Veltins Pilsner and the Export Beers

As we didn't have enough German Pilsners available in my Munich supermarket, we included three Exportbier in this bracket. (You can find some other pilsners if you go to a beer store, and you can find a few Czech pilsners in my market, but we didn't have 16 German Pilsners in my store).

First, what is an Exportbier?

It's exactly as it sounds, but what was considered an Export was anything that was exported to another city. The realities of transportation prior to engines and refrigerating meant that the beer had to be brewed slightly differently to survive the journey. An exportbier is still a lager (bottom-fermented, etc), but it is brewed with a higher original wort (12-14% gravity) than a Pils or Helles (typically 11-12% gravity). This also results in a beer with a slightly higher alcohol content (5% vs the usual 3.5-4%)). Often the beer was diluted with water once it reached its destination. Thanks to the higher alcohol content, the beer had both a longer shelf life and lower transportation costs.

For many years (until the 1970s), Exportbier was one of the most popular varieties in Germany, when it was overtaken by the Pils. It's important to note that there are two different types of German Exportbier, as well as a more rare Vienna-style Export:

1) Dortmunder Exportbier is the most well-known - It's a pale lager brewed in the Dortmund area since the mid-1800's. Dortmunder Exportbier became the favorite of the region's industrial workers, as the regions coal and steelworkers needed a good brew to drink. Though it still has a hoppy taste, it has a strong malty and slightly sweeter taste, too.

2) Munich Exportbier - This is what we're trying today. The Munich style typically is darker than a Dortmunder, due to darker malt and higher temperatures in the kiln. This also gives it a slightly caramel flavor. Not surprisingly, the Munich Exportbier is less strongly hopped than the Dortmunder.

So, onto the beers....

In this bracket, we also have our last Pilsner, Veltins Pilsener. Recall that Veltins, the 7th largest brewer, is the beer of FC Schalke and runs a 5km beer pipeline from the brewery to the taps at the arena. Veltin's primary brews a pilsner style beer, though they do also sell light, alcohol free, radler (beer/lemon soda mix), alcoholfree malt, and the V+ range of flavored beers as is very trendy today. Veltins brewery began in 1824, brewing the usual beer types. In 1926, it decided to focus only on the pilsner style of beer.

Here, Veltins goes up against Hacker-Pschorr's Münchener Gold Export Bier.  The Münchener Gold was first brewed in the late 1800s, and then was brought back in 2005.

While the Veltins is an excellent Pils, we preferred the maltiness of the export beer. Just a matter of personal preference...

In the next round, we get a fairer competition, as it's between two Munich Export Beers: Augustiner Edelstoff Exportbier and Tegernsee's Max I. Joseph Jubiliäms Export. ("Edel" means "noble", meaning that this beer uses the "noble ingredients." You often will hear of "noble hops" in Bavaria).

This beer from the Tegernseer brewery was brewed in 2006 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria by Max(imilian) I. Joseph. King Max, as he was known, also purchased the Tegernsee monastery and brewery from its baron owner in 1817, a decade or so after the secularization of Bavaria. Under his ownership, Tegernsee became a cultural and economic center. Hence the beer to honor King Max and Bavaria.

The Augustiner was a relatively light colored exportbeer. This was almost a tie - Augustiner had slightly more body (due to a fizzier feeling in the mouth). The Tegernsee was a bit sweeter, and we didn't love the feeling of its carbonation.

Then we have Augustiner vs Hacker-Pschorr to decide who goes on to the Sweet Sixteen. Again, the Augustiner had what we call "more body." It just felt like a more solid beer and had a very pleasant level of carbonation. Also, it had the great hint of malty taste, but was not too sweet - it was just a great balance between maltiness and hoppiness. The Hacker-Pschorr, on the other hand, tasted flat and sweet compared to the Augustiner.

Solving the Hasselhoff Mystery

Using our investigative powers, we set out to try to understand the rumored German love of David Hasselhoff. Most of our German friends (and the German press) say this is just a crazy American misconception about Germans. Even Der Spiegel writes about how "for years, Germans have been hoping that the world would forgive and forget" Germany's "love affair with David Hasselhoff."

