only top fermented Beer which has less Carbona Tion and spoils faster but is supposed to be much of the recent Success stories on the German Beer Market is the Renais Sance of the rhenish altbier also top fermented which is being produced by numerous big breweries. To Settle age old arguments Over the alcohol Content of Beer one should remember that in Germany the percentage has nothing to do with alcohol but refers to the Stamm Lucr a the extracts which determine flavor and alcohol Content roughly amounts to one third to % of the an extra powerful 16-per-cent Bock has an alcohol Content of 4 to 6 per cent and that s about the top for any Beer. Generally bavarian brews contain less hops and lean More on the malts and therefore taste somewhat sweeter than the North German varieties. The lightest and tar test bottled Beers called Pils or Pilsner although this does t necessarily mean that it come from the famed czech Beer town of Pil sen. The original Pilsner Beer remains profitable Export item for Czechoslovakia but usually you la find it on Yin Choice restaurants for the most potent Beer in German you would have to go to Klumbach in Northern Bavaria and scotch fans prob ably would enjoy Bamberg s Rau Beer which has a faint whisky flavor be cause the malt has been smoked. Whatever the local and seasonal varieties and flavors most germans arc Cuntin cd of 1 Itiat Page 11
