Hanging out with your Friends in the Park on a warm Summer night
drinking a few Beers, listening to Music
or having a Champagne toast at your high school Graduation?
Normal in one Country,
Taboo in the other one
Hallo, Servus
and welcome back to my Youtube channel.
My Name is Felicia,
I'm originally from Munich, Germany,
but I have been living in Cincinnati Ohio
off and on since 2016.
When you mention Germany to anyone in the World,
one of the first Clichés, that comes to Mind is Beer.
[German spelling: Bier]
I even have mentioned german Beer a few Times in my Videos.
I'm planning on selling my own Beermug.
I even created my Patreon tiers
based on Beersizes.
So I guess I'm totally confirming
the Stereotype with this.
Not every German is like that, of course,
a lot of my german Friends, especially Girlfriends, prefer Wine or mixed Drinks like Hugo or Aperol Spritz,
which, by the way, don't really exist in the U.S,
but either way,
Alcohol is an important Part of the german Culture,
and our Alcohol culture is pretty different from what you'll see here in the U.S and a lot of Aspects.
How so?
That's what I'll tell you in this Video:
I'll be talking about the Drinking age,
the Laws,
how Alcohol is perceived in the 2 Countries
How much Alcohol is consumed,
the german Beer culture,
and in the end I'll share a few Funfacts about the actual Act of drinking Alcohol in the 2 Countries.
And a quick Disclaimer, before I start;
I'm not trying to encourage anyone
to drink Alcohol with this Video
it can be addictive,
and if you drink [alcohol] please drink responsibly.
So the first Thing to mention
is the Drinking age of course:
For Americans, it's usually shocking,
to find out about the Drinking age in Germany,
and for Germans the american Drinking age
often seems pretty shocking too.
In Germany you're allowed to legally buy and drink Beer and Wine,
which includes sparkling Wine,
at the age of 16 and hard liquor at the age of 18,
while in the US the legal Drinking age for all Alcohol is 21.
So obviously some Americans think, that the Drinking age is way too low in Germany,
and some of us Germans think,
that 21 is ridiculously high,
especially since you can drive, join the Military
and even buy a Gun way before that.
Sometimes Americans talk about,
how they visited Germany and saw even Children drink Alcohol.
That's because, at the Age of 14
you're allowed to drink Beer and Wine,
when you're with your Parents or a legal Guardian.
A lot of the States here actually have Exceptions like that too,
and from my personal Experience,
and my social Environment
I'd say that it's pretty normal,
that Parents let their Children try some Beer or Wine,
when they're young,
and once they're like in their Teenager years,
it's not uncommon,
that Parents know
and allow their Children to drink Alcohol,
even when they're not quite 16 yet.
A 16th Birthday party in Germany is in a lot of Cases very different from the typical sweet-16 Party in the U.S.
It's usually more like the equivalent to an American's 21st Birthday.
And because of the low Drinking age People also start going out earlier in Germany.
At 16 you can officially drink at all the Beer festivals,
and my Friends and I
also went to Bars and certain Clubs a lot at that Age.
Whenever the Place had a Dancefloor though
(so kind of like a Club setting),
they would keep your I.D at the Door, if you were under 18,
give you a Stamp or Wristband or something,
and with that you weren't allowed to buy any hard Liquor,
and you also weren't allowed to stay past midnight like everyone else.
You would have to leave and pick up your I.D at the Entrance,
and, if you try to stay longer,
they would take the leftover I.D's
and go look for you in the Club to kick you out,
fun times.
By the way there is no legal Closing time 
for Clubs and Bars in Germany.
They can usually stay open for as long as they want.
Sometimes there are local Laws in Cities
because of the Noise,
but overall it's normal to stay out
until the morning in Germany.
In some extreme cases like in the Party scene in Berlin
People even stay until 11 A.M
or something the next Day,
but I'd say most people stay at a club until
5, 6 or 7 A.M.
In the U.S most States have Regulations, 
on when the last Call is,
and how long Bars may stay open.
Here in Ohio
2 a.m is the last Call,
so after that Bars can't sell any Alcohol,
but some Bars are allowed
to still serve the purchased Alcohol until 2:30 a.m.
So that's when everything closes, which in Germany,
that's when some People start to go out 
and not go Home,
but more on these Laws in a Second.
Another big thing related to the Drinking age are fake I.Ds;
They're pretty common in the U.S,
while they're not really a Thing in Germany 
(I've personally never seen a German one),
but a lot of underage People in the U.S, 
who want to still buy Alcohol
or go to the Bars
to get one, usually on the Internet.
