American Beers are Tiny! Drinking Beer in Germany | AGDW

You can not discuss Germany without mentioning beer. Whether you like Pilsner, wheat beer, Lager, or even Radler, some of the best beer in the world is German and here it’s just plain part of daily life (whether you like it or not). In Germany, you can drink in public? Their beer bottles hold more beer than the bottles in the USA? Let’s find out some more weird facts about drinking German beer, which will help you sound like a pro at the local pub.
#germany #beer #germanbeer #americanabroad
*German Beer Maß photo by Fábio Alves on Unsplash
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Geoff and Alex - We’re two Americans living abroad in Berlin, Germany!
We both moved abroad separately to Germany over 10 years ago. After years of learning German, planting roots in our new home and navigating culture shock, we met through happenstance. Eventually, we created the Americans in Germany Drinking Whiskey Podcast.
Now we’re here on KZbin releasing a video each week! We discuss the differences between daily life in Germany and the USA, give advice to those who are hoping to make the move abroad and share plenty of funny stories and weird knowledge about being an expat in Germany. Along the way, we drink a new bottle of whiskey in each video. Why? We think, why not.
To learn more about us, our videos or podcast visit www.agdwchannel.com
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Notes: Berlin, visiting Berlin, Germany, Expat, AGDW channel, AGDW, Americans in Germany Drinking Whiskey, Living Abroad, immigrant, Moving Abroad, Moving to Germany, Living in Germany, Living in Berlin, travel
Thanks for watching!

[@mnamnam6061]

300ml to 500ml is 20% more? Is that imperial math? I'd say about 66% more in the mathematics we use in Europe🤣😂🤣😉

[@agdwchannel]

Total brain fart on my part!

[@florianb.9521]

The first thing I noticed, the beer Gösser comes from Austria.

[@agdwchannel]

We know :)

[@MYTravelBF]

As an American living in Germany, I can say that it's definitely easier to drink more beer here, and the beer is overall better from a mass production standpoint thanin the US. Plus, the fußpils and being allowed to drink in public is really nice. Being in Hannover in the north, Pils is by far the most common beer here. Great video!

[@agdwchannel]

Thanks! Exactly, being able to enjoy a cold beer on a warm summer’s day in the park is just such a natural thing. Every time we go back to the States the fact we can’t blows our minds.

[@hansmeiser32]

Fußpils, it's called Wegbier in my region but I seriously wonder if you get the joke why Fußpils is funny?

[@Weedyweed19]

@@hansmeiser32 wie kommt der auf fußpils und bei uns heisst dass auch weghalbe =D

[@markwarnberg9504]

4 ingridiances! Water - Malt - Hops - Yeast.

[@markwarnberg9504]

Perhaps I should specify: The German purity Law was of three ingridiances as you say, Water - Malt - Hops. The fermentaion was the natural process of the suger in the grain, much like Sour Dough Bread part of the first batch was used in the next batch. It was around 1600s Brewers Yeast came into use in order to speed up the process.

[@wWvwvV]

3:58 beer cans are not better for the environment, bottles are, because they get reused. Cans were close to get banned. Cans and other single-use containers have the highest deposit on it, 0.25€. Glas bottles are at 0.08€. Also, in Germany you usually don't buy single beer bottles. You have them in a tray or a crate. You're still allowed to mix them in the container. Many don't know, you pay more if you buy single bottles instead of a mixed crate.

[@j54island]

FACTS

[@PaulMenden5659]

I don't trust that number of 106 liters of beer per person per year? that would be two beers every three days for every German? No way

[@agdwchannel]

It's probably not as crazy as you think. Don't forget, it's an average. So you'll have some Germans who drink a lot less, but they are balanced out by other people who drink a lot more. Plus, 2 beers every 3 days is actually not that much at all, especially in Germany. You could also drink no beers 6 days out of the week, but one night with your friends drink 4-5 beers and that would give you more than the 106 litres per year :)

[@PaulMenden5659]

@@agdwchannel from my experience as a German and people I know, it is a bit much. Of course, there are people that need their daily 'Feierabendbier' (end of workday-beer), but still, I'm not sure it balances out. Although, I just looked it up. 2022 it was around 90L/capital/year. Although I don't know where all that comes from. Must be by bubble just not drinking too much.

