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Innovative brewers who happily experimented in their garages and mostly brewed rather flavourful beers - for years they were considered the epitome of the craft beer scene in Germany.

What had spilled across the pond to Germany as a trend, the interest in pale ale and Indian pale ale, in stout or porter, became the domain of young brewers, who mostly distanced themselves from the big names in the beer industry.

“Craft brewing” became the catchphrase of the young and wild ones. Even if the craft creations of this daring generation of brewers have remained a niche product to this day: the self-confidence of the micro-brewers was troubling the big breweries. They were annoyed at suddenly being pushed into the mainstream corner without justification - and responded with special editions. A commitment that pays off.

"Even the big breweries can do 'craft'", says Axel Dahm, spokesman for the management of the Bitburger brewery group.

"Above all, that means producing a high-quality craft beer with first-class ingredients," regardless of the quantity.

"The manufacturing process of our experienced master brewers is no different from that of smaller craft brewers," emphasizes Dahm.

"In our test brewery in Bitburg, our brewing experts experimented extensively and with great success with new beer styles and varieties even before the craft trend."

Thanks to Craft, beer is being talked about again

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International and classic beer styles have been reinterpreted in the “Craftwerk” since 2013, which also provides important impulses for Bitburger's brewing tradition, which is now over 200 years old. In addition, there is always a so-called "collaboration brew" with foreign breweries, for example the US craft brewer Sierra Nevada. "We are successfully selling the Bitburger Festbier, which resulted from this collaboration, together with our American importer in the United States," says Dahm. "We have also successfully placed specialty beers on the German market, such as our Bitburger Kellerbier, the Winterbock and currently the Bitburger Maibock."

In addition, the craft trend in Germany has achieved something "that we as brewers and the entire industry can only be pleased about": There is much more talk about beer, its production and its ingredients.

"This also significantly increased the appreciation for this traditional handicraft product," emphasizes Sahm.

Jeff Maisel, boss of the Bayreuth specialty brewery Maisel & Friends, can only agree.

“It was never about being as experimental as possible, but about bringing beer back to a higher status,” says Maisel, whose mother is American and who experienced the craft beer hype there during his studies in the USA.

"In the first wave the beers were sometimes too heavily hopped, in the second wave there was something more interesting."

A welcome addition

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Interpreting the American way for your own brewery - that's what it was all about when he started with Maisel & Friends ten years ago. "It was necessary to change the basic attitude in the beer nation Germany - away from what does it cost?" To the willingness to try creative things. "His" session "beers - from IPA to pale ale or wheat IPA to the new" Hoppy Hell “- would work really well, says Maisel. Their sales at Maisel & Friends have increased "in the high double-digit percentage range" over the past few years.

Probably also because they are “special, but not that crazy”, he brings the keyword “drinkability” into play. The craft beers from the microbreweries were good beers, "but often too bitter, too malty, that upset people." A pale ale should have “good hops”, but it doesn't have to be the wildest creation. "Because we brew according to the preferences of German beer lovers," says Maisel.

This is also how you see it at the Veltins private brewery.

“We never wanted to brew beer with a heavy taste,” says spokesman Ulrich Biene, referring to the Grevenstein original.

"But we wanted to enrich the beer market with something other than classic pils." That was achieved with the country beer.

A new fermentation and storage cellar was built specifically for its production in the mid-2010s so that the Grevensteiner can mature in open fermentation vats, as was common in the past.

The craft beer scene has remained a "root movement in the shadow of the great brewery forest", says Biene, "but the craft brewers have done a lot for the image of German beer".

Export to the USA

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Even where the craft beer movement was born, the Warsteiner Brewery decided to be successful with its unfiltered, naturally cloudy specialty “Brewers Gold”. "Despite Corona, we are sticking to our internationalization strategy," says spokeswoman Sinje Vogelsang. “Brewers Gold” is already on the shelves in the Netherlands and Italy. The roll-out in the United States is just beginning.

"The response from dealers has been very positive," says Vogelsang. "Many tell us that the design has been chosen very cleverly, our beer stands out visually on the shelf." And in terms of taste, everyone was already agreed in the intensive tests in the brewing academy that preceded the market launch of "Brewers Gold" in Germany last year: “Craftbeer also has to be drinkable and pleasant,” says Sinje Vogelsang. With “Brewers Gold” you can taste the fine caramel and honey note as well as the citrus-fruity aroma of the hops from the Hallertau - “but not too intense”.

At Anheuser-Busch InBev Germany, on the other hand, you are a little strange. “From our point of view, the trend towards craft beer is based on the increased search for naturalness, originality and authenticity,” says company spokesman Fried-Heye Allers. And adds: It is a misconception that smaller breweries have a monopoly on innovative, high-quality craft beers.