A Few German Beers

So far as we know, beer was a popular beverage in Germany at an early period, and the malting of barley was known to them. Tacitus (1st century after Christ) mentions the fact that the Germans drank beer. The system of production of beers of the lager type (so called from the German “lager”—a storehouse or warehouse, as the beer has to be kept or stored for several months before being drunk) is different from that used in England, where the brewing consists of the infusion and top fermentation. In Germany, the method is the decoction and bottom fermentation. German beers are not so heavily hopped as English beers, and they are more peptonised and charged with carbonic acid, which is retained for a comparatively long time, owing to the low fermentation and storing temperatures. Lager beer will not keep unless placed on ice, and German publicans are bound to keep a good supply of ice for this purpose.