Before making my final trip to the supermarket this morning (most shops close at 2 p.m. today) to return some deposit bottles (Pfandflaschen) from last night’s birthday party, I took a photo of the ones called Weihnachtsbier.

Weihnachtsbier from Germany

Of course, it featured Santa on its label for a manly touch. I would have put an image of the Christkind on it. The beer itself was very good.

Next we picked up some items from the bakery, where Adventsbrot was featured.

Adventsbrot from Germany

I did not make it all the way to the meat counter in the back or I might have spotted some Heiligabend Wurst.

Facts:

In Germany, there are 1250 different kinds of beer, 300 different types of bread and 1450 types of cold cuts/sausages. This leaves a lot of room for branding.

By the way, 89% of the Germans like to spend Christmas Eve at home with the family.

Found this innovative offer for a beer seminar on facebook a few minutes ago.

What a practical idea to combine German language learners with a topic of interest! Studying plain German grammar can make you wish you were in heaven already, but this seminar is about beer and other beer related trivia, therefore you will be much more engaged.

After the third beer tasting, the dative case will be a closed chapter in your life and who cares about adjective declinations anyway…

Seriously, this is a wonderful way to polish your German while in Franconia. Every three kilometers, you will run into a brewery around this area. There are 10 breweries in Bamberg alone and almost 100 in the surrounding area.

A good level of basic German is recommended (level B1 or more)

Visit Beer Seminar for more information.

Biersteuer is a tax that is paid on beer in Germany.  The level of tax is based on the gravity of the beer, measured in Grad Pluto, which is effectively a measurement of the amount of sugar and thus ethanol that the beer contains.

The tax is included in the price of beer when you buy it, and is collected by the government from the brewers.

Homebrewers, whilst not having to pay the tax provided that they do not produce more than 2 hectolitres per year, are still required to register their brewing activities with the customs office.

Alcohol-free beer is not usually taxed in this way, although mixed drinks such as shandy (eg. Radler) are.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

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