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German Breweries
A Tradition of Variety, Flavor and Excellence
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German
breweries create a huge demand for German agriculture and they provide jobs,
almost 35,000. Germany ranks among the leading producers of specialty malts
needed for breweing beer styles other than blong lagers. Germany also produces
about one-third of all the world's hops, mostly in the Hallertau, Hersbruck
and Spalt regions of Bavaria and the Tettnanger region of Badem-Wurtemberg.
Finally, Germany is home to some of the finest brew universities such as
the Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei (VLB) in Berlin as well
as Doemens 
and
Weihenstephan, both near Munich. Many of the yeast strains used by breweries
around the globe are maintained and cultivated in the laboratories of these
brew universities.
The fiscal year of the German brew industry begins on the first day of October and ends on the last day of September, mostly because of the rhythm of the harvest year. By early fall, all of the previous year's raw materials have been used up — a good time to close the books, to tally up the results, to forecast requirements for the next year, and to firm up their commitments for the delivery of new raw materials. The new hops been harvested and dried and the new barley and wheat have been harvested and malted. buy from the current harvest — the natural start of the new brew year. All annual statistics in the German brew industry, therefore, refer to the brew year, from October to September, and not to the calendar year.
