Don't Sound Like a Tool: How to Pronounce German Beers

​Don't Sound Like a Tool is SFoodie's series of audio pronunciation guides to sort-of-common-but-not-obvious words we keep encountering on wine lists and menus. No more shame, no more pointing, no more taking on the accent of a language you don't speak.

Something always happens to us when ordering off a German menu. Somewhere between the second and fourth syllables the brain shuts down and can't parse out the remaining phonemes. When ordering Bayrischer Fleischkäse, for example, we get lost around flei- and go, "uh, the meatloaf." Same with German beers.

So we consulted an expert. Here is SFoodie contributor Brian Yaeger reading off a list of common German beer styles, plus a few common brands. Read along with Yaeger, repeat a few times in your kitchen, and then head off to Walzwerk to practice on real German waiters.

Image by Tkamenick/Flickr

​ Listen to Yaeger pronounce German beer styles and brands while you follow along:

Styles:
Doppelbock
Dunkelweizen
Hefeweizen
Kölsch
Dortmunder
Eisbock
Maibock
Helles
Märzen
Rauchbier
Schwarzbier
Kristallweizen

And a few brands:
Spaten
Paulaner
Franziskaner
Schankerla
Weihenstephaner
Radeberger