Sure, it makes perfect sense that he has a place in the collective memory thanks to his Looking for Freedom song. It just came at the perfect time.

But it were only that one song, could he still support a tour today? Would the concertgoers all be 40 and 50-year olds reliving the nostalgia? If Germans really do like his music, why is that?

We set out to answer these questions for you. Our first stop was to fuel up with a dinner in his honor - hamburgers. Thank you, Hard Rock for having good American-style burgers and fries!

After our burgers and an Ayinger Helles to help prepare us for whatever was to come, we headed out to the Deutsches Theatre to see what The Hoff had for us. We were shocked to see so many young people standing out front, many with T-shirts (both bought and made), props, and costumes. And all of them were quite young - they definitely were not old enough to remember his 1989 Berlin Wall appearance! They were also overwhelmingly German. We didn't notice any other English-speakers, though I'm sure there were some.

These guys here were in a big group that had shirts made for the event, and the guys below came in Baywatch costumes, complete with scuplted foam pecs and abs. We also had someone wearing the California flag, a guy in a Baywatch shirt and lederhosen, and a group in Afro wigs....which I didn't fully understand, but I'm guessing they had leftover from a 70s party and thought it fit the occasion. No question, it was a very festive atmosphere!

And even KITT came along on the tour!  

 

I guess I've been in Germany too long now, as I was suprised when he still had not come on stage 15 minutes after showtime. The crowd alternated between chanting his name and singing - it was a lot like a football match, strangely.

After a lengthy intro video montage highlighting his career as The Most Watched TV Star in history, The Hoff came out to sing I've Been Looking for Freedom. After a couple of songs we were surprised by the energy level - with lights and costume changes on stage, and a crowd that sang along and danced to all the songs, it just stayed at a very high level.

We have The Hoff in a (vinyl??) tux, in leather fringed jacket, in Baywatch attire, in a turquoise suit, in a sequined jacket, and more!

They made heavy use of the side screens, especially for videos while The Hoff was changing costumes. Of course there was a Knight Rider one, where we watch his heroics as Michael Knight, rescuer of damsels in distress.

Here we have the Baywatch Montage, which includes a parade of Baywatch Babes (and shirtless guys, German is all about equal rights for women...) and ends with his cover of "California Girls."


He did perform his famous German-language song "Wir Zwei," a duet he famously performed with 13 year-old Gwen Obertuck in 1993. It's a very beautiful song about a father and daughter remembering the wife/mother they lost. You can see the original here on an old TV recording. This one brought out the sparklers and lighters:   

The sparklers came out again for his cover of "This Time Around." I think this is such a good song for him - his voice is very well suited to the cabaret type songs, and the lyrics of making the most of a second chance are so appropriate for him!
 

But mostly, the concert was just about having fun. It was in a smaller venue, so felt full and personal, and the crowd just had a great time dancing.
The Swiss guys next to us turned their banners and flags into limbo poles for the Limbo Dance Song. Yes, this song is unbelievably cheesy...but the guy taking iPhone video of himself while limboing cracks me up!

More importantly, we did discover the truth about Hasselhoff and the German-speaking world. And I think the man is brilliant. He can sing, though he'd never have a successful career based solely on his voice. But he's an entertainer and gives the crowd what they want. Why does he have a career here? There are several reasons: 

1) David Hasselhoff is the ultimate American Schlager star. Yes, I said it....Hasselhoff = Schlager. Even the Münchener-Merkur newspaper review drew those comparisons, calling him "a mixture of Boney M. and Hansi Hintersee on speed."

2) He covers the songs the crowd wants - In addition to California Girls, This Time Around, and Rhinestone Cowboy, he sang the one song every German can sing at karaoke - Country Roads.