[@ilubbeer7813]

in germany we call american beer pisswater cause its like a water'ish drink almost like a softdrink it mostly has no taste and not very much alcohol. the american budweiser is even illegal in EU since 2013 i think cause of budvar (the real budweiser). it also taste like nothing cause its made from corn and or rice. btw u can drink beer and wine at 14 in germany when u parents are in the same room and they agree on it. a good beer tip: nordic german beer störtebeker is good they have many sorts like atlantik ale and very old traditional hanse porter that almost not exists on the market its kinda historical beer. also a good beer and food mix is try a good german beer and frikandeln.

[@Alex-zw1up]

Störtebeker is definitely on of our favorite brands.

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@Alex-zw1up great 😎also maybe give budvar czech a try! but tbh it did taste better 5 years ago... they say that they didnt change the receipt but it does for sure taste diffrent it taste now more hard and not more so sweet and mild (maybe the water?)

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@Alex-zw1up i did sup to u channel guys buuuut tbh i like rum more 😅rum can taste so diffrently

[@Poisso3]

My local Getränkemarkt offers 6-pack of .5s as a sampler/party pack.

[@agdwchannel]

Nice :)

[@adur6400]

I'm jealous

[@user-kt9je5fc3s]

Somewhat interesting, I would like to add a correction on the topic of beer in glasses: normally every beer is drunk in a glass and in specific glasses - wheat glass, Kölsch glass, Alt glass, pilsner glass, etc. - at home, in the restaurant, in the pub, in the beer garden! Until a few years ago, drinking beer from a bottle was only considered acceptable in a few situations: on construction sites or in the park. Actually, this is considered “a little indecent”! But the important thing is that a beer in a glass not only tastes different, but much better! And canned beer always tastes like aluminum! Radler is beer with orange soda (e.g. Fanta), beer with lemonade (e.g. Sprite) is called Alsterwasser! ​

[@agdwchannel]

In Berlin drinking from a bottle is the norm (except for at restaurants/bars) and has been since we moved here. Only time I received guff from a German for drinking from a bottle was when it was a Hefeweizen. They just flat out told me it was wrong haha

[@hansmeiser32]

My wife drinks Weizenbier out of any glass she can find and this drives me crazy because we do own Weizenbiergläser and it's just blasphemous not to drink Weizenbier out of a Weizenbier-Glas.

[@agdwchannel]

That is unfortunate for sure

[@Kivas_Fajo]

We can open a beer with another closed beer, some ledge anywhere, a 2 € coin, a key, I know a guy who can open a beer with his eye socket...and that is like a horror movie to watch, because one expects injury and more and...he just opens the beer.

[@agdwchannel]

We love watching people opening beers with ANYTHING. Eye socket? Sounds painful, but respect!

[@Kivas_Fajo]

@@agdwchannel You can actually open it with a sheet of paper, if folded in a certain way. ^^

[@nordwestbeiwest1899]

Well, we Germans don't buy individual bottles of beer, we buy crates full (the crate has 24 bottles of 500 ml per bottle).

[@agdwchannel]

It depends. In Berlin, some of the Germans we know buy individual bottles and some buy crates. Problem is, a crate full of glass beer bottles weighs a lot! Luckily, there are some apps that’ll deliver you a case of beer and do the work for you :)

[@notroll1279]

You mainly do that at larger markets with car parks. In Berlin, however, many supermarkets don't have parking and many locals don't own cars or don't use them for shopping.

[@nordwestbeiwest1899]

@@notroll1279 Why do I care about Berlin, because Berlin is not the whole of Germany, just as Bavaria is not Germany, what Americans actually think when they talk about Germany and the Germans. Ha hah ha, when I hear in Berlin they all speak English. What a joke, because these are all foreigners who do this, because Germans speak German in Berlin. So Germans in general, except Germans who live in old buildings and in Berlin, buy crates of beer and not six packs!

[@gghostrrider]

How common is draft beer? Do they sell growlers etc? Warsteiner is my fave beers of all time, is it popular in Berlin? Oh and Paulander Oktoberfest beer

[@agdwchannel]

Draft is very common! Growlers are not really a thing and Warsteiner is popular all over the country, it’s one of the bigger beer companies. You should come visit and find out yourself!

[@Kelsea-2002]

Small correction - 1. you can drink beer and wine in public in Germany at the age of 14 if your parents are present. 2. You can already drink beer and wine in clubs and bars at the age of 16 (without parents).

