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| The history of wheat beer |
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| The first documented proof of the existence of brewing was provided by a painted clay vessel dating from the fourth millennium BC, which shows two women drinking beer. Since, in those days, only the top-fermenting method was known and wheat-like cereals were widespread, we can conclude that the first beer brewed was at least similar to wheat beer. However, the real history of wheat beer as we know it today only began around 500 years ago. In 1520 Ludwig X granted his official steward, Hans Sigismund of Degenberg, the right to produce wheat beer for the whole area of the Bavarian Forest. Although the brewing of wheat beer was prohibited in 1567, the Degenbergs retained their brewing rights. When the line of the Degenbergs finally died out, Duke Maximilian restored the right to brew wheat beer to himself. Although the law of 1567 remained in force, it did not apply to reigning princes - and so he was able to brew beer without any competition. This wheat beer monopoly was a secure and vital source of income for the Wittelsbachers, especially since wheat beer was becoming increasingly popular. While the sovereign right to produce wheat beer was initially limited only to Munich, electoral brewhouses gradually spread throughout the state, where wheat beer could be legally brewed on payment of a fee. Nonetheless, brewing wheat beer continued to be the exclusive preserve of the respective reigning princes. Wheat beer could be brewed the whole year, but "brown beer" only in the cooler months, from September to April. It was only in the middle of the 18th century, when new brewing techniques made it possible to improve the quality of "brown beers", that wheat beer become a "bourgeois" beverage. From then on, anyone with a brewing license was allowed to brew wheat beer - and not just the nobility. Wheat beer today The home of wheat beer has always been Bavaria. Around 1,000 types of wheat beer are brewed here and around 90% of all wheat beers on the market come from Bavaria. At approximately 30%, wheat beer has been the biggest-selling variety of Bavarian beer for some years. An astonishing development, considering that as recently as the post-war period wheat beer accounted for only 3% of Bavaria's total beer output. This refreshing specialty beer has long become established outside Bavaria's borders - in the rest of Germany and abroad. According to the Bavarian Brewing Federation, wheat beer is especially popular at the moment among young, sports enthusiasts. How is it brewed? Wheat beer is a so-called top-fermented beer, brewed from wheat and barley malt using top-fermenting yeast. During this type of fermentation process the yeast cells rise to the surface, where they form a white layer. In contrast to this, bottom-fermenting yeast - as used in the brewing of Pilsener, Export or Maerzen varieties - settles at the bottom of the beer. Because of the lower proportion of hops and the higher proportion of carbon dioxide, wheat beer is known among connoisseurs as an exceptionally refreshing and thirst-quenching specialty beer - and this applies most of all, of course, to Erdinger Weissbier. |