3) His original songs are:

        a) very simple lyrics with repetition. They're written so that someone who has never heard the song before can sing along after the first verse.

        b) often based on other well-known German songs. This is a major tenet of my Theory of Hasselhoff in German/Austria.  I think he works here largely because he uses melodies and rhythms that already were successful and know as fun party songs. We know "I've Been Looking for Freedom" was based on a 70's schlager hit "Auf der Strasse nach Süden," but there are more.

           "Time To Rock the World" basically takes the chorus from "Hey, wir woll'n die Eisbärn sehn." It's a song from the 1990's that's become a popular après ski song and has been adopted by many sports teams. Check out the two:
Hasselhoff's "Time To Rock the World":

Compared with the Puhdy's 1997 "Hey, wir woll'n die Eisbärn sehn." (translation "we want to see the polar bears").

Hey, wir woll'n die Eisbärn sehn von Puhdys
© Puhdys-Videos bei Clipfish

And the song "You Are a Hero" off his upcoming album sounds suspiciously similar to YMCA....so much, in fact, that the crowd did the YMCA motions!

There were a few others that were strangely familiar to us, but we couldn't place the specific songs. Sure, it's derivative...but this is what makes a Hasselhoff concert fun. You can go in not knowing any of his songs, and you will feel like you did know them after all. It's very accessible.  

4) The songs are all upbeat and positive. Germans may have a rep for being less than optimistic, but they like their songs to be positive and happy!

5) And finally, he brings a little of the crazy, carefree good aspects of American culture. Everyone loves a little Vegas in their life, and he brings Vegas to his shows with the dancers, themes, costume changes, and yes, even a pole dancer.

And of course he closes the sets with "I've Been Looking For Freedom," wearing the same piano key scarf he wore in 1989.

Overall, we were really surprised. By the crowd....their unwaning enthusiasm, their costumes, the bras thrown on stage (who knew that was done here???), and their rule breaking (sparklers, and sneaking in beer bottles).....and also by The Hoff himself. We thought it would be a fun cultural experience, but we had a really great time. It was one of most fun concerts I've attended - it was a lot like a frat party, but with a guy on stage and a band and lights and stuff. Very casual and open. If he comes back, we're going again. But this time we'll have costumes.

The verdict: He may not be the best singer or have the most original songs, but Hasselhoff is an entertainer and he puts on a great show. As for the purported German love affair with The Hoff...well, it's complicated...those who were old enough to remember having to listen to his song(s) EVERYWHERE in the late 80s find the memory of being forced to listen to him painful. To the younger ones, his music is more of a kitschy, fun thing. That's enough to pull off a small tour each year, but you won't be seeing him high on the charts. Will be interesting to see how his new album sells.    

Ski Trips - St. Jakob in Defereggental (the slopes)

Skiing is so incredibly convenient in Munich.  You can be at the foot of excellent slopes in 90 minutes within Germany, and if you open up to a 2-3 hour perimeter you get hundreds of options in Austria.

One trip I especially liked was to St. Jakob in Defereggental, in the famous area of Tirol, Austria (also spelled Tyrol).  It's a little farther to drive than most Müncheners will venture -- a little more than 3 hours with a car.  You can see that it is near the narrow stretch of eastern Austria, close to Italy! (Brunico is in Italy on the map.)  Yes, Munich rocks -- you can get to Northern Italy in 3.5 hours.  

Defereggental is smaller than a lot of ski destinations, with "only" 52km of slopes.  Most of them are blue (17km are easy) or red (32km are medium difficulty) rather than black too.  The slopes are a little shorter than the "best" destinations, which is why the far eastern and western lifts are t-bars -- you can do that if it's not too long.  The ski map is below. 

When you factor in the remoteness, size, and the less-than-completely-new lifts, you get two advantages:  it costs less for the day pass, and fewer people are on the slopes with you.  Obviously it's not a fancy schmancy as St. Anton, but check out the photo below.  I took that from the chairlift, at about 9:30 in the morning.  On a Saturday.  Look at the empty piste on the right!

