Münchener Bier is a

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

that is protected under EU law with '' PGI'' status, first published under relevant laws in 1998. This designation was one of six German beers registered with the PGI designation at the time.

History

Munich has had a long history of brewing beer; some have traced the starting point of this brewing tradition to the foundation of the Munich Court Brewery by

William V, Duke of Bavaria William V (29 September 1548 – 7 February 1626), called ''the Pious'', (German: ''Wilhelm V., der Fromme, Herzog von Bayern'') was the duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597. Education and early life William V was born in Landshut, the son of ...

(who opened his own ''hofbrauhaus'' in Munich in 1602 ). The reputation of Munich beers was celebrated in publications as early as 1816.

Production description

The beer is produced using water taken from deep wells within the city of Munich, which is drawn through layers of slate formed millions of years ago. The water is mixed with coarsely ground malted cereal; this produces a “mash” that is stirred constantly while being heated to different temperature levels. The process of heating activates enzymes in the malt, making its components readily soluble. The mixture is then “lautered” (which involves filtering the wort and removing insoluble materials), then adding

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

and boiling the mixture for one to two hours. This helps create the specific flavor profile of the beer, breaking down the hops and removing proteins that are detrimental to the taste. The still-hot wort (free of solids) is then taken to fermentation vessels where yeast is added. The yeast used is derived from a single cell, ensuring consistent properties from one batch to the next. Fermentation takes place over the next four to eight days. The sugars in the resulting mixture are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide (each about a third of the mixture) with unfermented malt accounting for the remainder. Once this initial fermentation is complete, the remaining yeast is removed and the beer is placed into secondary fermentation tanks. Over the next four to eleven weeks, this secondary fermentation gradually matures the beer and it is then ready to be bottled or put into kegs. The entire beer-making process must take place within the city of Munich.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Münchener Bier Beer in Germany German products with protected designation of origin