[@agdwchannel]

We weren’t aware of the 14 age with a parent present. Good to know! Our German partners said buying beer at a bar with 16 wasn’t possible. Guess we’ll need to double check that one :)

[@Kelsea-2002]

@@agdwchannel If access to your bar is not age-related, then the normal laws apply - with parents from 14, without parents from 16. My parents had a pub themselves - even at the age of 14 I was already behind the bar from time to time and earned some extra money. Call the Ordnungsamt, they will confirm this immediately. By the way; the taste also depends very much on the hops. Many cheap breweries today only use hop concentrate instead of expensive fresh hops.

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@agdwchannel buying beer on u own and drink it alone is at 16. many things are diffrent like age of consent in germany is 14 and in america its 18

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@Kelsea-2002 selbst große brauerein tun das schon... also die bekannten "teuren" marken liegt aber auch daran das anheuser busch viele firmen aufkauft

[@schokokuss18]

Hey there maybe try a red beer 🍺 and if you like smoky whisky i would recommend Lagavulin. BTW love your Chanel it's funn to watch i love whiskey 😊

[@agdwchannel]

We’re both big fans of Lagavulin 🥃

[@wWvwvV]

If you didn't get the joke, Fußpils referes to Fußpilz. 👍

[@alpenroseable]

i drink a weissbier if possible from the bottle right

[@agdwchannel]

I also don’t mind it from the bottle

[@peter_meyer]

NEVER ask for a "Radler" in northern Germany. We call it "Alster(-Wasser)".

[@agdwchannel]

To be honest we’ve never had a problem calling it a Radler, but we respect that Alster is used

[@chrisb2942]

Radler is with Fanta, Alsterwasser with Sprite.

[@taurus2016]

@@chrisb2942 Where do you come from? Maybe from Austria? North of the Inn, beer is mixed with Sprite.

[@chrisb2942]

@@taurus2016 Berlin

[@chrisb2942]

@@taurus2016 Und andere kippen Bananensaft oder Cola ran. Möchtest du jetzt ernsthaft plakativ vorgetragene Unwissenheit oder Ignoranz als Kompetenz hinstellen? Ernsthaft? xD

[@chickenboss-sw9tv]

Guys i never bought a single bottle. Always cases or Sixpacks

[@MrMucera]

Legal drinking age for wine and beer is 16 on your own, 14 with parental supervision. 18 is for pretty much everything else. Edit: There was a problem a few years ago because beer was often cheaper than water, which i think is now illegal.

[@helloweener2007]

"Edit: There was a problem a few years ago because beer was often cheaper than water, which i think is now illegal." The "apple juice paragraph" is only for restaurants. There is always water cheaper than beer in supermarkets due to its normal pricing.

[@Kivas_Fajo]

Radler was created, because the sunday bicycling people in the parks never wanted a beer in the beergarden, because drunk on a bike was no fun. So one of the hosts came up with the idea to dilute the beer with a lemonade and called it Radler, to attrackt said Radler.

[@agdwchannel]

Exactly!

[@user-kt9je5fc3s]

Radler is beer with orange soda (e.g. Fanta), beer with lemonade (e.g. Sprite) is called Alsterwasser!

[@Kyuss-Unida]

lol, the section about buying beer in germany is completely wrong. You usually buy beer in crates that normally contains 20 bottles. Of course you can also buy 6 packs or individual bottles or usually 5 liter barrels. Almost every beer is available in 0.5 liters, some also in 0.33 liters or both sizes. But of course you are right, 1 liter beer glasses are served at Oktoberfest. Beer cans are also much more harmful to the environment, we bring our bottles back and they are washed and refilled until they become damaged.

[@agdwchannel]

Sorry, but our section on buying beer in Germany is not “completely wrong.” It’s based on 13 years of living in Germany 😅 Perhaps in your city or dorf they do things differently, but that does not invalidate our personal experiences.

