Tasting

A Baden Pils tastes first of bread crust and fresh grain, then the bitterness arrives. It's crisp but rarely sharp, finishing dry. The foam should be fine-pored and white, clinging to the glass for a while. To check this with Hoepfner Pils or Schlossquell from Heidelberger Brauerei, drink it freshly poured from the tap.

For Pils, the glass of choice is the Pils tulip, a slender glass with a short stem that holds the head and keeps the beer cool. For Hefeweizen, use the tall glass that flares wide at the top, giving the foam room to breathe. Sizes typically run 0.3 or 0.5 liters; smaller glasses often taste fresher, since the beer doesn't have time to warm up.

A simple rule helps with temperature. Pils is best at around 6 to 8 degrees Celsius; too cold mutes the aroma, too warm makes it feel heavy. Hefeweizen tolerates similar temperatures, even a touch warmer. Helles and Weizen both show their flavor better when they haven't come straight out of the freezer.

When pouring, tilt the glass and let the beer run down the side, then straighten it to build up the head. With Weizen, a bit is left in the bottle, swirled with the yeast, and poured in last. For comparison, it's worth tasting a beer from the family-owned Ketterer brewery in Hornberg in the Black Forest alongside one from Welde in Plankstadt.