They often look like an I.D from another State, to make sure, that the Bouncers in your state aren't too familiar with them, and also
they're easier to copy from some States.
They have the Person's actual Picture
but a different Name and different Information on it,
and, even though it's a Crime to use those,
I personally don't know of anyone,
who has gotten in legal Trouble for it.
They're just really common,
and in most cases the worst thing to happen
is for the Bouncer or Bartender
to realize that your I.D is fake and take it from you,
that's my Experience at least.
Let me know in the Comments, if it's different, where you Live,
or if you know someone, who has gotten in legal Trouble for it.
Some places also knowingly let in Minors with a fake I.D.
In Germany those I.D's really aren't a Thing,
and I feel like it would be prosecuted more strictly.
If anything People use their Friends
or older Siblings IDs, but,
since our Drinking age is lower,
Teenagers don't really need to do that a lot.
Right after the drinking Age the second biggest Difference is,
where you're allowed to drink Alcohol.
In Germany you're generally allowed to drink Alcohol in public,
while in the U.S that's usually illegal with
a few Exceptions like for example,
New Orleans, Indianapolis or Las Vegas,
and sometimes there are Exceptions
for Events and Things like that.
But this law is why in Movies and in real Life, too,
you'll sometimes see People drink out of those brown Paper bags in public.
They're trying to hide their Alcohol,
which doesn't make it legal,
but you still see People do that.
In Germany, however, you are allowed to drink openly, when you're out in Public,
and we do that quite a lot, too.
Especially in Summer
a lot of Germans just hang out outside somewhere like in the Park or on a nice Square in the City
or by the River or Lake,
sometimes while grilling out and we drink [alcohol].
By the Water is always nice,
because you can put your Drinks in the shallow Water
for them to stay cool.
Another thing that is really common
is drinking while you're walking somewhere;
This has different Names,
but I usually call it a...
...a Way-beer and that's just so nice sometimes,
whether it's walking through the Park
or the City with your Friends on a warm 
Summer night with a Beer in your Hand,
and a lot of People also do it for Pre-gaming.
So before going out People often pregame in both Countries,
but in Germany you can pregame
and then take your Drinks with you
and finish them on the way to the Location.
I actually sometimes did that here in the U.S
in the beginning just out of habit, and then
halfway there I was like
‚oh-oh I just carried my open Beer
with me on the Street‘.
One Thing that isn't always allowed though is drinking on public Transportation.
That's different from City to City, but some don't allow it,
which doesn't mean,
that People don't still do it anyway.
Another Advantage of the whole drinking-in-public Thing
is that it's less complicated, for Restaurants
to have an outdoor Area in Summer.
In a lot of european Cities Sidewalk Dining and Sidewalk cafés
are very common,
and they're an important part of the Cityscape.
In the US, however, Restaurants have to make sure, that, if they have an outdoor Area, it's compliant with the Alcohol laws,
and in Ohio, for example,
Restaurants need to have a physical Border around their outdoor Area,
in order to be licensed to serve Alcohol there.
Let me know if that's different in your State
but in Ohio the Restaurants and Bars
have Fences around their outdoor Areas,
or, of course,
they can have a Rooftop or a Courtyard.
Then there are also Laws,
that regulate, when and where Alcohol
can be sold in the U.S in Stores,
and there are actually some Regions in the U.S,
where you can't get any Alcohol at all
so-called dry Counties.
Here on the Map they're marked in red,
but even outside of those, in a lot of States,
you can't get any Alcohol at a normal Grocery store.
Either the Store will have a separated 
Liquor section attached to it,
or you need to go to a Liquor store.
In some States you can at least get
Beer and Wine at the Grocery store though,
then there are also Time limits.
In Ohio, for Example,
you can't buy any Alcohol at the Store between 1:00 A.M
and 5:30 a.m,
and at the Bar from 2:30-6:00 A.M,
and a lot of States you can't buy Alcohol
at all at the Store on Sundays.
In Germany you can buy Alcohol basically anywhere and any time,
as long as the Stores are open,
because that's really the bigger Question in Germany,
because normal Stores usually close between 8 P.M and 11 P.M
depending on where you are in Germany,
and you can get all kinds of Alcohol at any Store;
Supermarkets, Beverage stores, Gas stations or even Kiosks.
