page_title: German cuisine
section_title: Alcoholic drinks
hierarchical_section_title: German cuisine / Beverages / Alcoholic drinks
caption_attribution_description: English: wheat beer Deutsch: Weizenbier
context_page_description: The cuisine of Germany is made up of many different local or regional cuisines, as is typical for somewhat larger countries. Germany itself is part of a larger cultural region, Central Europe, sharing many traditions with neighbouring countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic. Southern regions, like Bavaria and Swabia, share dishes with Austrian and parts of Swiss cuisine.
  The Michelin Guide of 2015 awarded 11 restaurants in Germany three stars, the highest designation, while 38 more received two stars and 233 one star. As of November 2017, Germany had the fourth-highest number of Michelin three-star restaurants in the world, after Japan, France, and the United States.
context_section_description: Beer is very common throughout all parts of Germany, with many local and regional breweries producing a wide variety of beers. The pale lager pilsner, a style developed in the mid-19th century, is predominant in most parts of the country today, whereas wheat beer (Weißbier/Weizen) and other types of lager are common, especially in Bavaria. A number of regions have local specialties, many of which, like Weißbier, are more traditionally brewed ales. Among these are Altbier, a dark beer available around Düsseldorf and the lower Rhine, Kölsch, a similar style, but light in color, in the Cologne area, and the low-alcohol Berliner Weiße, a sour beer made in Berlin that is often mixed with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Since the reunification of 1990, Schwarzbier, which was common in East Germany, but could hardly be found in West Germany, has become increasingly popular in Germany as a whole. Beer may also be mixed with other beverages such as pils or lager and carbonated lemonade: Radler (lit: cyclist), Alsterwasser (lit: water from the river Alster).
  Since a beer tax law was changed in 1993, many breweries served this trend of mixing beer with other drinks by selling bottles of pre-mixed beverages. Examples are Bibob (by Köstritzer), Veltins V+, Mixery (by Karlsberg), Dimix (by Diebels) and Cab (by Krombacher).
  Wine is also popular throughout the country. German wine comes predominantly from the areas along the upper and middle Rhine and its tributaries. Riesling and Silvaner are among the best-known varieties of white wine, while Spätburgunder and Dornfelder are important German red wines. The sweet German wines sold in English-speaking countries seem mostly to cater to the foreign market, as they are rare in Germany.
  Korn, a German spirit made from malt (wheat, rye or barley), is consumed predominantly in the middle and northern parts of Germany. Obstler, on the other hand, distilled from apples and pears (Obstler), plums, cherries (Kirschwasser), or mirabelle plums, is preferred in the southern parts. The term Schnaps refers to both kinds of hard liquors.
  All cold drinks in bars and restaurants are sold in glasses with a calibration mark (Eichstrich) that is frequently checked by the Eichamt (~ Bureau of Weights and Measures) to ensure the guest is getting as much as is offered in the menu.
caption: German wheat beer
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