Öko-Test tests beer with good results, but glyphosate and pediococci reduce enjoyment
Created: 05/20/2022, 12:43 p.m
By: Anne Tessin
The experts from "Öko-Test" tried a lot of beer - not every one was convincing.
(Iconic image) © Peter Heinzmann/Sorge/Imago
“Öko-Test” took a close look at Germany's most popular type of beer and found hardly any complaints.
One variety fails the taste test completely.
The Helle, which is particularly popular in southern Germany, is gaining more and more fans throughout Germany, but the undisputed beer leader is still the Pils.
The magazine "Öko-Test" has now tested 50 types of Pilsner and can report pleasing results.
The testers had
pilsners from 50 major brands and small breweries
analyzed and taste-tested.
The result according to "dpa": 45 products received the grade "good" or "very good".
But the joy wasn't entirely unclouded.
For three beers, the experts only had the grade "satisfactory" left, "poor" and "unsatisfactory" each received one.
And one detail leaves a particularly bland aftertaste.
Öko-Test finds glyphosate in 12 beers
As the “dpa” reports, the testers found
traces of the herbicide glyphosate
, which is suspected of being cancerous, in twelve beers from well-known brands .
Although the maximum permissible content for malting barley in the European Union was far below, the proof led to a point deduction.
Positive: all tested organic pilsner beers were free of the controversial weed killer.
Pilsner and Helles - that's the difference
Both Pils and Helle are bottom-fermented lagers, but the first contains more hops.
This is clearly noticeable in the taste.
While a Pilsner with a hop bitterness of 30 bitterness units (BE) tastes tart and fresh and sparkling, the light beer with 15 BE is more full-bodied and drinkable.
Tastes good with a few outliers
In terms of
original wort content and foam retention
, the experts could not complain about any Pils.
The test drinkers also had little to complain about, but in ten beers they tasted off notes that are not typical of pilsners, including apple and bread.
According to t-online.de, the "Pinkus Pils, Bioland" by Pinkus Müller, which brought up the rear, was attested by the sensory experts "a contamination taste with buttery notes".
The cause was then found in the laboratory:
contamination with pediococci
.
Although these lactic acid bacteria are not harmful to humans, the taste suffers noticeably, so that the exposure means a “considerable reduction in quality”.
Then maybe you'd rather have a wheat beer...
Öko-Test tests beer: an extract from the test results
Brewery/Manufacturer | Beer | test verdict |
---|---|---|
Berlin Pilsner Brewery | Berlin Pilsner | very good |
Bitburger Brewery Group | Bitburger Premium Pils | very good |
Hasseroeder Brewery | Hasseroeder Premium Pils | very good |
Brewery Leikeim | Leikeim Premium Pils | very good |
Neumarkter Lammsbräu | Neumarkter Lammsbräu Edel Pils, Naturland/Bioland | very good |
Ottinger brewery | Oettinger Pils | very good |
beer | beer | very good |
Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus | Rothaus Pils Tannenzapfle | very good |
Warsteiner brewery | Warsteiner Premium Pilsner | very good |
Bavaria-St.Pauli | Astra archetype | Good |
Anheuser-Busch InBev | Beck's Pils | Good |
Flensburg brewery | Flensburg Pilsner | Good |
Frisian brewery in Jever | Jever Pilsner | Good |
Mecklenburg Brewery Lübz | Luebzer Pils Premium | Good |
Radeberger Exportbierbrauereiio | Radeberger Pilsner | Good |
Aldi North/Aldi South (Brunswick Brewery) | Karlskrone Pilsner Premium | satisfactory |
Company Piwowarska | Tyskie Gronie Pils | satisfactory |
Norma | Kaiserkrone Pils | inadequate |
Brewery Pinkus Mueller | Pinkus Pils, Bioland | insufficient |
Source: Test results freely available at www.oekotest.de
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