Everything you need to know about beer soup
28th Oct 2022 Recipes
Not just for drinking, beer soup was a staple meal for centuries in Germany. Brew up your own with two beer soup recipes, and read the history of this hoppy dish
Before entering the loud, crowded bars, the brown nutty beer was a cold beverage brewed at home.
In Europe, brewing ale was another chore in the woman's list of household work, and young girls were often trained in the skill. Up until around 1350, women brewed beer just for their families. It was only later that they indulged in selling the drink.
"A look back at the history of German cuisine is in fact a tale of the country’s love for soup"
While other European nations continued to enjoy beer as a simple homemade beverage, the Germans adopted an unusual style of beer consumption. A look back at the history of German cuisine is in fact a tale of the country’s love for soup. The traditional dish was served at the table thrice a day.
“When the old German customs of serving soup and alcoholic drinks for breakfast converged, the result was Bier Suppe, beer soup,” wrote Horst Scharfenberg, a famous German TV cook.
The rise and fall of beer soup
In Jacob Jordaens' The Porridge Eater, 1652, the family are likely eating beer soup—not porridge
The soup was cooked with beer as the main ingredient along with grated stale bread, egg yolks, water and spices.
Many historians note that a good number of Germans began their day with a hot bowl of beer soup. The soup was consumed by people of every age, the old and the young alike.
“Cooked beer is a comparatively old drink among the Germans,” reports Marie Bothmer in an essay in German Home Life. "It is well known in Germany, especially in student towns like Stuttgart, where many a carousel has it for a principal dish."
But as common as the dish was, beer soup's popularity flagged from the early 18th century. Beginning in the 17th century, the European nations were introduced to a black Turkish drink called kahwa, which is now known as coffee.
"Frederick the Great reasoned that if beer soup was good enough for the monarch, it was good enough for his subjects"
The new beverage was a refreshing change that alerted the senses of its drinkers, as opposed to the alcoholic beverages that put its drinkers into a constant state of hangover.
In an attempt to control the coffee imports in Germany and revive the age-old practice of beer soup and other alcoholic beverages, Frederick the Great reasoned that if beer soup was good enough for the monarch, it was good enough for his subjects.
On September 13, 1777, he issued a proclamation: “My people must drink beer. His Majesty was brought up on beer, and so were his ancestors, and his officers. Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer; and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be depended upon to endure hardships or to beat his enemies in case of the occurrence of another war.”
For a limited period, Frederick found success and his efforts led to the revival of the old beer soup. However, it was only a matter of time before the Turkish beverage took over Germany and replaced the traditional breakfast.
Yet the arrival of coffee, along with tea and chocolate, did little to alter the preferences of some Germans. A letter written by Duchess Élisabeth Charlotte of Orleans, born in Württemberg, Germany, portrays the German love for the beer soup.
"The 'porridge' in the famous painting The Porridge Eater by Jacob Jordaens is in fact probably beer soup"
“Tea makes me think of hay and dung, coffee of soot and lupine-seed, and chocolate is too sweet for me— it gives me a stomachache— I can’t stand any of them. How much I would prefer a good Kaltschale [a cold, fruit-flavoured beer pudding] or a good beer soup.”
The renowned German scholar of cultural studies and historian, Wolfgang Schivelbusch suggests that the “porridge” in the famous painting The Porridge Eater by Jacob Jordaens is in fact probably beer soup.
Schivelbusch writes in his book Tastes of Paradise, “The massive, heavy body types that are seen in north European, especially Dutch, painting of the seventeenth century—and Jordaens’ Porridge Eater is one of them—have their nutritional and physiological explanation in the high beer and beer soup consumption.
How to make beer soup
Beer soup can be made with cheese and cream for added flavour
The traditional beer soup was often prepared thick and served as a porridge. Among the many recipes for beer soup, there are two traditional methods that have been tried and tested by Germans for centuries.
The first recipe, moving away from its thick counterparts, dates to back to around the 19th century.
Brown Beer Soup—Braun bier suppe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 quart brown beer
- ½ tsp caraway seeds
- ½ tsp fresh ginger
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Water
- 1-2 tbsp butter
- 2 large or 4 small slices of pumpernickel (black bread)
- 2-3 tbsp puréed elderberries
- Sugar to taste
- Salt to taste
Preparation:
- Coarsely chop the fresh ginger and ground the caraway seeds (with the former being more pungent of the two)
- Add the 3 egg yolks with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and stir the mixture with a few tablespoons of cold water
- Cut black bread in small cubes
Method:
- Cook brown beer with a little coarse-chopped ginger or caraway seeds.
- Thicken the mixture with egg yolks and some flour.
- Add butter, sugar, and salt, and pour the soup over black bread that has been cut up in cubes.
Or, you may also bring the beer to a boil, thicken with just a little flour, add some elderberry pulp (fliedermus), salt, and pepper, and serve over black bread cut in the same manner.
The second recipe is for those that would perhaps prefer to try some meat in their beer soup.
Beer soup
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 2 large onions
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 small clove garlic
- 1 quart beer or ale (roughly 2 pints or 1.13l)
- beef bones, large quantity
- 190g barley
- ½ tsp white peppercorns
- 2 large carrots
- 1 small cabbage
- 1 tbsp malt vinegar
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Method
- Slice onions into rings and brown in oil with pieces of garlic in a large soup pot.
- Add half the beer or ale, then the soup bones, barley, and peppercorns.
- Add water until the bones are covered. Bring to a boil and let simmer for three to four hours.
- Dice carrots and add to soup.
- Slice cabbage and steam in a separate pot with 1 tbsp vinegar.
- Pour in the rest of the beer or ale and Worcestershire sauce.
- Add the cabbage. Simmer for another five minutes.
- Serve with chopped parsley or grated cheese.
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