Beer purity law as part of German brewing culture

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

German brewing has existed for more than 500 years in accordance with the beer purity law. Using the ingredients prescribed in this law, German brewers have created a variety that is unparalleled in the world. There are over 5,000 different beers in Germany today.

German beer facts and figures

According to statistics, in 2016 Germany consumed 104 liters of beer per person. In the European comparison, the only country that consumes more is the Czech Republic. Thanks to the maintenance of tradition, the number of breweries in Germany is growing. This figure is much higher than all similar figures in Europe. According to the Association of German Brewers, there are currently 1,408 breweries. The number of productions is expected to reach 1500 by 2020.

Every year, Germany exports more than 16,500 thousand hectoliters of beer (1,650,000,000 liters). Taking first place, it is far ahead of its rivals - Belgium and the Netherlands. The country also hasthe world's largest beer festival. In total, about 6,900,000 liters of foamy drink were drunk at last year's Oktoberfest in Munich, of which 162,200 were non-alcoholic.

The art of brewing according to the law

The Bavarian Beer Purity Law, also known as the Reinheitsgebot and the Bavarian Beer Ingredients Law, was passed in 1516. According to him, only beer made from ingredients - barley (not m alt), hops and water (yeast was discovered 300 years later) was labeled "clean" and suitable for drinking. The law was also passed to increase the amount of wheat. The population did not have enough food, and the nobility used this cereal to make beer. With this law, William IV abolished this privilege.

Beer Purity Law is even used in marketing today. Gebraut nach dem Reinheitsgebot or 500 Jahre Münchner Reinheitsgebot proudly write this on bottle labels and in advertising. However, this is not entirely correct, because, according to the law, only barley can be used in the manufacture, and not wheat or other cereals. In addition, the price of the sale of beer is set in the second part of the decree, and it clearly does not correspond to the one set today.

From the history of beer decrees

Reinheitsgebot (Reinheitsgebot) was adopted on April 23, 1516 in Ingolstadt-Landstandetag. The meeting brought together representatives of the nobility, church prelates, delegates from the city and markets.

Progress in creating decrees was made long before the Bavarian beer purity law. In the city of Augsburg, published in 1156,in Nuremberg in 1293, in Munich in 1363 and in Regensburg in 1447. Regional laws on production and prices continued to appear in the second half of the 15th and 16th centuries. Water, m alt and hops as the only ingredients for making beer were specified by Duke Albrecht IV in a decree of Munich on November 30, 1487.

Another forerunner of the 1516 Beer Purity Law was the Decree of Lower Bavaria of 1493, written by Duke George of Bavaria, which also restricted ingredients. It contains very detailed paragraphs listing the selling price of the beer.

Consumer protection

In the Middle Ages, all kinds of ingredients and spices were added to beer, and the alcoholic drink itself was considered a food product. Some of the additives, such as belladonna or fly agaric, were added to influence the taste of the beer or enhance its intoxicating effect. By 1486, in one of the laws, an indication appeared that it was impossible to use ingredients that could harm a person. The desire for a high level of quality at that time was already combined with the idea of consumer protection.

The main reason for the adoption of the law was the low quality of beer. Before 1516, strict rules in the northern brewing guilds allowed them to excel, but the Reinheitsgebot changed that. The Bavarians quickly improved the quality of their products, and according to some even surpassed the northern guilds. The marked improvement in beer that came after the decree went into effect convinced manyits taste value, and the law of purity continued to be observed even after several centuries.

Part of German culture

The modern version of the German beer purity law is seen as a key development point, although not the first attempt. Over the centuries, the world-famous art of brewing has been created. Today, more than 1,300 German distilleries use only four natural ingredients to create over 40 different types of beer (Alt, Pils, Kölsch, etc.) and about 5,000 individual brands such as Veltins, Krombacher and Bitburger. No country in the world compares to Germany in terms of variety and choice of foam product. The presidents of the German and Bavarian Brewers' Federations believe that the Reinheitsgebot is the reason for the good reputation of German beer.

Modern brewing

In Germany, brewing is limited to four ingredients, yet there is a huge variety of brewing possibilities. Currently, brewers can rely on about 250 hop varieties, 40 m alts, and 200 different brewer's yeasts to be used in the brewing process. Different brewing methods play an equally important role.

However, many brewers want to reorganize the legislation. This would allow the use of natural ingredients in addition to those already enshrined in the beer purity law in Germany. Raw materials to be approved for brewing must be strictly controlled in any case. Today useraw fruit in Germany is still excluded from production, but additives are allowed. However, beer produced in this way can no longer be advertised as being created under the purity law.