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Zurich15306 Posts
As many of you will know, Germans love their beer. All over the world Germany is famous for the quality of a) their cars, and b) their beer. Consequently, there is hardly anything Germans take so seriously as cars and beer. And that is saying something for a people as lighthearted as us.
We used to take pride in drinking the most beer per person in the whole world - an achievement the Czechs took from us in the late 90ies. As much as we pretend to be hurt over this, if there is any other nation in the world we would acknowledge as excellent beer brewers and drinkers, it's the Czechs. So no hard feelings.
The biggest public binge drinking in the world - Oktoberfest
We still have the most breweries in the world, by far. And, as diverse as the range of beer brands and kinds in Germany is, generally, the quality is outstanding. In fact, the first food quality laws the Germans gave themselves were for, you guessed it, beer. As early as 1156 laws demanded punishment for brewers who make bad quality beer.
Most known of course is the German, or rather Bavarian, Reinheitsgebot (purity law) of 1516, which stated that beer is only to made from barley, water, and hop. The law is known to every beer loving German to this day (although, unfortunately, not in effect anymore).
Why do I write all this? Well, even though us Germans generally agree that German beer is the best in the world (surprise), near religious debates are fought over which of the thousands Germans brands is the best one. Every beer lover has his or her favorite kind and brand, and will firmly defend his favorite against all accusations. The circle of likewise beer enthusiastic friends I use to drink with is no expection. Everyone has his favorite brand, and will grimace when offered an inferior beverage. Not only that, but there is no brand everyone does not have an opinion of, be it good or bad. One may look down upon the cheap Oettinger, while the other may laugh about the overpriced Warsteiner.
The debate has raged for years or dare I say decades now, as some of us go back all the way to elementary school. Well, tonight, it's about to be settled in
Zee Beertest
From all over Germany we will travel to meet up for the ultimate beer taste test. The testing material are over 30 carefully selected brands from all over Germany, including of course the favorites of all contestants, and, to make things interesting, also a couple of well known foreign beers. The general procedure will involve 5 tasting rounds of 6 brands per round. The 6 brands will be served in neutral looking glasses and will be filled up by neutral (and sober) referrees in a separate room. For each of the 6 glasses, the contestants have to guess the brand, rank the taste on a scale and give a price range they think the beer is in. Dry cookies and water will be availabe to neutralize tasting senses betweens tries.
The best beer in the world
While the whole test promises to be a good time already, the real hilarity will of course ensue from the guesses and the overall scoring, compared to the usual bold claims of quality everyone has. Will zatic denouce his favorite Jever as cheap trash brew? Will he praise the mediocre import? The stakes are high, as weeks of trash talking have preceded tonight's event. The winner can be sure to be respected for decades, and the poorest scorer will likely be ridiculed into abstinence.
So TL, wish me luck in this test of faith and honor. I will update this thead with results on Monday.
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Canada9720 Posts
not gonna lie, i'm pretty jealy.
gl dude
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Good luck Zatic, sounds like a lot of fun :D
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Bearded Elder29902 Posts
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I'm not going to lie. Germany's alcohol-centered social scene depresses me. I wish more people would invite me to dinner.
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i might want to go to germany one day to see oktoberfest. not participate in it, but just watch 100s of drunk people fight each other and do crazy things
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Zurich15306 Posts
On October 23 2009 22:40 MoltkeWarding wrote:
I'm not going to lie. Germany's alcohol-centered social scene depresses me. I wish more people would invite me to dinner.
Any time, my dearest German mit Migrationshintergrund. I'd be absolutely delighted.
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On October 23 2009 22:29 zatic wrote:
As many of you will know, Germans love their beer. All over the world Germany is famous for the quality of a) their cars, and b) their beer. Consequently, there is hardly anything Germans take so seriously as cars and beer. And that is saying something for a people as lighthearted as us.
You know those Germans... if you don't join their party, they'll come and get you!
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GL HF, beer is good for your health (depending on the amount )! I'm actually not sure if i ever drank german beer? Maybe Schöffenhoffer, is it from germany? guess i'll probably try that jever, is it comparable to Pilsner Urquell? I am also lilttle unpatriotic lately - drinking hoegaarden, there is something to it too...