[@Kyuss-Unida]

@@agdwchannel First of all, thank you for your answer. I think it's more likely that where you shopped there weren't any cases of beer for sale. This usually only applies to small gas stations or shops. Normally you go to the drinks market to buy drinks (for example "Trinkgut") and it doesn't really matter where you are in Germany. There are always cases of beer. The only difference is the regional variety selection. Even in normal to large supermarkets there are always cases of beer. In some more, in others less. All I can say is that I've never been to a location where you couldn't buy cases of beer. Maybe there are really places like that, I don't want to rule that out. Nevertheless, I would never portray this as generally common practice. I don't know anyone who goes shopping for beer and only picks up individual bottles, unless they're out partying or on the way home, etc.

[@agdwchannel]

@@Kyuss-Unida We appreciate what you're saying, but think you didn't pay close enough attention to what we said or showed in the video. We show a classic German grocery store set up: shelves of individual beers and the large cases of beers on the bottom. We also talked about the the large cases of beer and how heavy the are, etc. The main comparison was buying a beer at a U.S. grocery store vs. a German grocery store. In the USA, 99 percent of the time only be offered packs of beer (6 pack, 12 pack, etc), where as in Germany you are offered individual beers, plus large heavy cases of 20 beers. My friends (including Germans) often buy individual beers when we are hanging out, going to a park, going to a friends house, etc. Some have cases of beer delivered to their homes for general home-drinking, but these are much too large to just grab yourself on a whim if you don't have a car or the store is not a short walk from your house (all the places we shop have the large cases of beer available). in general, we just felt your tone was rude by saying what we said was "completely wrong" when in fact, it accurately depicted the beer buying experience in Germany. Also, don't forget that different people might have different experiences and that's OK.

[@sebastianderien5823]

For gastronomy there is a law, that there has to be at least one non alcoholic drink, that is not more expensive than the cheapest alcoholic beverage.

[@brunobrauer6301]

You guys need to go to a Getränkemarkt, to buy beer. Also, beer can be drunk at age 16, booze is 18.

[@agdwchannel]

The problem is the nearest Getränkemarkt is far away and beer is heavy. That’s why we usually stick to the grocery stores nearby. Yup you can drink beer in Germany at 16 years old :)

[@ariesmight6978]

AGDW you did not mention Tripple and Quadruple bears. To me personally the tripple beer tasts better. The quadruple beer tasts almost as good. Finishing off a full pint. Nearly knocks you out.

[@agdwchannel]

Tripels and quadrupels aren’t really a German thing :)

[@ariesmight6978]

@agdwchannel Just mostly Belgium then? Have you two tried a Tripple or Quadrupple beer? And did find them as great tasting as I do?

[@hansmeiser32]

3:18 "Germans usually buy the beer by the beer..." Don't know, but I strongly assume this is not true. I would guess most Germans buy beer (for home consumption) in crates. That's why we have the famous Getränkemärkte!

[@agdwchannel]

That’s true, I guess we are speaking more about here in Berlin with spätis and no car.

[@hansmeiser32]

@@agdwchannel Flaschenpost - they deliver to your home. Unfortunately they don't sell the beer I prefer - Erdinger Dunkel and Fiege Radler (Fiege is a brewery here in Bochum).

[@Renzenrocker]

You can drink beer at the age of 16. With parents you can even drink beer at the age of 14. ; )

[@agdwchannel]

We heard about the 14 with parents after filming the video. We asked a few bar owners in Berlin about serving a 14 year old and they said they wouldn’t, even though technically it’s legal 🤷‍♂️

[@Renzenrocker]

@@agdwchannel tbf i have never seen a 14 year old in a bar. but it is really aparent to see our beer culture. i had my first beer with my dad when i was 13 while grilling some steaks.

[@JezterTV]

Under the supervision of a parent it's even legal to drink at the age of 14!

[@someonejelly]

Almost forgiven for not mentioning Kölsch!

[@agdwchannel]

Next time ;)

[@weisthor0815]

Only people from Köln and the surounding area consider Kölsch to be beer.

[@chrisb2942]

Not sure Kindl was the right choice xD

[@agdwchannel]

We knew some people wouldn't agree, but in Berlin it's one of our go to beers ;)

[@thomaskurschner2949]

I must honestly say, i'm not a big fan of the German purity law. On the other hand, it also has its advantages because there are only qualitatively good beer, but the variety is a little lost. I think but that's just my personal opinion. 😊

[@agdwchannel]

You have a completely valid opinion. I like a variety as well, which is why I’ve been happy to see a quickly growing craft beer scene in Berlin the past 5-10 years.

