Changes

Northern Germany was once home to dozens of top-fermenting beer styles, but most were pushed away by the more popular lager at the end of the 19th century. A few styles managed to stay past WWII, fewer still until today. Gose is a good example, as is Lichtenhainer. Despite its tiny heartland around Jena in the East of Germany, with the exception of a 14-year gap in the 1980s and 1990s, it’s been brewed continuously for a few hundred years. Lichtenhainer has its roots in a handful of villages: Ammerbach, Ziegenhain, Winzerla, Wöllnitz, and, naturally, Lichtenhain. Though at the height of its popularity toward the end of the 19th century, it was brewed throughout Thuringia. They even made it in Eisenach, over 100 kilometers away.