German for Beer Drinkers

Nowadays it seems like everyone is a beer expert. I realize that may seem a little ironic coming from someone who has a blog dedicated to analyzing beer, but what I mean is this: Now, possibly more than ever, people are expanding their awareness and vocabularies when it comes to talking about craft beer. It's fairly likely that you've heard someone mention a specific hop variety or initial gravity when referring to their beer. While most of it just seems like minutia to me I certainly don't think it's a bad a thing to know more about what you're drinking... says the man with the beer blog. It can a fine line between being well informed and coming off as pompous so I thought I'd contribute to everyone's beer vocabulary in the best way that I can, by (hopefully) setting the record straight on some commonly (mis)used German words that have made their way into our Biergrespräch. That's beer dialogue if you're taking notes.

First, a bit of advice. Throwing foreign words into any conversation generally come off as pompous so use the following examples sparingly as possible. Consider yourself warned, if you end up sounding like a douche it won't be my fault.

Here's a helpful guide of German words that every educated beer drinker should know and understand:

Reinheitsgebot - (Pronounced: Rine Hites Guh Boat) You've probably heard this one a number of times and it was probably mispronounced at least half of the time. The Reinheitsgebot is one of the oldest food laws on the books, dating back to 1516. The Reinheitsgebot dictated that only hops, barley and water could be used to brew beer (yeast wasn't included because Louis Pasteur hadn't discovered its importance yet). Some people refer to the Reinheitsgebot as the "Purity Law" which is a literal translation of the name that seems suspiciously like a euphemism for something a bit more nefarious. Sure enough, the original law wasn't so much about the purity of beer but making sure Medieval brewers didn't put bakers out of business. By restricting brewers to using barley in their beer, the price of other grains would remain lower and bread would be cheap enough to eat three times a day. Many brewers still include a little blurb on their label saying they abide by the Reinheitsgebot (Gebraut nach dem Bayerischen Reinheitsgebot von 1516) which is like other producers saying "All Natural" or "Real Fruit Juice."

Bräu - (Pronounced: Broy) Bräu means brew, as in beer that has been brewed. To brew, the verb, in German is brauen which has a softer A similar to the word brown. Bräu (with umlauts) is often mispronounced by English speakers as brow. Löwenbräu is another example, the proper pronunciation sounds more like Lurvenbroy...

Hefeweizen - (Pronounced: Hay Fuh Vite Zen) Literally translated Hefeweizen means a yeasty wheat beer. Hefeweizens are an unfiltered wheat beer that have a sour or banana flavor. There are a number of American craft brewers that label their beers as Hefeweizens when their beer is really just an unfiltered wheat, lacking the flavor of a traditional Hefeweizen. I only mention this as a caveat when ordering a beer from an unfamiliar brewery. You can expect to get a wheat beer but as far as what style it really is, that's anyone's guess...

Stein - (Pronounced - Stine) Here's a word that has come to mean just about anything you can serve a beer in. Literally meaning stone, stein is a multipurpose word in German. It can also be the seed or pit of a fruit, a pebble or a beer mug. A Bierstein is a ceramic mug, like the ornately decorated ones you see in the tourist shops complete with a zinndeckel (tin cover). Steinkrug is another name for a bierstein but usually connotes a heavier, more utilitarian, mug like a giant coffee cup. Bierstein and Steinkrug can pretty much be used interchangeably as long as your mug is ceramic. If you're drinking from a glass mug then you've got yourself a Glaskrug. So steinkrug is a stone mug and a glaskrug is a glass mug.

Bock - (Pronounced - Same as in English) Bock is a word that is misused pretty often. I've heard a lot of people misinterpret the bock name as simply meaning "goat." Bock actually means buck, as in the male deer. The implication here is that the bock beer is bigger and stronger, like a buck... Just for the record the German word for goat is Ziege and a billy goat is a Ziegenbock. Make sense?

Maß - (Pronounced - Moss) Basically, ein Maß or Mass is a larger beer equivalent to two pints. Since a metric pint is half a liter, a Maß is one liter of beer. A Maßkrug is a liter sized beer mug that is usually dimpled glass.

Zum Wohl - (Pronounced - Zoom Voll) Zum Wohl is a classier version of a German toast. When drinking beer the typical "cheers" is Prost! but you'll occasionally hear Zum Wohl! Either way it essentially means the same thing. Zum wohl, much like Santé in French, means "to your health" and is something you'd say when toasting with wine. Prost on the other hand is more blue collar.

Faß - (Pronounced - Foss) This is the German word for keg. If you are casually drinking your way through a German speaking area you'll probably only come across this word in one context, vom Faß or vom Fass, which means "on tap."

Hopfen - (Pronounced - Hop Fen) Hops.

Malz - (Pronounced - Malts) Malt.

Dunkel - (Pronounced - Dune Kull) Literally meaning dark, this word is used to describe darker beers. Dunkelbiers don't have to be black in color, pretty much anything darker than an amber can be described as "dunkles." If you are ordering blind you can expect your dunkel to be a lager, dark wheat beers will be labeled as a dunkelweizen.

Hell - (Pronounced - Same as in English) Hell, or Helles, is the opposite of Dunkel. Literally meaning light, this is used to describe a pale lager's color and not necessarily it's alcohol content.

Stammtisch - (Pronounced - Schtom Tish) You're more likely to see a stammtisch in a traditional pub than in a modern bar. The stammtisch is a table reserved for regulars. This is usually the best set table in the establishment and will be identified as the stammtisch by a sign with old style letters.

Keller - (Pronounced - Same as in English) Keller means cellar in German and when used to describe beer it means that the beer has been lagered in barrels for a period of time. Kellerbier tends to be orange or amber in color and have a cloudy body since they are not typically filtered.

Nageln - (Pronounced - Nogg Uln) Nagel is the German word for nail and Nageln is a drinking game played with a hammer, nails and a tree stump. Variations abound but the general idea is to be the first to hammer your nail all the way into the stump using the wrong end of the hammer. As if using a backwards hammer isn't hard enough, you'll be taking turns and passing the hammer after each swing which throws your coordination off. Missing your nail usually means you have to drink and being the last one to drive their nail in completely means you're buying the next round.

Auf Ex - (Pronounced - Pretty much how it looks.) Similar to "Bottoms Up!" in English. If you hear this just after your beers arrive, you're in trouble...

This list is by no means complete but it should serve as good starting point. If you're the kind of person who likes to know what they're talking about when it comes to German beer there is plenty more you can learn. The best way to learn it is firsthand though, so grab your Lederhosen and catch a flight to Deutschland.

So, bis nächstes mal!