The best German beer is Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, the benchmark German wheat beer, from the world’s oldest brewery, and one of the finest beers brewed anywhere. That is my verdict after buying and tasting the classic German styles side by side, every one out of my own pocket, and scoring each on aroma, balance, body and drinkability.
I am Dan, and beer is my life. I have been an active homebrewer for over 10 years and have tasted breweries all over the world. This guide is built from my own tasting notes, with honest scores and a full review behind every pick. You can read more about me or see everything I have reviewed on my author page.
Germany is the spiritual home of beer, with more than a thousand years of brewing history and a handful of styles the whole world copies. Below is the best German beer for every taste, ranked together across the great German styles. A quick map: the hefeweizen is the cloudy, banana-and-clove wheat beer; the helles is the soft, everyday golden lager of Munich; the pilsner is the crisp, hoppy, bitter one; the marzen is the smooth, toasty Oktoberfest lager; the doppelbock is the strong, rich, dark one; and the rauchbier is the famous smoked beer from Bamberg. There is a German beer here for absolutely everyone.
The Best German Beers, Ranked
Here is the short version, ranked by how they actually taste. Full reviews are linked under each pick.
| Rank | Beer | Style | ABV | Calories | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier | Hefeweizen | 5.4% | 165 | 4.8/5 |
| 2 | Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock | Doppelbock | 6.7% | 230 | 4.7/5 |
| 3 | Weihenstephaner Vitus | Weizenbock | 7.7% | 230 | 4.6/5 |
| 4 | Weihenstephaner Original Helles | Helles lager | 5.1% | 150 | 4.5/5 |
| 5 | Bitburger Premium Pils | German pilsner | 4.8% | 140 | 4.5/5 |
| 6 | Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen | Rauchbier (smoked marzen) | 5.1% | 160 | 4.4/5 |
| 7 | Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen | Oktoberfest marzen | 6.0% | 180 | 4.4/5 |
| 8 | Spaten Optimator | Doppelbock | 7.6% | 230 | 4.3/5 |
| 9 | Ayinger Oktoberfest Marzen | Oktoberfest marzen | 5.8% | 175 | 4.3/5 |
| 10 | Erdinger Weissbier | Hefeweizen | 5.3% | 160 | 4.2/5 |
| 11 | Warsteiner Premium Pilsner | German pilsner | 4.8% | 140 | 4.1/5 |
| 12 | Hofbrau Original | Helles lager | 5.1% | 150 | 4.0/5 |
The Best German Beers at a Glance
Swipe through the top picks and tap any card to jump straight to the full write-up.
Best German Beer Overall: Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier
There was only ever one winner. Brewed at Weihenstephan, the oldest brewery in the world, this is the benchmark German hefeweizen and, for my money, one of the best beers on the planet. It is a cloudy golden wheat beer with perfectly balanced banana and clove, creamy and refreshing and endlessly drinkable. If you buy one German beer, make it this.
Brewed at the world’s oldest brewery, this is the benchmark German hefeweizen, a cloudy, banana-and-clove wheat beer of near-perfect balance.
- The benchmark hefeweizen
- Perfect banana and clove balance
- Creamy, refreshing and easy at 5.4%
- From the world’s oldest brewery
- Best very fresh
- Nothing, really
Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.
- Also worth trying: Erdinger Weissbier
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Weihenstephaner Vitus review.
Best German Lager: Weihenstephaner Original Helles
For an everyday German lager, nothing beats a great helles, and this is a benchmark. It is a soft, malt-forward golden lager of flawless balance, the beer that proves how good a simple lager can be when it is brewed brilliantly. Endlessly drinkable at 5.1% and the perfect answer to anyone who thinks lager is boring.
Original Helles is Bavaria’s everyday lager done to perfection, a soft, malty, gently hoppy golden beer that proves how good a simple lager can be.
- A benchmark Bavarian helles
- Flawless soft, malty balance
- Endlessly drinkable at 5.1%
- Proof a simple lager can be brilliant
- Understated if you want big flavour
- Best very fresh
Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.