Here's another shot I took from the lift, this time looking back down the mountain.  You see some fellow skiiers, but nobody on the slopes.  I did see a lot of locals that came to ski for an hour our two -- it must be incredible to live in the area.  Get an annual pass, and "stop by" for a couple runs maybe after work, or even at lunch!  Again, this is Saturday in the middle of ski season!  And with less ski traffic, the fresh snow stays longer... almost no ice patches to be found.

The mountains are not quite as majestic as the best in Tirol, but the view is still great.  That Saturday was relatively clear, and you got a good glimpse of the entire valley and surrounding peaks.  And yes, the ski huts had outdoor seating to enjoy your glühwein with the view.  This pic was again taken from a ski lift.  Just a brilliant ride up each time.

Here's a view from one of the huts - the highest one in the area.  It was really cold up here, but there was a good 6 inches of fresh snow, so nobody was complaining.  Because the runs are a bit shorter than usual, if you really motor downhill you'll have a bit of a different pace than other destinations.  Shorter trips down, but shorter intervals on the lifts.  And no waiting in line.  Also, the crowd seems a bit friendlier.  Can you tell I liked this place?

The one gondola was great when the wind started whipping up strongly.  This photo was taken on the way up, and you get a great picture of a local mountain top with fresh show.  You can also see that the village is pretty small -- it doesn't stretch for kilometers like the large resorts.  There are nice (and inexpensive) hotels and pensions in the area, and a handful of restaurants/bars.  not a lot, but just enough.

So Defereggental is NOT the place for socialite skiing, apres ski bunnies, nor for the wannabe racers in the family or those dying for the blackest of the black runs across car-sized moguls.  However, for what it is, it's great:  an inexpensive, relaxed, uncrowded destination that let's you enjoy skiing more than waiting in line.

The End of Krapfen, the Beginning of Starkbier

While the Brazilians were dancing the samba and the Americans throwing beads, the Germans were wearing costumes, drinking in the streets, and having one last krapfen. Yep, Faschingdienstag...at least here in Munich...other regions call it by different names.

The Fasching center of Germany is in Köln and Düsseldorf, but it still is celebrated throughout many cities. In Köln, the Fasching season begins at 11:00 on November 11th, though the big celebrations take place the week or so before Fasching Tuesday.  In many ways, it's similar to the non-tourist part of Mardi Gras....committees, a ball season, etc.

In Munich, one of the Fat Tuesday traditions is the Dance of the Market Women (Tanz der Markt Frauen) which takes place at 11:00 in the Viktualienmarkt (farmers market). It began in the early 1900s with the women dancing in front of their stalls in the market, and now is a small show performed on the site of the Viktualienmarkt beer garden. The rest of the area is filled with stalls selling food, beer, champagne, and cocktails. Most people come out in costumes and enjoy a lovely Tuesday morning party. Many shops close early for the day and I doubt productivity is high in most offices.

As I was waiting for a package to be delivered, I wasn't able to get there early enough to take good pictures of the dancers. You can find photos from several years on the city of Munich's site.

The scene in Marienplatz and most larger squares was similar - food and drink stands, stages with performances and music, and the stone plazas covered with confetti.

It was a beautiful day and for a few hours midday felt like spring had come.

 

Then at night on Marienplatz, the Fasching decorations came alive.

 
In the spirit of learning about new cultures, Herr J and I went the French and British route of "Pancake Tuesday."

Though many villages in the UK and Ireland have all kinds of fun festivities and traditions such as pancake races, what is common is eating the last of the starchy, fatty, tasty things that you will be foregoing dring Lent. We made crepes and used bad stuff from our cupboard....ham and cheese, followed by Nutella crepes. We were too lost in the joy of Nutella to take pictures. Sorry! (Plus, my crepe-making skills are not so pretty yet)

German Beer Tournament - One Last Helles Round

For the last of the Helles first rounds, we have Hofbräu Original vs Löwenbräu Original and Chiemseer Hell vs Augustiner Lagerbier Hell.