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Theres a german community in my country (pretty much completely concentrated in one village). That place lives from turism, and they have Oktoberfest (a shitload of people from around the world attends there in that time). My uncle lives a few miles away, so in vacations i often go there, and i have to say, its awesome...i can´t even imagine how good it must be in Germany. =)
LOL, i just realized that i´m wearing an Oktoberfest T-shirt right now, nice timing 
The village is called "Villa General Belgrano" for those who wonder.
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Awesome man, I'm so jealous. If I had to rank the three things in the world I love, it would be:
1. My Family
2. Life
3. Beer
And you guys have undoubtedly the greatest beer in the world, no wonder I spent 2 weeks drinking it non-stop.
Just make sure you don't get too drunk and uhh.. arrested.
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9069 Posts
Two years ago I had to make a big research about the beer production and consumption in Germany. Back then I came across a very interesting article in Spiegel on the subject. It was basically about some dudes making the simple experiment of tasting blindfolded different beers and trying to guess which one was their favorite (everyone had one by default). Nobody was able to guess right even when there were only 3 glasses of beer to choose from.
So the conclusion was that the beer taste is defined by number of factors and the actual taste of the beer is only one of them. Not to say that by the production of the beer, there are so many different variables that are not related to the actual technology or the specific recipe of the beer brand. So even if you like Jever its not like it tastes the exact same way every time, you like it because of completely different set of reasons. I think in southern Germany ppl drink their local brands, in the north the big TV brands are more beloved.
But still thats just my opinion. Good luck with your research. I'm personally a big beer fan and my favorite one is the Guinness. It tastes like literally nothing else on this world
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On October 23 2009 22:56 disciple wrote:
Two years ago I had to make a big research about the beer production and consumption in Germany. Back then I came across a very interesting article in Spiegel on the subject. It was basically about some dudes making the simple experiment of tasting blindfolded different beers and trying to guess which one was their favorite (everyone had one by default). Nobody was able to guess right even when there were only 3 glasses of beer to choose from.
So the conclusion was that the beer taste is defined by number of factors and the actual taste of the beer is only one of them. Not to say that by the production of the beer, there are so many different variables that are not related to the actual technology or the specific recipe of the beer brand. So even if you like Jever its not like it tastes the exact same way every time, you like it because of completely different set of reasons. I think in southern Germany ppl drink their local brands, in the north the big TV brands are more beloved.
But still thats just my opinion. Good luck with your research. I'm personally a big beer fan and my favorite one is the Guinness. It tastes like literally nothing else on this world
Yeah, there was also similar research done in USA with coca-cola and pepsi - when testing people were blindfolded they said pepsi is better, but when they knew what they were drinking, coca-cola won. So "taste" is highly psychological issue. study
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Are you guys exclusively testing the big commerical brands, or just the local dudes, or maybe a combination?
Is it somewhat similar to the US (and I guess the rest of the world?) in that commercial beers blow ass 95% of the time, and the best ones come from local breweries? The US gets such a bad rap because our commercial beers are fucking horrible and watered down beyond belief. This is what most people judge us on.
Microbrews are fucking AWESOME in the states. It's just a shame they're so expensive a lot of times
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Sorry Zatic but Belgian beer is the best without a doubt. German beer is okay though.
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Thanks for the history lesson!
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On October 23 2009 23:06 zerotol wrote:
Sorry Zatic but Belgian beer is the best without a doubt. German beer is okay though.
Hah I knew some Belgian would barge in to say that!
Good luck with the beer tasting 
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Haha have fun!
My favorite German beer is Warsteiner Dunkel... So good... n_n;
Favorite beer (that is easily accessible) overall is definitely Stella Artois (BELGIUM!!), although in general I am a fan of stouts and darker beers.
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Yo zatic, I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but the Dutch have the best beer of all time.
+ Show Spoiler +man did that joke get old fast
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EPT![[image loading]](http://wakingupamy.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/oktoberfest.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://blog.trnd.com/bilder/trnd/bier1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.austrianbeer.co.uk/images/jever.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.slosar.com/list/uploaded_images/Tyskie_Beer-744444.jpg)