[@saxogrammatikus4195]

The only thing is you can't marketing that product as a beer but as a beer-mix-beverage like V+ from Veltins.

[@pollypupspueppchen]

Gösser is austrian!

[@agdwchannel]

Yup, it is Austrian :) We used it as an example of a Radler, not an example of a German beer. Unfortunately, the shop near us had no German Radlers.

[@Mike111174]

fusspil"z" means foot fungus, thats the joke about it.

[@agdwchannel]

Exactly, fußpils vs fußpilz

[@andibuletten6206]

Gösser Radler rules✌️ Austrian Beer by the way.

[@agdwchannel]

Yup, we know. Only used it as an example of a Radler.

[@MaugriMGER]

Just wrong. Most people buy beer in a Kasten (crate).

[@agdwchannel]

We’re just speaking from our experiences here in Berlin with the people we know. If you have a different experience, that’s also great!

[@notroll1279]

Most people using cars for shopping buy crates - but they're a pain to carry on foot. In Berlin, many supermarkets don't have parking spaces and many Berliners don't have cars or don't use them for their grocery shopping. So in the inner residential areas of Berlin, buying a few bottles without a crate is quite common.

[@egoneiermann-tn7sc]

If you want to be Freddie Mercury, the beard isn't right yet.

[@agdwchannel]

😂

[@Steeler-wg5zo]

you can drink beer @ age of 16 in Germany (not 18 - tks god)😁)

[@agdwchannel]

0:58 We put a “age 16” title on the screen as a correction. I had a little brain lapse 😅

[@ilubbeer7813]

not true u can drink allready at 14 when u parents are in the same room and allow u it. at 16 u can drink alone but only beer and wine

[@Steeler-wg5zo]

@@ilubbeer7813 hab' ich vor vielen Jahren auch mal gemacht, sicher. Sogar am Eierlikör-Glas genuckelt. War dann Alki...

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@Steeler-wg5zo du machst doch witze 😂als ob du direkt alki danach warst. es ist schon ab 14 erlaubt aber kenne viele die es ihren kindern schon früher geben... so mit 12-13... naja

[@ilubbeer7813]

@@Steeler-wg5zo apropo eierlikör.... ich stell mir das ganz ekelig vor 🤢alk mit ei? ihhh...

[@haukegebhardt3378]

fußpilz means you got mould on your foot, yopu got mold in you toenails

[@peter_meyer]

Correct, but he was talking about Fußpils.

[@dieterdodel835]

@@peter_meyer 🤣

[@agdwchannel]

Fuspils, not Fuspilz 😉

[@looopers5764]

How do you recognize a german in public? He has a beer in his hand... .

[@raistormrs]

opening beer with a lighter is a basic skill, not being able to use the simple leverage effect is a complete no no and will earn you a lot of... 🤨 Fußpils is a dumb joke and wordplay, because Fußpilz, which sounds exactly the same, is what you would know as athlete's foot... then, there is the ranking of when the beer is best, obviously the barrel/keg beer is best, except if you are in the brewery itself, so best is barrel, second is bottle and lowest ranked is can. temperature has to be around 6°c depending on the type of beer.

[@agdwchannel]

Agree on the ranking, but in recent years we've been slowly switching over to cans more just due to the portability when going to a park, etc (about half the weight of a glass bottle) and cans use less energy in the recycling process. However, in general, we're on the same page :)

[@raistormrs]

@@agdwchannelwell that's fine for certain types of beer, where the taste differences are not that big but take "Alt" for example, which is brewed with malt, the differences are quite obvious, if you ever get into a "Altbier" area, i would suggest you try one of the local breweries yourself, after drinking a can on the way, order a glass in the brewery and taste the difference yourself. it's two different things 😉

[@WarbirdFan66]

what kind of video is this, you are living in berlin, talk about bier and you dont mention the "berliner weisse" ???....bad, very bad

[@agdwchannel]

To be honest, we rarely see people drinking Berliner Weiße (also don't like it ourselves). We didn't mention it because we look at it as a more a niche drink. But, to each his own 😁

[@notroll1279]

​​@@agdwchannel Berliner Weiße is having a bit of a renaissance right now - just not with the red or green syrup (that's for tourists...) but undiluted. Some small local breweries have started brewing batches of Berliner Weiße again, so you might want to try that and reconsider...