Good Beer Guide Germany

For the first time, information on all of Germany's 1,250 or so breweries has been collected together in one volume. And since Britons and Americans are more interested in Germany's varied brewing scene than the Germans themselves, it should come as no surprise to learn that the book is published in the UK.

Previously, the only source of information on breweries in Germany was a number of (again mostly English-language) guides to specific areas, such as Munich, Bamberg/Franconia and Düsseldorf. This new guide (it was published last month) presents all of Germany's breweries -- from the Munich and north-German giants down to local brew-pubs.

The beginning section provides some background on beer and brewing in Germany, but quickly jumps into the meat of the book: a list of every brewery in the country, with information on their history, contact details, brewery tap opening times and public transport information. Each entry comes complete with a list of the regular and seasonal beers brewed and their alcoholic percentages. Entries are split by Land and then alphebetically by village/town. At the back, a list of pubs for each city suggests places to try particularly good beers or places that have a good selection.

Incidentally, the author rates his five favourite breweries as: Augustiner (Munich), Göller, Mahr's, Pinkus and St. Georgen -- unsurprisingly, only two of those five aren't in Franconia.

As an insufferable beer snob, I ordered this book hot off the press, and it will without doubt quickly become my Bible Highly recommended for fellow beer snobs.

Amazon.de: Good Beer Guide Germany

Obviously a brilliant man.

ah, something to spend my birthday money on! sounds good.

@STB - that's great, thanks for the info. It may be a good book to offer to guests who stay with me (since I don't have a clue about beer - can't stand the stuff!).

The people at the Good Beer Guide series do good work. This will get added to my alcohol library post haste. Another fantastic book to get is:this book. It's out of date, but a very useful resource.

Have just ordered it. Money well spent I hope!

St. Georgen is crap. I believe it comes from Buttenheim and it is considered a poor beer by Franconian standards, so be wary about which other ones he recommends.

Actually, I rather like St. Georgen Bräu, and their Kellerbier is a CAMRA favourite. Wetherspoons even imported it for a couple of their beer festivals. But, of course, everyone has their preferences. For example, I wouldn't put Augustiner anywhere near the top five.

Incidentally, Buttenheim is worth a visit; it's on the main Nürnberg-Bamberg train route and the other brewery in town -- Löwenbräu -- is excellent.

Great find and write up STB! Am gonna defo order this today. Never mind collecting "Panini" WM stickers. This is the ultimate - run with the wolves pardner. Even if there´s no rating system - a daunting proposition as seen above by the differing views - this anglo guidebook promises to be a great companion. I hope it has a little room (576pgs ) to scribble in.


I too have tried this beer (both here and at Wetherspoons in London) and liked it. If I only had had the Good Beer Guide, I coulda scribbled in some notes...Seem to remember a little Sulfur in the taste that took a bit to get used to, but then ended up being delicious. I´ll be waiting with anticipation.

St. Georges: not bad, but doesn't stand out of the crowd of good Franconian beers.

Buttemheim: Not real interesting, except for maybe the Levi Strauss museum built in the house he spent his childhood in before emigrating to the US.

Mahr's is my favorite.

I have to buy this book just to see if it lists Hoh.

Hi,
I'm thinking my Hubby would love this book...but it's a pressie...so i need to buy it without him knowing.

Is anyone aware of whether they sell it at Hugendubel?
x

...

Yes they do. I've seen it in the English Hoogie-Doobie.

An Amazon Partner is selling it for €16.14, that's €10 less than Amazon themselves. Order it there and ship it to a friends address...

An equivalent guide has just been released for Prague and the Czech Republic. At 196 pages, it's a lot slimmer than the Germany guide, but then there are also far fewer breweries in the Czech Republic. My copy's still in the post so can't comment on it any further, but I'm sure it will be handy for anyone interested in the beer scene over there. A guide to Belgium completes the set.

CAMRA Books: Good Beer Guide Prague And Czech Republic

Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk listing