Pils or Hefeweizen? – The Top 20 Best-Rated German Beers

Germany is obviously a traditional beer country whose national beer styles and breweries are popular and still, after centuries, serving their purpose. Let’s look at the Pint Please statistics and see which were the best-rated and the most popular beers from Germany in 2021.

Pilsener, Hefeweizen, Dortmunder, Kölsch, Berliner Weisse… There are plenty of German beer styles, which all locate to their special areas around the country. The oldest breweries have been functioning since the mediaeval era. 

In Northern Germany the most popular beer style is called Altbier. It’s brewed in the surroundings of Düsseldorf. Altbier, meaning “old beer”, is actually a top-fermented beer, an ale, which as a matter of fact, is quite unusual in Germany, since Germany is especially known for its bottom-fermented lager beer styles.

On the other hand, Southern Germany is a total wheat beer zone. One of the most traditional destinations to travel is Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Munich is famous for Oktoberfest, a beer festival that takes place in September and lasts about two weeks until October.

Germany is a beer traveller’s daydream. Different kinds of breweries, Biergartens and beer festivals will make sure to introduce a traveller in the local beer culture. 

The Best-Rated German Beers in 2021

In the statistics of last year’s best-rated beers are only taken into account those beers that do have more than 50 ratings in Pint Please. The average ratings in the top 20 vary from 3.66 to 3.90.

The best average rating goes to a famous German smoked beer Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock from Brauerei Heller, a historical smoked beer brewery. This full-bodied smoked bock beer is brewed in the summertime and matured for months in the ancient Schlenkerla rock-cellars underneath the town of Bamberg. 

The second place on the list goes to Bavarian Helles beer, Tegernseer Hell, brewed by Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus Tegernsee in the town of Tegernsee. There are in total six Helles or Dortmunder beers in the top 20, which makes this German pale lager style one of the most popular of the best-rated beer styles, another being Hefeweizen, a pale wheat beer.

Instead of a traditional German beer style, the third place is taken by an IPA, Störtebeker Pazifik-Ale, brewed by Störtebeker Braumanufaktur in Stralsund. In total there is only one IPA, one NEIPA and one Imperial IPA on the list. In this regard Störtebeker’s achievement is excellent.

The Most Popular German Beers in 2021

Compared to the best-rated beers, the top 20 list of the most popular German beers isn’t actually so different, though this time the Hefeweizen beers are heading the stats. The most popular German beer is obviously Paulaner Hefe-Weißbier Naturtrüb from the great and famous Bavarian brewery, Paulaner Brauerei. It is a classic choice! 

On the second place there is another Bavarian beer, Spaten München, nowadays brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner-Löwenbräu Gruppe. This straw-yellow, medium-bodied and medium hopped pale lager beer has notes of biscuits and herbs. 

On the third place there is the most common German pilsner, Beck’s, which has been brewed by Brauerei Beck & Co. in the same way for more than 140 years. The hops of this refreshing pilsner come from the Hallertau region, especially famous for its varieties of noble hops.

Pils or Hefeweizen – Which German Beer Style to Choose?

Pils and Hefeweizen are two very typical and popular German beer styles, which both go well with food, as well as a refreshing thirst quencher. Which one would you choose?

Pils

A German pilsner, or commonly known as Pils, is probably the most classical beer style. The pilsner style comes actually from the town of Pilsen, Bohemia of Czech, but Germany has its own historical pilsner style. Its roots lie deep down in the soil of East Germany.

German Pils is a pale lager with a straw or golden pale colour and a wonderful clarity. There can be malty and honey-like sweetness in aroma and flavour in addition to notes of herbs, biscuits or citruses. Pils is normally quite dry and crisp in its taste. That’s why it goes nicely with fish and sausages, for example.

Hefeweizen

German Weizenbier of Hefeweizen is a light coloured top-fermented wheat beer. In addition to barley malts, Hefeweizen is brewed with wheat malts. The percentage of wheat malts is at least 50 % in German wheat beer. That’s why wheat beers are normally full- or medium-bodied, non-transparent and hazy.

As a by-products of fermentation, the yeast produces banana and clove aromas, from which Bavarian wheat beers are especially known for. The flavours also include aromas from apricot and citruses, vanilla, honey and caramel. The taste of the grains is very notable in wheat beers. German Hefeweizen is very recommendable with light meals, such as fish, salad or soup.