We love Augustiner, especially at the beer gartens and restaurants. Augustiner restaurants are not as numerous as Paulaner and some of the other breweries, but you can always count on them having top quality food. So, we had high expectations of Augustiner in this tournament.

Augustiner has been brewed in Munich since 1328, first brewed by the Augustinian monks, and now privately. Augustiner is notorious for putting quality above all else. Legend has it that when Munich's unusually hot summer led to the breweries running out of beer, Augustiner refused to brew extra beer through a shortened process (as did most other breweries) because they would not trade quality and process in order to sell more beer. Unfortunately, this also means Augustiner is somewhat difficult to find in the US. It is availalble in some places, but in limited quantities. In Texas, due to a dispute over labelling with the TABC, Augustiner decided that selling beer in TX was not worth changing anything.

Chiemseer was a beer we didn't know before. It looks and sounds a bit like Tegernseer, which is one of the top beers in the area. Unfortunately their website is down, so there isn't much info available.

While it would have been a tough climb for any beer opposing Augustiner, this was no contest. It's possible we got a bad bottle, but this beer just was not good. It tasted bitter - not a hoppy bitterness, but a bitterness with a slight chemical taste. So far, it's the one beer we've tasted that we can say we did not enjoy. I guess to be fair, we should try another one sometime, but we have so many other beers to taste that this will have to wait.

Then we have two of the most internationally known Munich beers - Hofbräu and Löwenbräu. Hofbräu, of course, is known more for the Hofbräuhaus and its Oktoberfest tent. Löwenbräu has brand recoginition as it shares the same name as a bad American beer.

According to its history, Hofbräu was founded in 1589 by Duke Wilhelm V because he was tired of the cost of importing beer and he did not like any of the Munich beers brewed at the time. Hard to imagine, as Augustiner and Weihenstephaner were around....but that's the official story.  

Though the Löwenbräu name is not found on documents before the 1740's, there are references to a brewery going back to the late 14th century. It was one of the early pioneers among German beers in pushing for strong presence in the English-speaking markets abroad. I wasn't a beer drinker in the 70s and 80s, but supposedly it was very popular in the US. However, the reputation of American Löwenbräu I have always known was not as good beer...From the 70s until 2002, Miller brewed Löwenbräu under a licensing agreement and they included corn in the recipe, and I suspect different hops. However, today the Löwenbräu you'll find in the US is exported from Germany. After much consolidation in the beer industry, Löwenbräu is now the Spaten-Franziskaner-Löwenbräu Group, and part of InBev.

We weren't really sure which of these two we would prefer. I have to admit we both were a little prejudiced against both beers. Of course, they're pretty good beers in an absolute world, but in the world of Munich that includes Augustiner, Tegernseer, and wonderful weißbiers, they would not be our first choice. I actually put them in a first round match together in order to give them both an equal chance to advance.

These are two relatively similar beers, and surprisingly good. We found the Löwenbräu to have a crisper taste and the Hofbräu a little more hoppy, thus sent the Löwenbräu to the next round against Augustiner.

This is where the real shocker of the tournament comes...and proof that this is a blind tasting!  Based on our beer garden experiences, there are few things better than sitting under the Augustinerkeller's chesnut trees in summer, drinking a cool helles. While the food and atmosphere at the Löwenbräukeller's little beer garden are among our favorites (their schnitzel is full of buttery goodness!), the beer is not great.
When we tasted the two together, it was very difficult to pick a winner. But the Löwenbräu was just a tiny bit tastier and it took out one of the tournament favorites!

It makes me wonder....does Augustiner put their best beer in kegs for the beer gardens and Löwenbräu puts their best beer in bottles for sale???? Either way, Augustiner is still a great beer - one of my favorites here - and you really can't go wrong going to an Augustiner restaurant or beer garden.

So it will be Löwenbrau vs Tegernseer in the contest to move on to the Elite Eight. I'm looking forward to that tasting!

Schlager Music

When most of us think of Germany's musical contributions, we think Bach, Beethovern, Brahms, or Wagner. Or Nena, The Scorpions, Tokio Hotel, new wave, techno, or oompah bands.

