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| Keywords: reinheitsgebot beer history beerhistory germany bavaria text writing document On 23 April 1516, the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV, issued what would only later come to be called the Beer Purity Law — and later still, the Reinheitsgebot— restricting the ingredients in beer to barley malt, hops, and water. Yeast would be added later. Depending on your point-of-view, the Reinheitsgebot is the world's oldest and extant consumer protection law ... or the oldest restraint-of-trade decree still in effect. ***************** The edict "Wir wöllen auch sonderlichen / das füran allenthalben in unsern Stetten / Märckthen / unn auf dem Lannde / zu kainem Pier / merer stückh / dann allain Gersten / Hopfen / unn wasser / genommen unn gepraucht sölle werdn." Translated, this means: "Exceptionally so we want that henceforth, everywhere in our cities, market towns and on the countryside for no beer more pieces than alone barley, hops, and water shall be used." — Daft Eejit Brewing **************** The History ▶Since 1516, this Bavarian Beer Purity law has gone through many iterations, revisions, and amendments, and is now part of the German tax law. Before 1918, the law had simply been known by the prosaic name of Surrogatverbot (surrogate, or adjunct, prohibition). Its current name of Its current name of Reinheitsgebot was coined in 1918. ▶ There are really two Purity Laws today: the Bavarian and the German. While the Bavarian restricts the use of anything but barley malt, hops, water, and yeast, the German version is slightly more lenient when it comes to bottom-fermented beers. These may also be made with the addition of cane sugar, beet sugar, invert sugar, and modified starch sugar, as well as coloring agents made from these sugars. ▶In 1916, the Second German Empire adopted the current understanding of the Purity Law for all of Germany. When Bavaria became a member state of the Weimar Republic in 1918, it made it one of the conditions of joining that the new republic adopt the Purity Law. ▶In 1987, the European Court ruled that the Reinheitsgebot amounted to an inadmissible restriction of free trade against beers brewed in the rest of Europe. Thus: 1) Non German brewers, therefore, were allowed, henceforth, to sell even non-Reinheitsgebot brews into Germany and call them 'beer.' 2) German brewers, under their domestic law, were still compelled to follow the Reinheitsgebot when brewing beers destined for their own market. 3) German brewers were now allowed to depart from the restrictions of the German purity law when making beers for export EXCEPT ... 4) In Bavaria, where brewers still must adhere to the Bavarian version of the law, no matter what. " — The Oxford Companion to Beer: Oxford University Press, 2012. *************** Yeast The 1516 edit made no mention of yeast. Since Bavarian brewers of the time certainly knew of yeast, why the omission? On 23 April 1516, the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV, issued what would only later come to be called the Beer Purity Law — and later still, the Reinheitsgebot— restricting the ingredients in beer to barley malt, hops, and water. Yeast would be added later. Depending on your point-of-view, the Reinheitsgebot is the world's oldest and extant consumer protection law ... or the oldest restraint-of-trade decree still in effect. ***************** The edict "Wir wöllen auch sonderlichen / das füran allenthalben in unsern Stetten / Märckthen / unn auf dem Lannde / zu kainem Pier / merer stückh / dann allain Gersten / Hopfen / unn wasser / genommen unn gepraucht sölle werdn." Translated, this means: "Exceptionally so we want that henceforth, everywhere in our cities, market towns and on the countryside for no beer more pieces than alone barley, hops, and water shall be used." — Daft Eejit Brewing **************** The History ▶Since 1516, this Bavarian Beer Purity law has gone through many iterations, revisions, and amendments, and is now part of the German tax law. Before 1918, the law had simply been known by the prosaic name of Surrogatverbot (surrogate, or adjunct, prohibition). Its current name of Its current name of Reinheitsgebot was coined in 1918. ▶ There are really two Purity Laws today: the Bavarian and the German. While the Bavarian restricts the use of anything but barley malt, hops, water, and yeast, the German version is slightly more lenient when it comes to bottom-fermented beers. These may also be made with the addition of cane sugar, beet sugar, invert sugar, and modified starch sugar, as well as coloring agents made from these sugars. ▶In 1916, the Second German Empire adopted the current understanding of the Purity Law for all of Germany. When Bavaria became a member state of the Weimar Republic in 1918, it made it one of the conditions of joining that the new republic adopt the Purity Law. ▶In 1987, the European Court ruled that the Reinheitsgebot amounted to an inadmissible restriction of free trade against beers brewed in the rest of Europe. Thus: 1) Non German brewers, therefore, were allowed, henceforth, to sell even non-Reinheitsgebot brews into Germany and call them 'beer.' 2) German brewers, under their domestic law, were still compelled to follow the Reinheitsgebot when brewing beers destined for their own market. 3) German brewers were now allowed to depart from the restrictions of the German purity law when making beers for export EXCEPT ... 4) In Bavaria, where brewers still must adhere to the Bavarian version of the law, no matter what. " — The Oxford Companion to Beer: Oxford University Press, 2012. *************** Yeast The 1516 edit made no mention of yeast. Since Bavarian brewers of the time certainly knew of yeast, why the omission? | ||||