When it comes to Driving laws in regards to Alcohol
(I've mentioned this in my Video on Driving-differences,
if you haven't seen that yet),
the limit for blood Alcohol while driving
is higher in the U.S, actually
we measure it differently it's % in the US
and ‰ (per mille) and Germany, but in ‰
the Limit is 0.8 in the U.S
0.5 in Germany.
Of course, this is stricter,
when you're still in a Probation period or something like that,
and obviously, you should never drink, when you intend to drive,
but in the U.S
they even take it one Step further,
even when you're completely sober,
you're not allowed to have
an opened Alcohol container in your Car in most States,
so you can't have a Whiskey bottle in your Car,
has been opened before,
or if your Passenger/Driver wants to bring the rest of an already open Bottle of Wine with them,
it's illegal to have that in the Car,
unless it's in the Trunk.
In a few States, though,
it is allowed for the Passengers to have open Alcohol containers.
In Germany there is no Problem with that at all.
Your Passengers are even allowed to drink [alcohol],
while they're in your Car,
technically, even you as a Driver are legally allowed to drink [alcohol] while driving,
as long as you stay under the 0.5‰ Limit,
which is obviously really irresponsible,
and nobody should ever do that,
but it's crazy to mention,
because it seems like really loose Rules
compared to the ones in the U.S.
Number-wise, however, despite the loose rules in Germany,
there are more D.U.I's in the U.S than in Germany, so more drunk driving Violations.
Now let's talk about,
how Alcohol is looked at in the 2 Countries,
which is tricky, because Culture is always something, 
that's hard to grasp, and that's going to vary 
from Place to Place and from Person to Person,
but broadly speaking I'd say that in the U.S, Alcohol is more perceived as a Taboo topic with People under 21 not even being able to enter a Bar
all those legal Restrictions.
In Germany I would say that it's more considered a normal part of everyday life and part of our Culture,
like in a lot of european Countries,
and good Beer, good Wine and other Alcohol is something,
that we drink, because we enjoy it in a lot of Cases.
So having a Glass of Wine or Beer with your dinner is pretty normal for some People even during the Week,
for others only for special Dinners.
Another pretty common thing is having a...
...which is the Beer, that you drink after Work,
so it's what you've earned after working hard.
Even having a Beer with your Lunch isn't really a Taboo in Germany.
The bavarian traditional with a Name meaning ‚white sausage breakfast‘
is traditionally eaten before Noon,
and it comes with a Glass of Hefeweizen.
Also at a lot of Places I've worked at before,
which was mostly in the Media field
(so it may not be like that in all Fields)
they had some Beer right next to the Soda in the Storage,
or at one place we even had Beer
in the Vending machine,
and, when there was something to celebrate,
we also often had Champagne during the Day and then kept working.
That being said though
drinking [alcohol] during the Day is definitely not a daily Thing for most Germans and there's also a saying
‚no Beer before 4‘, because I feel like it almost sounds
like we're all Alcoholics in Germany,
which we're definitely not.
Obviously People in the U.S do enjoy their Drinks as well,
but just in Comparison there is a Tendency
towards a more excessive Consumption 
than in Germany,
like a lot of People don't Drink [alcohol],
because they like the Beer or Wine,
they drink [alcohol] in order to get drunk.
People do that in Germany, too, of course, 
but the binge drinking culture really isn't
as big there as it is here in the U.S
or in the U.K, for example.
Maybe that's one Reason,
why Hard Seltzers like White Claw,
have become really popular in the U.S,
while they're not a thing in Germany,
because a lot of People in the U.S
like the feeling of being tipsy,
but don't want to taste the Alcohol necessarily,
just the thought though.
I didn't conduct any Studies on this but overall
I would say, that in Germany Alcohol is more something,
that you actually enjoy and a cultural Artifact.
While in the U.S it's often more considered something forbidden like a Drug,
which it is, of course,
but that's just not as prevalent in our
Perception of Alcohol in Germany.
Fact is: Germany definitely has a much
higher Alcohol consumption than the U.S
with the average German drinking about 10.6 L of pure Alcohol per Year,
while it's 9 L per person in the U.S,
and when it comes to Beer in particular,
Germans consumed a Total of...
...in total in 2018.
Per capita only the Czechs and the Austrians drink more Beer than us.
We drink over 100 L of Beer per Person per Year,
and with that let's go into the Beer culture:
Obviously beer isn't the only Alcohol,
that we produce in Germany,
but it's definitely the most popular [alcoholic] Drink,
and every region is known for their own Kinds,
like Bavarians like to drink Lager and Hefeweizen,
in most parts of Germany people drink Pilsners,
and in the cologne Area they drink...
