3 easy ways for beginners to order beer in German

When you want to order a beer in German, saying ein Bier, bitte is simply announcing that you are an absolute beginner.

Instead of saying that, use these 3 ways:

Start with ‘ich möchte…’ to order a beer in German

Ich möchte, which means I’d like, is the easiest way to say I want a beer in German.

Here are a few sentences to show you how it’s used:

• • Ich möchte eine Flasche Guinness, bitte. (I’d like a bottle of Guinness, please)
  • Ich möchte sechzehn Flaschen Märzen, bitte. (I’d like 16 bottles of Märzen, please)

Not hard, right?

And it gets even easier when you learn German for beginners.

You see, the sentence structure is very simple – to say I would like a beer in German, you begin with the word ich möchte, then the number, and finally the type of beer.

Ich möchte ——- (number of beers) ——- (type of beer) ——- , bitte.

‘Ich hätte gerne’ can also be used to order a beer in German

In the previous example, you have learned what to say when the waiter comes to you.

But what do you say when you walk up to the counter instead?

In that case you say ‘Ich hätte gerne’, which means I’d like...

Think of stopping by a McDonald’s and saying, I’d like a cheese burger and an ice-cold coke, then you’ll see the difference between ordering from the counter and talking to a waiter who has come to you.

• • Ich hätte gerne ein Guinness, bitte. (I’d like a Guinness, please)
  • Ich hätte gerne sechzehn Flaschen Märzen, bitte. (I’d like 16 bottles of Märzen, please)

And don’t worry about the umlauts. They are really easy to pronounce.

Für mich, ein…

This phrase can be used to order beer in German when the other person you are with has ordered and now it’s your turn.

It is pretty straight forward, and it means…you guessed it – for me a….

Let’s look at the examples:

• • Ich hätte gerne ein Weissbier, bitte. (I’d like a Weissbier, please)
  • Für mich, ein Weissbier leicht, bitte. (For me, a Weissbier light, please)

Now let’s say you are three people at a table and the waitress is taking your orders:

Waitress: Was hätten Sie gerne zu trinken? (what would you {all} like to drink?)

Person A: Ich hätte gerne ein Kölsch. (I would like to drink a Kölsch)

Person B: Für mich bitte ein Märzen. (For me, a Märzen, please)

Waitress: Und was möchten Sie trinken? (And what will you drink?)

You: Für mich auch ein Märzen. (For me, a Märzen too)

Remember:

You should only use für mich when your friends have already ordered.

One more way to say I would like a beer in German

Now that you’ve known the most common ways of ordering beer in German, let me show you another way we like to use:

In this other way, the word to use is darf ich…

It means ‘may I’

• Darf ich bitte ein Bier haben? (May I have a beer, please?)

But remember, you have to specify which beer you want…

• Darf ich bitte ein Märzen haben? (May I have a Märzen, please?)

And closely related to ‘darf ich’ is ‘kann ich’…

• Kann ich bitte ein Märzen haben? (Can I have a Märzen, please?)

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