Schwarzbier

Black Beer is a type of beer. Black beers are full dark beers that today - are usually low fermentation produced - unlike earlier. The alcohol content is generally from 4.8 to 5 % by volume

Production

Its dark color gets dark beer usually accomplished by using dark Braumalzes or Röstmalzes - what gives him the typical roasted note -, rarely also by color beer. The original wort content is at least 11%.

History

The roots of this type of beer can be found in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg. The earliest documented mention in Thuringia is from the year 1543. The oldest known Schwarzbier is the brewed since the Middle Ages (first documented mention in 1390 ) in Braunschweig " Braunschweiger Mumme ".

In GDR times, was black beer a niche product that has been exported to a large extent to Hungary. After reunification, it was successfully marketed as a specialty. Market leader in Germany is the Köstritzer black beer brewery, which could increase their production in the period 1989 to 2011 from 12,000 to around 380,000 hectoliters per year. Black Beer has a market share of 1.6 percent in Germany.

Other varieties

Other famous dark beers are Altbier ( Niederrhein), Dark Beer ( Dark export) or lager ( Southern Germany, especially Franks, Bavarians and Bavarian Swabia ) or dark wheat beer ( Bavaria).

A mixed drink consisting of dark beer and cola is known under the name of Greifswald, Dark Radler, Black Diesel or Dirty. In Bavaria, however, is meant by a dark cyclists a mixture of " Dark Beer " and " lemonade ".