Named after the City
and served in tiny 200ml Glasses in a so-called Wreath
and of course, there are a lot of Festivals all over Germany,
where People mainly drink Beer
with Oktoberfest in Munich,
...as us Locals call it,
being the biggest and most popular one within Germany,
but they're celebrated all throughout Summer in different Places,
a lot in the South of Germany
but also in the North,
even though they don't have the Beer tent culture just as much,
and we also have Wine festivals by the way.
Another thing related to Beer are our Beer gardens, which again we have more of those in the South,
but you'll absolutely find them in the North of Germany, too.
Sometimes Beer gardens are just the outdoor Area of a Restaurant,
but the classical Beer garden is just a big outdoor area with Gravel,
and these typical Beer benches
and Self-service for Drinks,
which they always have the Beer on Tap,
and if you want Radler,
which is half Beer half Lemon soda,
they'll mix it right in front of you.
You can also get non-alcoholic Drinks, of course,
and in a lot of cases they also have a Food-self-service,
but you're also usually allowed to bring your own Food there.
So in Summer a lot of People celebrate Birthdays there and bring their own Cakes and everything,
or People just get together for a Potluck or a Picnic,
and all they get at the Location is the Drinks,
definitely something that I miss in the U.S in Summer.
And yes, there are german-style Beer gardens in the U.S,
but I personally haven't been to one,
that's actually like that with that Atmosphere.
Related to this one Thing,
that is much stronger and different in the U.S
is the Bar culture.
Germany doesn't have that much of a Bar culture,
like you can find it here in the U.S
They have that in the U.K, but in Germany,
we have more Places, that are just Restaurants,
where you also drink
or Bars with Table service,
but less of those Bars where you go in, play Pool or Darts,
get your Drink at the Counter and have Jukebox and stuff like that.
When it comes to Restaurants,
you'll notice, that in Germany
a lot of the Restaurants only serve one Brand of Lager,
one Brand of Pilsner, etc,
because they have a Sponsorship agreement with a Brewery for Financial Support.
So often they also have the Logo of the Brewery on their Sign,
and my last Point about Beer,
that is pretty special in Germany
is, that we have the so-called...
...the purity law regarding beer brewing in Germany.
This has been around since the Year 1516,
so over 500 Years,
and basically what it means is,
that there are Regulations in Place,
that say that you're only allowed to include...
...when making a Beer, which is one of the reasons,
that the Craftbeer scene hasn't taken off in Germany,
as it has in the U.S and other Countries,
because those Breweries struggle with the Regulations,
and the Permission to sell their Beer under the name Bier,
but this mostly applies to bottom fermented Beers
on the german Market,
Breweries are allowed to make different 
Kinds of Beers for Export purposes,
Breweries from abroad
are allowed to import their Beers,
even if they don't comply with the Purity law.
And finally here are 15 Funfacts and Differences,
regarding the actual Act of drinking in Germany
and the U.S:
The first one is that german Beer has more Alcohol
than american Beer most of the Time;
Budlight, which is a popular Beer in the U.S
(Germans often call it Water, I hear)
only has 4.2% of Alcohol,
while in Germany beer usually has 5% or more,
and, especially when you go to Oktoberfest, 
please notice, that the Festival beer
usually has around 6% .
#2
In Germany we usually drink Beer out of Bottles
and not so much out of Cans.
We do have canned Beer,
but most People only drink that,
when they're at a Music festival or something like that,
where bottles aren't allowed,
but canned Beer isn't nearly as popular, as it is in the U.S.
Here I would say that it's almost like 50/50,
50% bottles 50% cans.
Since Americans drink out of cans a lot. They use these things a lot, too.
I had never seen this,
before I came to the U.S,
and I still don't use them
but they're called Koozies,
and you use them to hold your Can,
because they're usually so cold,
that it hurts your hand.
So you just go like this and
hold it.
#4 Is that besides the regular point 3 L Bottles
(10 onz)
you can also get a lot of the Beers,
especially in the South and 500ml bottles (16 onz),
and when you order Beer somewhere,
you can also get it in a Maß,
which is what we call a Liter of Beer in Bavaria,
so 34onz.
The general Name for those Things,
no matter which Size, is
...and not Stein,
like you guys call it in English.
Stein actually means Rock or Stone in German,
while a Sixpack of Bottles or Cans is a very popular Size,
to buy Beer here.
