Beer culture
Beer in Germany
Germany treats beer as regional identity codified in law: the Reinheitsgebot of 1516 still shapes what roughly 1,500 breweries pour, but the real story is variety — helles in Bavaria, weissbier in the south, kölsch in Cologne, altbier in Düsseldorf, smoked rauchbier in Franconia. The beer garden is the country’s greatest civic invention: communal tables, chestnut shade, and the right to bring your own food.
Updated July 15, 2026