Where can you find the best beer in Germany

In hardly any other region in the world, beer is valued as much as in southern Germany: there are more than 600 private breweries and brewery restaurants in Bavaria alone. They brew more than 30 different types of beer – and strictly according to the Bavarian purity law: a beer may only be brewed from the four ingredients water, malt, hops and yeast.

Every administrative district, every region has its own special preferences when it comes to beer. In Franconia, besides Hellen or Pils, red or smoked beer is also appreciated. In Upper Bavaria people swear by wheat beer, light and dark.

And in Baden-Württemberg people prefer the bitter Pils, but they also like to drink an Export beer. There are more than 160 breweries in the southwest – and just like wine, the people of Baden and Württemberg have very different preferences when it comes to enjoying beer. The inhabitants of Württemberg prefer lager, while large parts of Baden remain loyal to exports.

Finding out in a survey which beer is the best in southern Germany is certainly not an easy task. t-online tried it anyway: in collaboration with opinion research institute Civey, people from the south were asked about their favorite beer from southern Germany. The survey’s evaluation shows that it’s difficult to pinpoint a clear winner for the variety of beers in the South. 39 percent of those surveyed do not want to attribute the best beer to any of the available cities or regions.

With 29 percent of the vote, however, there is a clear second place: it is the Bavarian state capital Munich with breweries such as Augustiner, Giesinger, Paulaner and Hofbräu. The Black Forest ranks third with 9 percent: Baden-Württemberg’s state brewery Rothaus is located here, whose beer “Tannenzäpfle” has also been very popular in Berlin for many years.

The Franconian cities of Kulmbach (almost 8 percent), Bamberg (6 percent), Tegernsee (4.9 percent), Nuremberg (2 percent) and Rosenheim (1.5 percent) follow behind.