[Is it True?] I heard Germans don't use ice for Coke & serve warm beer?

[jon_j_rambo]

Friend of mine just got back from Berlin, said the beer was lame, wasn't "strong" & was very bland. The American micro-brews put them to shame. And to top it off, beer is served warm? Is this true? Also, when you order a Coke (soda pop), it's always served warm? Apparently, nobody uses ice in Berlin?

True or False?

[Boron]

Could be true, those prussians have no culture .

Here in Bavaria beer is served cold .

[Timskorn]

I like mine "cool", too cold and you lose the flavor.

[Panzerkeil]

Here is what my friend who lives in Berlin says:

WARM ?????

COLA WARM ?? BEER WARM ???

Maybe he was in that town named Berlin somewhere in the USA.

Maybe he was in one of these turkish snackbars with an broken refrigerator or something but i never heard of such things.

[CharonJr]

I am from Berlin, and nope, we like our beers cold and our coke, too

But since he was from the US he might have found it strange that there tends to be more coke in the glass than ice when you order a coke... ,)

And concerning the beer it depends on what he ordered. On average it is stronger than the typical american beer, but depending on what he got and what he is used to, it could have been less strong, too.

CharonJr

[jon_j_rambo]

In the USA, getting free refills on Coke is standard, nearly everywhere, save an Asian restaurant...therefore, Coke is served with plenty of ice. I expect 40% ice! Agreed on my friend's beer comment, just depends what you order...or in a sorry establishment...or maybe ripoff the tourists because we wear "I like W" T-shirts

[JerseyJohn]

A young Belgian friend of mine just returned from Berlin. Here's a post he put up at another website. Being used to Belgian beer I'm sure he knows the real stuff from imitations.

...You would have loved it! It really is a wonderful city. The western part of the city(the part that used to be west of the berlin wall) isn't really that different from any other European city but the eastern part's absolutely wonderful!

There's all these former communist living facilities that people have painted in all kinds of colours(yellow, green, red, blue) and there's a lot of building and renovating going on. In fact, Berlin(especially the east) is like on big construction site where only half of everything's finished(and looks absolutely amazing!) and the other half's still under construction but you can see it's going to look great.

It was the first time I ever really got that feeling everyone always talks about that 'the city's alive'

There are outdoor café's everywhere you look and the people are very nice, a lot nicer than in Paris or London for example. and when you order 'Ein grosse Pilsner' you get this really huuuuuuuuuge glass of beer

It's been a long time since I've been this excited about a city, if you ever get the chance you should definitely go there.

You too John, you'd love this city. It's so full of history and culture, more even than Paris or Amsterdam.

[CharonJr]

Hehe, when I have been to the US the last time the only places where I got free refills were fast-food restaurants (which are ok, have been there fairly often ).

But I can't recall getting a free refill in a "regular" restaurant. Well, thinking a bit more about it they would most likely be considered better than regular. Maybe that's the reason why...

I would tend to agree to another point here, too. I think we like our drinks cool, while you seem to prefer them cold

And I can recall having had one of the best beers of my life in San Fransisco. From one of those micro-breweries. But when I later tried one from another brew which had been recommended to me by a friend I was really disappointed.

Well, different people have different tastes.

But while we can discuss if a beer should be served cold or cool, I will readily agree that it should not be warm

CharonJr

PS: While I am from the "old" West-Berlin I actually prefer many of the places in the old east myself. Berlin Mitte is a great place to visit IMO.

[jon_j_rambo]

You get free refills in all restaurtants....Outback Steakhouse, Sweet Tomatoes, Spaghetti Factory, Baha Fresh, Applebee's, Olive Garden, Red Lobster....name it. I don't eat fast food

[Lars]

You do if you're eating at those places...

[Andrew H.]

And you ordered a soft drink...

German beer is very good, and I've always had it served cold. But, IMO, the worst beer in Germany is in Berlin. I'm not a big fan of the berliner Weisse style of beer, at least not regularly.

[Liam]

I've lived in Germany/England/USA

Germans as far as I know do not serve warm beer? In Merry Ole England, we do not drink unrefined Beer! How foolish, we can however LOL goto the supermarket and buy American brand beers, in cuter bottles and put em in the cold cellar!

English drink warm Ale, and Warm Beer and give you 1 icecube in your Cola. However, more and more they are serving it from a freezer I noticed, whilst 20-30 years ago that would've been unheard of. Then again it's chilly in England and there is 2 months of Summer so maybe tha this shy?

In Germany I was too young to remeber but I'm certian my Father who was stationed there for 5 years and lived on the economy would know about the skippy on German Beer, I do know one thing my Dad told me he went to a German spa, and they were all nude and unshaven? I do HOPE that has changed since the 60s

In America, you will always get a refill in any sort of chain restuarant. However the same bloody chains are now in Germany and England and before we know the Germans will own the American Chains so what's truly pure anymore?

I do hear that German Culture now adays Rocks, they've a kickarse goth and punk culture, new age culture that us Americanos and Englishers lag behind in. Which is of course sorta goes along with my tastes

So there is no more uniqueness amongst us youngins' were all kinda the same

P.S. Americans like everything cold including Tea.. If there is more liquid than ice it's UnAmerican "Scowls with this look of distrust from folk who drink a beverage with just 1 cube!"

[jon_j_rambo]

Yep, the Gerries are into this 80's punk rock look, The Clash kind of thing.

Far as tea, there's a huge cultural difference in the U.S. between the North & South. In the South, iced tea is always served with sugar...but us Yankees NEVER do that, rather a lemon

[Joe98]

I am from Australia and I was in Bavaria last July

We stayed at a friend’s place about an hour outside Munich.

The people have an excellent fridge in their kitchen but they store beer in their basement.

But it was July and the beer was not cold. I was polite and pretended to enjoy the beer

If the beer were cold it would have been very nice beer!

[jon_j_rambo]

Maybe Germans haven't liked ice since their Exodus from Stalingrad?