- Also worth trying: Hofbrau Original
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our best lager beers guide.
Best German Pilsner: Bitburger Premium Pils
German pilsner is crisper, drier and far more bitter than the lagers most people know, and Bitburger nails it. It is clean and precise with a firm floral noble-hop bite and a dry, refreshing finish. If you want to taste what a real German pils should be, this widely available benchmark is a great place to start.
Bitburger is a benchmark German pilsner, crisp, dry and properly bitter, with a clean noble-hop bite that puts mass-market lagers to shame.
- A benchmark German pilsner
- Crisp, dry and properly bitter
- Clean noble-hop character
- Widely available and reliable
- Bitterness may surprise pale-lager drinkers
- Light bodied, as the style should be
Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.
- Also worth trying: Warsteiner Premium Pilsner
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Warsteiner review.
Best Oktoberfest Beer: Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen
Paulaner is one of only six breweries allowed to serve at the real Munich Oktoberfest, and this marzen is the festival beer most people picture: a smooth, toasty amber lager with rich bready malt, rich enough to feel like a treat but drinkable enough for the litre stein. The proper taste of autumn.
Paulaner’s Oktoberfest is the classic Munich festival beer, a smooth, toasty amber marzen with rich bready malt built for drinking by the litre.
- An authentic official Oktoberfest beer
- Smooth, toasty, malty character
- Rich but still very drinkable
- The proper taste of autumn
- Only a seasonal treat for some
- Maltier than fans of crisp lager may want
Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.
- Also worth trying: Ayinger Oktoberfest Marzen
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Ayinger Oktoberfest review.
Best Strong German Beer: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
For a strong, dark German beer, Celebrator is world class. It is a doppelbock, rich and silky with chocolate, dark fruit and toasted malt, yet it drinks remarkably smoothly for 6.7%. Regularly named one of the best beers in the world, it is the beer that makes you slow down and pay attention. It even comes with a little goat charm.
Celebrator is one of the world’s great dark beers, a rich, silky doppelbock full of chocolate, dark fruit and toasted malt at a deceptively smooth 6.7%.
- A genuine world-class dark lager
- Rich chocolate and dark fruit depth
- Silky smooth despite its strength
- The definitive doppelbock
- Rich, so a sipper not a session beer
- Comes with a slightly gimmicky goat charm
Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.
- Also worth trying: Spaten Optimator
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Spaten Optimator review.
Explore More Beer Guides
Want to go wider? These guides cover the rest of the beer world:
German Beer FAQs
What is the most famous German beer style?
Germany is best known for several: the hefeweizen (cloudy wheat beer with banana and clove), the helles and pilsner (pale lagers), the marzen (Oktoberfest lager) and the doppelbock (strong dark lager). The hefeweizen and the crisp German pilsner are probably the most copied worldwide.
What is the German beer purity law?
The Reinheitsgebot, dating from 1516, originally required German beer to be made only from water, barley and hops (yeast was added later once it was understood). Many German breweries still brew to it, which is part of why German beer has a reputation for clean, pure quality.
What is the difference between a helles and a pilsner?
Both are pale German lagers, but a helles is softer, rounder and more malt-forward, while a pilsner is crisper, drier and more bitter with a clear hop character. Helles is the gentler everyday lager; pilsner has more bite.
What is a doppelbock?
A doppelbock is a strong, dark German lager, originally brewed by monks as liquid bread for fasting. It is rich and smooth with chocolate, dark fruit and toasted malt, usually 6.5% to 8% ABV. Ayinger Celebrator and Spaten Optimator are classic examples.
How We Test and Score
Every beer here was bought with my own money and tasted properly, not skimmed from a spec sheet. I score each on aroma, balance, body, drinkability and how well it does the job it is built for. Simple beers are not marked down for being simple, but the ones with real character and balance score higher. You can see every score on the individual beer reviews.
Curious about Cologne’s protected regional style specifically? See our What Is a Kölsch? guide.
German beer culture has its own strict brewing law. For the Belgian equivalent, see what actually makes a beer Trappist.
