History and beer culture
Brewing laws, customs, festivals and terms from beer history. 14 terms.
Beer garden
- Comes from Bavaria: breweries stored their beer in cellars shaded by chestnut trees and from 1812 were allowed to serve it right there. Because they were not allowed to sell food, guests brought their own snacks – which is still allowed in traditional beer gardens today.
Brewing rights
- The right to brew and sell beer. In the Middle Ages, rulers and towns granted it to monasteries, citizens or whole towns; Budweis (České Budějovice), for example, received it as soon as it was founded in 1265. In many towns, brewers’ guilds decided who was allowed to brew and how much.
Brewpub and taproom
- A brewpub brews its beer on its own premises and serves it fresh, for example Uerige in Düsseldorf or U Fleků in Prague. In a craft brewery’s taproom you drink the beer right next to the tanks it was made in.
Chimaek
- Korean for fried chicken (“chikin”) and beer (“maekju”) – one of the most popular combinations in South Korea, with its own festival in Daegu.
Craft beer
- Beer from small, independent breweries that care about flavour and variety. The movement began in the 1970s in the USA and in England and revived old styles such as pale ale, porter and IPA. Over 1,000 breweries are registered in Switzerland today, many of them small.
Folköl
- Swedish beer with 2.25 to 3.5% alcohol that may be sold in supermarkets. Stronger beer is only available from the state monopoly Systembolaget.
Gambrinus
- Legendary king of beer, found on labels, inn signs and fountains. The figure probably goes back to Duke John I of Brabant, who lived in the 13th century.
Gruit
- Herb mixture used to flavour and preserve beer before hops, for example with bog myrtle, yarrow and wild rosemary. Whoever had the right to sell or tax gruit earned well from it – in Bruges, for example, the lords of Gruuthuse. From the late Middle Ages, hops pushed gruit aside. Some breweries brew gruit beers again today.
Köbes
- The waiter in Cologne’s brewery taverns. He keeps bringing fresh Stangen of Kölsch until you put your beer mat on top of the glass, and marks each round with a line on the mat.
Lenten beer
- Strong beer that monks brewed for Lent, because liquid food was allowed. The Paulaner monks in Munich brewed the forerunner of doppelbock this way, the Salvator. That is why many doppelbocks still have a name ending in “-ator”.
Ninkasi
- Sumerian goddess of beer. The “Hymn to Ninkasi” from around 1800 BC describes how beer is brewed while praising the goddess, and is considered one of the oldest beer recipes in the world.
Oktoberfest
- The world’s largest folk festival takes place in Munich. It began in 1810 with a horse race for the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. Only Munich breweries may serve there, offering their slightly stronger festival beer in the one-litre Mass. There are offshoots all over the world, for example in Blumenau, Brazil.
Prohibition
- A ban on alcohol. In the USA it lasted from 1920 to 1933, in Finland from 1919 to 1932, and in Iceland strong beer even stayed banned until 1989. In the USA hundreds of breweries closed for good during this time.
Purity law (Reinheitsgebot)
- Bavarian decree of 23 April 1516, issued in Ingolstadt: beer could only be made from barley, hops and water. Yeast was still unknown at the time. The law was meant to ensure quality and also protected wheat and rye for bread. Its principles still apply in Germany today, and 23 April is celebrated as the Day of German Beer. Switzerland has no purity law, but other ingredients must be declared.