Beer Purity ‘Reinheitsgebot’ rules issued
The decree known as the ‘Reinheitsgebot’, beer purity law, was issued in Ingolstadt on 23rd April 1516, by Duke Wilhelm IV
The law had three aims~
To protect drinkers from high prices.
To ban the use of wheat in beer so more bread could be made.
To stop unscrupulous brewers from adding dubious toxic and even hallucinogenic ingredients, as preservatives or flavourings.
The German Brewers Association claims that the Reinheitsgebot is the oldest currently valid consumer protection law in the world.
The original law limited ingredients to just barley, hops and water.
The exact role of yeast in alcoholic fermentation was not understood at the time, and it was only later that brewers were able to add the micro-organism as a specific ingredient.
The production of wheat beers remained limited in Bavaria for centuries, but is now allowed.
So the law now states that malted grains, hops, water and yeast may be used – but nothing else.
Beers brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot have special status under European Union laws, as a protected traditional foodstuff.
Germany exports 1.5 billion litres of beer every year, and the country is pretty proud of its beer and the purity law.
Prost!
🍺 The German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot)