But when you spend enough time in Germany (especially Southern Germany), you find out about Schlagermusik.

The closest translation of "Schlager" is "hit." It was very popular in the 60's and 70's across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and has had a huge revival in the last 10 years. So hard to describe, but at its best, Schlager is kitschy, cheesy, often ballad-style, usually upbeat, and a lot of fun. Throw in some bad hair, glittery costumes, choreography, props and the usual pop production tricks, and there you have it. There's a beat to clap along with and catchy lyrics for the audience to sing...and there's a big niche in the Schlager for songs inspired by Spanish, Mexican, and Carribean rhythms (or lyrics that refer to their beaches). I'm guess it has something to do with the German love for great sun & sand vacations, but who knows?  They don't stray too far from home though - the music videos and Sunday morning TV programs often have Alpine backgrounds and dirndl-type attire in the performances.

Schlager started in the 60s with a sound similar to popular American folk music (reminds me of The Lawrence Welk Show type performances, The Carpenters, Petula Clark, and so on), then moved on to some full-on 70s craziness, and a little more pop rock in the 80s. Today, well...think of the music of Neil Diamond and persona of Tom Jones (his music works too)...they're cheesy, a bit dated, and so much fun.

There are endless CDs and DVDs sold on late night TV, television specials, Schlager Star Parade tours throughout Germany, and the annual Schlager Nacht auf Schalke at the Veltins Arena. And the annual Eurovision Song Contest is heavy on the Schlager style! But where you'll hear endless schlager is at Oktoberfest, any après ski hut, and in surprisingly many bars in Mallorca and other similar spots full of German tourists. It's everywhere...but no one really wants to admit how much they enjoy it.

(On a side note, the Danish have taken on the Schlager baton, and are adding a great cheesy tecnopop spin to it.)

Herr J and I are having a great time investigating this aspect of German culture. Good research requires us to go to concerts, musicals, skiing, beer festivals, and such.  The closer it's tied to Oktoberfest or the Alps, the more there's some accordion and folk influence (including the electronic and techno versions!). We're working on a little guide of songs you need to know for Oktoberfest and Skiing. But for now, here are some of the most popular Schlager hits. Even if you don't understand a single word, they're very catchy and fun.

Ein Stern (der deinen Namen trägt):
I'll start you off easy, with one that's a good, solid pop song (check out the studio version here - more modern, but it's some guy's star picture slideshow). You'll also get the full effect from the crowd (they do not help combat the stereotype of rhythmless white people) and the dancers. This one is a live version, performed at a summer concert in Maastrict last year.

It's a sweet love song, with lyrics about giving your loved one a star in their name, and very catchy.

Classic Schlager - Ich war noch niemals in New York:
A classic hit by one of the schlager masters, Udo Jürgens. Translated as "I've never been to New York," it's about unfulfilled dreams. A husband goes out to buy cigarettes after dinner and starts thinking about all the things he's never done and realizes he could just hop on a plane now and see them. But in the end he buys his cigarettes and goes back home.
You can find the lyrics here, and in English. I heard this one at every beer festival and fair! (The lady who sings New York, New York has a pretty great voice!)

Schlager with dance steps - Fliegerlied (So ein schöner Tag):
I admit without shame I love this song. And last year I finally got the words and motions. Don't worry, we'll cover the steps when we get you ready for Oktoberfest and après ski...
There are better recordings of the song, but I like how this video captures the alpine setting and has people in animal costumes.

70s Schlager - Dschinghis Khan:
Yes, like Ghengis Khan, but in German words starting with the "J" sound are spelled with "Dsch". So, "Jungle" sounds almost the same as the German word "Dschungel."

This one is more funny than good, and was Germany's entry into Eurovision 1979. The 1979 part of it shows! These guys were not a one-hit wonder, they were quite popular...the intro to their song Moskau reminds me a lot of the Knight Rider theme. Anyway, Herr J and I saw this video on an infomercial and couldn't stop laughing.

