10 funny facts and myths about beer

The most expensive and strongest beer in the world

Is Germany the world champion in drinking beer? Well, almost. Are 12 to 13 euros for a beer that expensive? It depends on what you’re using as a comparison. Is beer unhealthy? That’s a myth! Find out what the famous original gravity is, why the Purity Law was enacted, and where you can get beer on prescription.

1. World champion in beer consumption: A surprise!

Germany is the world champion in beer drinking — or so you might think, especially when you’re on the Oktoberfest. But it’s not the case. The Czechs have the highest per capita consumption of beer at 181.9 liters per year (2020). Whether the Oktoberfest, with its approximately 6 million liters of beer consumption, is included or not does not change the fact that Germany, with 92.4 liters per person per year, only ranks fifth in the beer drinking table, behind Austria, Poland and Romania.

2. World champion in beer brands

Even if the Germans aren’t world champions in beer drinking, they do still hold a title: we’re first place in production. Over 1,500 breweries and more than 5,000 beer brands are located in Germany, most of them in Bavaria.

3. Beer vitamins, or: Beer is healthy

After all, it consists of about 93 percent water! But not just that: Beer contains plenty of minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. It also has various B vitamins (or, to help you remember: Beer vitamins!). And, of course, beer is a purely plant-based and vegan specialty.

4. The strongest beer in the world

It's not the kind of beer you can drink in a pub at the end of the day. First, you'd have to be carried home afterwards, and second, it would be expensive fun: The Schorschbock from the Middle Franconian Schorschbräu in Gunzenhausen has 57% alcohol and the Maß would cost well over 600 euros. The good news is that a bottle of 0.04 liters is available for around 30 euros, depending on the retailer.

5. The most expensive beer in the world

Think that a pour price of 12 to 13 euros, or even more of over 600 euros like the aforementioned Schorschbock, is a lot? Nonsense. The winner of an auction in Great Britain in 2009 forked over roughly 22,000 euros per liter to buy a bottle of Löwenbräu lager from 1937. The brew isn’t drinkable anymore — but the story is exciting: The beer survived the crash of the Hindenburg zeppelin on May 6, 1937 near New York.

Gallery: The big tents at the Oktoberfest

Where the shooting happens! The Armbrustschützen tent

The Augustiner festival tent with its striking tower

Sunny hours in the beer garden of the Tradition festival tent on the Oidn Wiesn

Find coziness and Steckerlfisch in the Fischer-Vroni

Old stone jugs can be found in the Herzkasperl tent on Oidn Wiesn

Aloisius watches over the Hofbräu festival tent

The vine wreaths are typical of Kuffler's Wine Tent

The sun is always shining in the Löwenbräu tent

The Marstall is the successor of the legendary Hippodrome

The Ochsenbraterei: every ox eaten has a name!

Wiesnstimmung in the Paulaner festival tent

The atmosphere is always extra exuberant in the Bräurosl

O'zapft is! The mayor taps the first barrel here

Atmosphere on multiple levels in the colorful Schützen festival tent

6. Strong Wiesn beer: Just what is original gravity?

Wiesn beer still has its original gravity in addition to the alcohol content, but what does it all mean? It describes the nutrient content of the beer before fermentation. It’s produced by the malt grain, the starch of which becomes sugar during the mashing process. Proteins, amino acids, and vitamins are also part of the original gravity. They serve as nutrients for the yeast: The higher the original gravity, the more the yeast can ferment, which in turn results in a higher alcohol content. The strongest Wiesn beer is the Hofbräu beer, with 13.7% original gravity and 6.3% alcohol.

7. The Purity Law: why was it issued?

Everybody knows the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, according to which only barley, hops, and water are allowed in beer. But why was it actually issued? First was the regulation of beer prices, and the provision to allow only these three ingredients would be the easiest to enforce. But it was also for the protection of citizens, namely from “Grut,” adventurous ingredients such as aniseed, caraway, juniper, but also toadstools.

8. Who created it?

No, not the Bavarians. Sorry. It was probably the Sumerians from Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq, back in the fourth millennium before Christ. According to legend, we owe our golden fortune to chance. Barley and wheat flatbreads were soaked in water, perhaps to make it easier for the sick to eat. The stuff began to ferment, and the pulp developed an intoxicating effect. Whether the patient was better after consumption or not is unknown.

9. Beer on prescription

“Can you prescribe me a beer, Doctor?” It sounds like a bar joke, but it’s the truth: Beer helps patients with urological complaints purge out the kidneys and flush out toxins. It should not be consumed too cold, and whether it can contain alcohol should be consulted with your doctor or pharmacist. Again, not in Bavaria, by the way, but in the Czech Republic and Poland.

10. The history of strong beer

The Wiesn beer is quite something, but it’s not the only strong beer in Bavaria: In the spring, during Lent, there’s strong beer. You can tell by its name, which always ends in “-ator”: Celebrator, Salvator, or Animator for example. It was the monks who let the church allow it with a trick, because alcohol was actually forbidden during Lent. They sent a load of their fasting beer to Rome. On the way there, the brew spoiled, and when the Pope tried it, he found it so nasty that he allowed it as a fasting beer.