In Germany you can get beer just like
pretty much all Beverages,
in Cases that hold 20 500ml Bottles.
We call them...
..in the US you can get packs
of 24 Beers as well,
but usually you just get it in a Carton.
#6 - I've mentioned in other Videos before;
We have a Deposit system in place in Germany,
where for Beer bottles you get 8c back per Bottle,
when you return them
and you also get a Deposit on your Case,
if you bought one.
#7 Beer is actually not cheaper than
non-alcoholic Drinks in german Restaurants.
I found that that's a common Cliché, and
I believe, that it was like that at some Point,
but this has become illegal,
and now there always has to be at least one non-alcoholic Drink on the Menu,
that's cheaper than the alcoholic one.
#8 is something that all of my german Viewers probably find super fake,
and it's that some Beer brands here use twist-off Bottles, so that you don't need a Bottle opener.
That doesn't really exist in Germany, but Germans don't usually need a Bottle opener either.
Most Germans are really talented at opening their Beer bottles with Lighters,
another Bottle, a rolled-up Newspaper,
or the edge of a Table,
but I honestly find this whole twist-off Thing
pretty handy, but maybe that's also 
because I'm one of the very few Germans,
that can't do all those Tricks.
I've been taught how to do it a million Times,
I've tried a million Times.
It's just not something I can do well.
So I usually just carry a Bottle opener with my Keychain.
#9
Germans have adapted a lot of the typical american Drinking games
like Beerpong, Flipcup and those kind of Things,
but one Game,
that seems to be a german Invention, that
Americans usually don't know about is...
..also called Bierball sometimes.
I've taught that to a few american Friends and they all loved it.
#10 is that a lot of Germans know how to properly pour different kinds of Beers,
and it's a little look down upon,
when you don't know how to do that
and do it wrong or pour it in the wrong Glass,
especially with Wheatbeer.
Don't ever drink Wheatbeer out of the Bottle in Bavaria,
you're going to break all the Beer lovers' Hearts.
It's supposed to be drunk in a Glass like this.
Also in Germany we pour our Beer,
so that it has at least 1'' of Foam
on purpose,
while in the U.S that's often considered like
a waste of Space,
and you often get your Beer poured up until the Top of the Glass with 0 Foam.
This one I've mentioned in my Video on german Clichés:
Germans drink their Beer usually
at a Temperature of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius
(which is 41 to 50 Fahrenheit),
while in the U.S it's common to drink it ice-cold,
which a lot of Germans say that this is because American beer isn't as good
and the cooler it is the less flavor it has,
but as a result some Americans seem to think,
that we drink our Beer warm,
because we don't drink it ice-cold,
and I can tell you
we usually do put it in the Fridge,
our Fridges just aren't as cold as american ones.
#13 is a minor Difference that I've noticed,
when drinking Tequila shots:
In Germany I'm familiar with the Tradition of drinking it with Salt and Lemon,
while in the U.S it's usually a Lime.
Also when you drink with other People,
it's very common in Germany to wait until everyone has their Drink
and then say ‚Cheers‘
and then start drinking.
The most common way to say that is Prost in German.
I'll put a few other Options of saying ‚Cheers‘ over here,
but a lot of Americans just seem to start drinking,
right when they get their Drink.
And the last little Funfact, is that,
at least in Bavaria, and I'm pretty sure this is a thing in other parts of Germany too,
is that you're not supposed to drink
the last few Sips of your Drink especially with Beer.
That's considered the Backwash
or in bavarian Dialect the...
So in a Restaurant or at a Beer festival,
you'll see, that a lot of the empty Glasses will have
some Beer left in there,
while here in the U.S
I don't really see People do that a lot.
So that was my little Insight into the german Alcohol culture compared to the U.S.
Obviously there is a lot more to touch upon,
I really talked mostly about Beer,
because that's like the obvious Topic to talk about regarding Germany,
and also I like Beer,
but Germany also makes amazing Wine and herbal Liqueur like Jägermeister,
which is sold all over the World,
and everything you buy, that ends in the word Schnapps, like Peppermint schnaps,
that's German too.
Schnapps just means hard Liquor in German.
So with that being said,
I hope you enjoyed this Video,
and are getting through this Time somehow,
I'm sure a lot of you are actually enjoying a Drink or two every now and then.
If you like what I do on my Channel,
make sure to subscribe for free,
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With that stay safe and healthy everyone,
and I hope I'll see you next Time.
[In German: Bye!]
You