70s Schlager - Anita
Not suprisingly, this is about a girl named Anita he falls in love with in Mexico. Costa Cordalis came to Germany from Greece as a teenager and became a big Schlager star...and is still performing his hits today in the tours.

80s Schlager - 1000 un 1 Nacht:
This one's about a girl and a guy who are friends. For a thousand nights, he's loved her but "nothing happened". The lyrics of the chorus say that they "Touched a thousand times; A thousand times nothing happened. But on the 1001st night... Boom!"
 

Rock Schlager - Wahnsinn (Hölle, Hölle, Hölle):
This one is a big hit in Oktoberfest and après ski. Entitled "Madness (hell, hell, hell)," it's basically a song about a girl who drives him crazy and makes his life hell, but he still wants her. What really appeals to the crowd (beyond the usual pop rock beat and melody tricks), is that there are many parts of the song where the crowd is supposed to yell something at the end of a verse, e.g., after "And my pride is long in the garbage" the crowd yells "Garbage, hazardous waste!" (Müll, Sondermüll!)

Die Hände zum Himmel:
Basically it says "Hands up to heaven" and is about rejoicing, celebrating life, and knowing that tonight you are not alone. This video in particular is a great example of the full television special production and a song with some leanings toward folk music. This one may be one of the Fasching parties that have been on TV the past week. But you'll definitely hear this one at Oktoberfest, and it's also one of the FC Bayern fan songs, and the Austrians seem to be big fans too. I don't know what words to use to begin finding out what this thing is, but we saw this guy at the World Cup Alpine Ski.

And then there's the man who has it all....the hair, the suit, the name, and the fantastic light shows....Hansi Hintersee!

Some are even performed on a stadium-rock scale.  Here are the East German group Puhdys singing "Hey, wir wollen die Eisbär sehen" (Hey, we want to see the Polar Bears).  It's the anthem for the Berlin Polar Bears, a professional ice hockey team.

Really, it's a genre unique to this area, but there are a few foreign performers who could be included.  For comparison (and your listening pleasure)....Sweet Caroline and Sex Bomb....both songs we often hear here too. The crowd went wild at Oktoberfest when the band played Sweet Caroline. I wouldn't say Neil Diamond's music generally is similar, but this song is close, when played with some energy. Tom Jones, however....he's all Schlager!

I'm sure it's purely coincidence that The Carpenters performed at the White House for visiting West German chancellor Willy Brandt, but you could switch the words to German and it would have fit perfectly into any 1970s schlager show!

The Power Pils Round

Now that we've eased into the Pils with some Beck's and Bavarian Pils, we dive into Germany's big players in the Pils market.

We call this the Power Pils round, as it contains German's top 2 producers and

From the March Madness comparison, Warsteiner and Krombacher are UConn and Syracuse

Warsteiner is enjoyed in over 60 countries and is Germany's largest beer exporter. Far more, however, is drunk in Germany - it's considered one of the top Pilsners. It's not as old as some of the Bavarian breweries, but it's been around long enough (250 years) to be considered a real German player. Interestingly, Warsteiner is an investor in König Lüdwig. Beer is almost a strategic industry in Germany, and the decline in beer consumption has been major news for a few years. According to its annual report, Warsteiner was able to slightly increase its domestic sales last year despite a 2.4% overall decline in the German beer market. Not bad! Among their new marketing efforts is using the Klitschko brothers (both are World Heavyweight Champions and Wladimir is Hayden Pannettiere's boyfriend) to promote their alcohol-free beer to athletes and health-conscious beer lovers. For many tourists, this was their first German beer - I'll let Herr J tell his story later, but I remember this was the beer served in our hostel in Marbella on my first trip abroad!

With all the different measurements (by brand, by brewery, by brewery holding company, etc), it's not easy to say which are the largest breweries in Germany. Warsteiner, Krombacher, and Radeberger are easily in the top 10. The Radeberger Group is often named the largest German brewery group due to its ownership of so many German breweries. It's likely a very close race between Radeberger's and InBev's production in Germany.

