9 German beers that do their own thing

The beers Andre Gifkens and Robyn Anderson of Berlin selected for their specialty store Lager Lager cover a wide range of styles, strengths and flavors. Not all of them conform to the Purity Law, which is why the word "beer" is missing from some labels. Some of them are produced by big companies; others are craft beers brewed by entrepreneurs without corporate backing. All of them are delicious.

We start on the tangy, low-alcohol, refreshing side. Weisse is a wheat beer dating from the 17th century and often drunk with fruit syrup. What gives the drink in its pure form a characteristic sourness is the addition of the bacteria lactobacillus. Friedrich the Great of Prussia learned how to brew it, and Napoleon allegedly dubbed it the "champagne of the North."

One reason for the Purity Law implemented in 1516 — which limited the makeup of beer to just water, hops, barley, and yeast — was to stop unscrupulous brewers from putting poison in the brew. But there's no intrinsic reason not to add natural ingredients like fruit. Berlin craft brewery Heidenpeter's uses raspberries to create a delectable German take on a Belgian fruit ale.

Beer is a thirst-quencher, so the last flavor you might think you'd want in it is salt, but that's indeed one of the key ingredients in the eastern German specialty, Gose. The other is coriander. Combine them with lactobacillus and top-fermenting yeast, and you get a drink that's salty, but doesn't leave you parched.

It took a long time for the craft beer movement to get to Germany, but when it did, it exploded, eradicating national boundaries. German brewers no longer always focus on bottom-fermenting, filtered pilsners and lagers. Innovative breweries like Berliner Berg are exploring Anglo-American styles like pale ales in all their many varieties.

Despite the prominence of lagers, specialized regional ales go back a long time in Germany. One is Kölsch in Cologne, another is Altbier from the Dusseldorf region. The name means "old beer," but that signifies top fermentation, not mustiness. On the contrary, this red ale is a session beer designed to be drunk in great quantities in brewing pubs like Uerige.

The smoked beers of the Bavarian town of Bamberg are based on a type of lager, but they're worlds away from Beck's. The malt is dried over an open fire, which imparts a smoky aroma and taste to the finished product. You might find Rauchbier off-putting at first, but try a classic like Schlenkerla with a platter of smoked meat, and you'll be in heaven.

Most people associate Bockbier with Bavaria, but it originated in the mid-13th century up north in Einbeck, which presumably drunken Bavarians mispronounced as "ein Bock." There's no mistaking the high alcohol content, which starts at six and goes all the way up to 57 percent. That's one reason why the many Bock styles taste more like barley wine than lager.

You can make a Bockbier out of either a lager or southern Germany's other specialty, Weizen (wheat beer). Using a higher proportion of wheat to barley sweetens the beer, and bumping up the alcohol content makes it an ideal after-dinner treat. The label of this Weizendoppelbock from the Schneider brewery just outside Munich reads "for a great moment in front of the fireplace."

The traditional German Schwarzbier (black beer) is a bottom-fermented lager that gets its deep, dark hue from roasting the malt. But craft breweries like Hanscraft from western Germany are treading different paths and making English-style top-fermented porters and stouts. Their Black Nizza Imperial Stout contains 10 different types of malt and a whopping 9 percent alcohol.