MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 21: A woman waves a pretzel in the air during day 2 of the Oktoberfest beer festival on September 21, 2008 in Munich, Germany. The Oktoberfest is seen as the biggest beer festival worldwide. (Photo by Chad Buchanan/Getty Images) (Photo: )
What's a giant stein of Oktoberfest beer without an even bigger pretzel to go with it? Festival-goers in Germany could find out if Bavarian bakers follow through on their strike threat.
Despite the name, the modern Oktoberfest begins in mid-to-late September. This year, it starts on Sept. 20, and if the bakers don't have a new contract in place before then, the ovens are being turned off.
"If we don't get any further by mid-September, we'll strike in the bakeries," Mustafa Oz of the The Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten food and beverage union (NGG) told Focus in a translation from iTV. "Then there'll be a lack of pretzels and bread rolls."
Festival organizers told NBC News they have a supplier who plans to keep them rolling in dough throughout the event. However, if they do fall short, there's a backup plan.
For hundreds of years, most beers were inherently smoky due to malts being dried over fires. Though the technique has been pushed aside by modern kilning techniques, Germany's Bamberg, in the Franconia region, still specializes in smoldering brews known as rauchbiers (rauch is German for "smoke"). While some call to mind puréed bacon, this rendition presents an understated smokiness and sparkling clarity.
Mahrs Bräu Kellerbier Ungespundet Hefetrüb
To ensure consistency and create a more shelf-stable product, most beers, especially lagers, are filtered. (You don’t want lingering yeasts to muck up flavors.) One notable exception is the hazy, unfiltered kellerbier ("cellar beer"). Bamberg's Mahrs makes one of our favorites, a 14-karat beauty boasting a fresh hop bouquet, heady effervescence, and a dry, refreshing finish.
Roggenbier
One of Germany's more deliciously obscure styles is roggenbier (roggen is German for "rye"), a close relative to the hefeweizen. In contrast to wheat-driven hefeweizens, roggenbiers contain up to 50 percent rye—a spicy element that jibes with hefeweizen yeast's notes of cloves and bananas. Flying Dog recently released the draft-only Roggen, and you'll find a commendable bottled example from Seattle's Reuben's Brews.
Original Ritterguts Gose
Once upon a time, Leipzig was known for gose (goes-uh), a sour, wheat-focused ale spiced with coriander and salt. (Think about how salt sharpens flavors, not a bag of Doritos.) The ale flies in the face of Germany's Reinheitsgebot purity law—as a regional specialty, it's exempt—presenting a laser-like tartness and a low ABV (4.2 percent) that makes Ritterguts a great workday brew.
G. Schneider & Sohn Wiesen Edel-Weisse
Since it was founded in 1872, the German brewery has specialized on smooth, wheat-driven ales hefeweizens and other thirst-slaking delights. (The nutmeg and clove–nuanced Schneider Weisse Original is a total treat.) For an appealing riff on wheat beer, try the Wiesen Edel-Weisse. Bright and floral, it's more in line with an American white IPA.
Freigeist Bierkultur Abraxxxas
The brewery's name should be the first clue that Sebastian Sauer and Peter Essel are not boring German beersmiths. At Cologne’s Freigeist ("free spirit"), the duo are driven by the notion of resuscitating the country’s bygone quaffs such as the eastern-German wheat beer known as Lichtenhainer. Smoky, bracingly tart, and anointed with hay, bread, and light ash, Abraxxxas will take your taste buds for a loop.
Brauerei Pinkus Mueller Organic Münster Alt
While Germany is known for its lagers, some brewers were not so quick to bid goodbye to ale yeast. In Düsseldorf, not far from where Germany hits Holland and Belgium, that meant a copper-brown ale that would come to be known as the altbier. Brauerei Pinkus's version is a brisk, fruit-forward, and malty exemplar of the style.
Uerige Sticke
One of altbier's tastier offshoots is the sticke alt (sticke, pronounced “shtick-uh,” means “secret” in the local dialect), which is brewed just twice a year by Düsseldorf’s Uerige. This version is opulent and robust, with an attendant bitterness matched by a malty complexity.
Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse
During their 19th-century maraud across Germany, Napoleon's forces stumbled upon a tart, effervescent German ale that soldiers called the "Champagne of the north," a more fanciful term for Berliner weisse. Try the beguilingly sour 1809, which blends a sparkling pop with hints of pears and lemons.
Hofstettner Granitbock Ice
The eisbock is a rather literal style. In a process dubbed fractional freezing or freeze distillation, brewers send a stronger lager into deep freeze. Removing the ice crystals (alcohol solidifies at –173°F, compared with water's 32°F) creates a more concentrated beer with a burlier body, amped maltiness, and elevated booze. This version from Austria's Hofstettner (so close to Germany!) is made by caramelizing the wort (the sugar-rich broth that becomes beer) with white-hot rocks and fermenting the beer in granite troughs. Caramel flavors rule the palate.
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