Oktoberfest begins this weekend in Munich, and Ali from Majestic Chislehurst is certainly in the mood to celebrate after a visit to the German brewer Paulaner with a group of 14 Majestic staff…
I have always been a huge fan of German beer, well all beer really, but particularly German beer after a trip to Munich 5 years ago. So when I was given the chance to visit Paulaner I jumped at the opportunity.
The most important ingredient in the brewing of any beer is the water, as this is unique to any region and is the major influence on the flavour of beer. Paulaner draw their water from a well hundreds of metres below the ground where the water, dating back to the last Glacial period, has naturally high levels of purity.
The major factor for German beers fame throughout the world is “Reinheitsgebot” or the “Bavarian Purity Law” of 1516 which governed that the only ingredients allowed in the production of beer was water, hops and barley. Although this law has been replaced today by the Provisional German Beer Law brewers like Paulaner still stick to the original purity laws with only the addition of yeast whose properties were not discovered until after the original law was passed.
There was a group of 14 of us who went over and were very lucky to have a tour of the brewery located in the heart of Munich. On our tour of the brewery we were walked through the whole brewing process from the careful selection of hops and barley to the differences that make a standard lager and a Weissbier (the former is filtered to remove the yeast which is not the case for the weissbier).
On our way to the airport we taken on a tour of the great city and passed by the site for Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world which runs from 22nd September to 7th October. Every year over 6.2 million people flock to Munich for 2 weeks to drink beer specially brewed for the festival and to eat traditional Bavarian meats on long tables. I am already planning on going back next year!
So now brimming with enthusiasm for German beer feel free to come by and have a chat with me about why I think German beer is the best. Along side our usual stock of Paulaner Weissbier and Original we are incredibly lucky to have some cases of Oktoberfest so why not come by and pick some up and have your own Oktoberfest this year!
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