Radeberger was founded in 1872 in Radeberg (near Dresden) and claims to be "the first brewery in Germany to brew beer in the traditional Pilsner manner." It also was designated by the Royal Court of Saxony as their beer provider. So perhaps Radeberge was the original German pilsner...it's definitely one of the most popular. You can see exactly how popular their pilsner is from the fact that the Binding Group renamed its entire holding company The Radeberger Group after it purchased Radeberger.

However, the Jever brand is also part The Radeberger Group. Similar to Beck's they use green glass (not as protective as the brown used by most) and 0.33mL bottles. The Jever brewery was founded in the mid-1800s and remained a relatively small brewery. It was hard hit by both wars - in the first war losing its leader on the front and by shortages of hops and barley; after the second, fuel shortages limited them to selling only for self-pickup and the head going from farm to farm trying to buy or barter for barley. But the brewery was able to stay in operation and grow into a modern brewery well-known for its pilsner and exportbiers. The formal name "Friesisches Brauhaus zu Jever" alludes to its location in the city of Jever and its pride in the region Friesland. Friesland is on the North Sea coast, including parts of both Germany and the Netherlands that were settled since the first century. It's also known for its natural beauty, fresh air, and beaches - something you'll see reflected when you open the Jever site to find beaches and seagull sounds! Interestingly, Jever has aligned itself with Harley-Davidson, sponsoring HarleyDay in Hamburg and offering custom Jever Harleys and dune buggies. I'm pretty amused that their alcohol-free version is called "Jever Fun."

And then we have Krombacher, which was founded in 1803 in Krombach (between Frankfurt and Würzburg). They initially brewed only traditional lagers, but began making a pils in 1890 that quickly became popular in the Sauerland and southern Ruhr areas. Part of their high quality is supposed to come from their water source, as many breweries claim. Krombacher has always been on the forefront of marketing - making a major push to win over former East Germans after Reunification, and sponsoring several Bundesliga and handball teams. In 2002, they had an interesting campaing with the WWF, whereby Krombacher would save 1 square meter of rainforest in the Central African Republic for every case sold. Sales jumped 8% that year and other German companies followed suit using charitable campaigns as marketing tools.  After a lawsuit (and successful appeal stating that Krombacher was not misleading consumers), they've changed and relaunched the campaign again. I guess you'd have to be a pretty big beer drinker to make a noticeable impact, but it is an appealing concept to drink beer for the environment! Their Facebook page claims that they have invested over €3 million in conservation efforts.  

 

For this tasting, we had my parents as special guests. During their visit, we took advantage of having an extra pair of votes, as well as giving my dad a chance to taste some new beers. He prefers a Pils, so this was a fun one for him.

We wanted something that wouldn't overpower the beers, so made my favorite paella with chicken, asparagus, and manchego cheese. Really, it's closer to a Spanish risotto, but it's really tasty and easy to make. And Herr J made his famous feta-stuffed red peppers. A good match for the pils!

First up was the Warsteiner-Krombacher matchup. Looking at the beers, the Warsteinger was lighter in color and more carbonated than the Krombacher. It was almost "spritzy," if that's a word. Despite it having a slightly flatter feel, the Krombacher had more taste than the Warsteiner and we chose it as the winner.  We had expected the Warsteiner to prevail, but that's exactly why we've been doing blind tastings.

Next up were Jever and Radeberger. Both were good, standard Pilsners. The Jever, however, had a slight odd aftertaste. Not bad exactly, but enough that the Radeberger clearly won. We will try the Jever again, in case we just had a couple bad bottles.  

We end the night with Krombacher vs Radeberger. Again, we find ourselves changing our minds....thought we normally choose the less hoppy beer, we chose Krombacher over Radeberger because Radeberger tastes a little flat and tasteless when compared to the Krombacher. Though the Krombacher was slightly more hoppy, it was still a smooth and non-bitter, very drinkable beer.