Did you know that beer was not considered a beverage, but rather a central food group in Bavaria’s younger days? In fact, it was so important that the Bavarian government created the Beer Purity Law on April 23, 1516. And guess what? That law just had its 500th birthday!
The Beer Purity Law
Created by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria in 1516, the Beer Purity Law decreed that beer should only be brewed from three ingredients: barley, hops and water. At this time, women would brew the beer and it was widely drunk by even nuns and monks, especially during times of fasting.
Over the years yeast was also included into the list of acceptable ingredients, bringing the total to four. And although this is no longer an actual law, it is still considered a significant tradition and concrete guidelines on how German beer should be made.
Furthermore, this law helped to cement Germany as some of the finest brewers worldwide, but today faces some criticism. Namely, many more adventurous brewers feel that the law limits experimentation of flavors. Firm believers of the law, however, feel that with so many types of hops, malt and yeast there is plenty of room for creativity.
Also, many proponents feel that the law gives consumers a “seal of quality” in which they know exactly what they are consuming. But critics claim there are a lot of other ingredients included, which just don’t need to be legally included on the label, leading to potential customer deception.
So what does the future of this law look like?
Added ingredients
According to Spiegel Online a new ingredient was unintentionally added to the list. The Munich Environmental Institute discovered traces of the herbicide glyphosate in various beers. Although it late emerged that drinkers would have to consume thousands of liters of beer per day to consume a toxic dose of the chemical, it is still highly controversial.
So what other “extras” are included in beer?
Also included is a tiny particle of a synthetic polymer, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, which is used to bind suspended matter in unfiltered brews. It isn’t required to be included on the label because it is not detectable in finished beer. Also, hops extract is widely used by brewers as a substitute for the real thing. In addition to these “ingredients”, numerous other things are allowed, as long as they do not enter in a chemical reaction with the brew, according to Spiegel.
Furthermore, mass production from beverage giants such as AB In-Bev, which owns more than 200 varieties of beer including German brands like Becks, Franziskaner, Löwenbräu, Spaten and St. Pauli Girl, may be substituting lower quality ingredients in order to maximize production at minimal costs.
Rise of the craft brew
Craft breweries are gaining popularity all over the world. Germany is no exception. Along with the traditional ingredients included in the beer purity law, craft brewers often add innovative ingredients such as fruits, coffee, milk, cocoa or any other natural ingredient that would normally be prohibited under the Beer Purity Law.
Many brewers visit other countries like the U.S. or Australia where the craft beer market is more developed, bringing ideas for ingredients back with them. German expat Horst Dornbusch, an award winning beer judge, brewer and writer may have the best solution of them all: simplifying the beer to include what Germans clearly don’t want in their beer, while still allowing for innovation and preserving tradition.
In an article posted on Smithsonian Mag, he suggests:
“No rice, no corn, no chemicals, no enzyme preparations, and (because we are in the 21st century) no GMO raw materials. That’s 14 words, less than half the length of the 31 words of the ducal decree of 1516! Then leave the rest to the brewer.”
