The bier hund on Germany's best

Jim Robertson, author of the Beer-Taster's Log, tastes about 100 new beers every month and alerts All About Beer Magazine readers to the best of them.

Perhaps the luckiest beer lovers in the world, the elder residents of Erling-Andechs, trudge up the hill to Kloster Andechs every day at noon. As they have done for centuries, they tote their bags of lunch with bread and wurst to enjoy with fresh draft Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel, a beer that many, myself included, believe to be the best beer in the world. This rich earthy complex malty brew is not to be missed. I have found it on draft as far north as Darmstadt, and in bottles as close to Frankfurt as Pfungstadt. It is equally good either in bottles or on draft. I once tasted a bottle that was nine years old, and found it to be improved with age.

I am a great lover of bocks and double bocks, and it would be easy to make a long list of those alone. However, there are many distinct styles of German beer, so here are the best I've found of each type:

When I first tasted Oechsner Pils I knew immediately was the perfect pils. It is available only near the small Brauerei D. Oeschner in Ochsenfurt where it is made. We found it in the Hotel Gasthoff Zum Weissen Ross in Gossmansdorf and everywhere in Ochsenfurt. When you are there, also taste Oechsner's Heller Bock and MŠarzen.

For MŠrzenbier, go to Klosterbrauerei Ursberg, a small cloister in Ursberg, just north of Augsburg. The Ursberg MŠrzen is complex, appetizing and richly malted, and remains rich and complex right to the end. Also sample their Pils and the very creamy and rich Aloisius Heller Doppelbock.

For plain old dunkel, I recommend a visit to Privatbrauerei Gasthof Landwehrbrau Fam. Worner, a brewery-Gasthof in Reichelshofen, very near to Rothenburg, the restored ancient town so attractive to tourists. It is unlikely you will find a room at the hotel even in the off-season, but do stop for a meal and enjoy their Alt FrŠnkisch-Dunkel.

The best rauchbier (smoked beer) comes from Brauerei Heller and the Schlenkerla Tavern on Dominaker Strasse in Bamberg. It is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier MŠrzen and, yes, I know you can get it in bottles now in most states, but you must have it on draft at the tavern.

The best filtered pale Kristall-Klar (wheat) comes from Traunstein. Hofbrauhaus Traunstein HofbrŠu Weisse has a clean faintly spicy malt nose with big clove and malt flavor. The tastiest dark wheat is SchwarzbrŠu Dunkles Export Weizen from Schwarzbrauerei Zusmarshausen in Zusmarshausen. It has a clean spicy nose and very pleasant nicely blance fruity-spicy flavor.

There are also a pair of extraordinarliy huge malty brews that don't fit in style categories. The Brauhaus Vetter brewpub in Heidelberg produces Vetter 33 (it's original gravity is 33 Plato), a cloudy amber beer with a concentrated malt nose, huge and very rich clean malt flavor, high alcohol (11 percent by volume) and a very long sweet malt aftertaste. It is available on at the brewpub.

Editor's note: Reader Glen Prasser of Bad Homburg writes that Vetter 33 is not only available at their Heidelberg Brauhaus, but also at their location in Oberursel (a western "suburb" of Frankfurt). This location might be more convenient for those travelers flying in and out of the Frankfurt International Airport (about a 20-minute cab ride).

A reader suggests more German beers worth trying.