BeerBorg

https://reason.com/archives/2016/01/02/ ... ity-law-re

Interesting article. It's something that seems to only impact one country's beer drinkers, but there's such a tradition in Germany, you have to wonder if their street cred is actually compromised by this.

I'm torn on this on. On one hand, I like tradition. On the other, times change and maybe laws need to change, too.

I don't subscribe to this myself. Just 15 minutes ago I threw a fridge magnet into my wort as it was coming to a boil. Not on purpose mind you, but I guess in Germany this would no longer be called "beer" as a result.

The truth is that as a law the Reinheitsgebot is outdated.
The truth is also that really good beers are made by following it.

I think is is basically about people having the right to know what their beer is made from.

I would think that a more modern law would allow brewers to state that their beer did or did not follow the Reinheitsgebot and let consumers enjoy the beers they preferred.

It's not like a company would dump a bunch of caffeine and herbs and flavoring into a high alcohol "beer" and offer it for sale...

The_Professor wrote:The truth is that as a law the Reinheitsgebot is outdated.
The truth is also that really good beers are made by following it.

I think is is basically about people having the right to know what their beer is made from.

I would think that a more modern law would allow brewers to state that their beer did or did not follow the Reinheitsgebot and let consumers enjoy the beers they preferred.

It's not like a company would dump a bunch of caffeine and herbs and flavoring into a high alcohol "beer" and offer it for sale...

While I don't believe that was the original intent of the law, I think it has its merits. And I agree with your second statement. Beer is one of the few food commodities that isn't required to have a list of ingredients on the label. If you've got nothing to hide, why hide it?

I was under the impression that EU regulations already rendered the law unenforceable, and it's now more just a matter of being able to claim you follow it vs. not, vs. having to follow it.

Well, I feel as though I'm on the wrong side of the fence again. I'm in favor of it. Is there really a huge market for non-Reinheitsgebot beer? I mean it's there, but is it a game changer? You can make a lot of damn fine beers with those four ingredients alone. It keeps a bit of artistic talent in brewing too. Any schmuck can add raspberries to a shyt beer, right?

Honestly, many American craft beers are over rated. Dogfish Head makes some awesome beers, but they get pretty damn far off the beaten path at times too. Putting a unique twist on beer doesn't always make it good. Has anybody ever been disappointed with a well made German beer?

I like tradition. I like innovation, but I also like tradition.

FedoraDave wrote:Beer is one of the few food commodities that isn't required to have a list of ingredients on the label. If you've got nothing to hide, why hide it?

That made me google this blog.

If I didn't know better, I'd think it's a parody, but I'm pretty sure she's serious.

If this were an optional description of sticking to the 4 ingredients, I can see an analogy to appellations in wine. A winery can cite that it has an appellation if at least 75% of the volume is from the designated area, plus a couple of other requirements. A winery in the defined area does not need to refer to its appellation, but it adds to the value of its product and tells the consumer something about the product.

bpgreen wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:Beer is one of the few food commodities that isn't required to have a list of ingredients on the label. If you've got nothing to hide, why hide it?

That made me google this blog.

If I didn't know better, I'd think it's a parody, but I'm pretty sure she's serious.

She's serious. She's an absolute joke, but she's serious. Honestly, the woman is the Dr. Oz of food blogs.

bpgreen wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:Beer is one of the few food commodities that isn't required to have a list of ingredients on the label. If you've got nothing to hide, why hide it?

That made me google this blog.

If I didn't know better, I'd think it's a parody, but I'm pretty sure she's serious.

Shocking! Just shocking! Besides being a self-righteous idiot, she is a fount of misinformation. She perpetrates one of the most pervasive myths used by “experts” in food safety. Propylene glycol is only an “anti-freeze” in the same sense that saltwater is. It is not what people put in car radiators; that is ethylene glycol, a completely different chemical in every way. Propylene glycol is used all over the food industry and although it’s not safe for cats, it’s safe for people. OK, rant over. That’s one of my pet peeves on the internet, it gets people get all riled about it for nothing.

Pudge wrote:Well, I feel as though I'm on the wrong side of the fence again. I'm in favor of it. Is there really a huge market for non-Reinheitsgebot beer? I mean it's there, but is it a game changer? You can make a lot of damn fine beers with those four ingredients alone. It keeps a bit of artistic talent in brewing too. Any schmuck can add raspberries to a shyt beer, right?

Honestly, many American craft beers are over rated. Dogfish Head makes some awesome beers, but they get pretty damn far off the beaten path at times too. Putting a unique twist on beer doesn't always make it good. Has anybody ever been disappointed with a well made German beer?

I like tradition. I like innovation, but I also like tradition.

I understand your point, but don't you think a brewery should be allowed to go off the beaten path is that's what they want to do, and let the chips fall where they may?

As the Professor said, the law is outdated; there's no real need to enforce it. While Dogfish Head has a reputation for making some oddball beers out of some oddball ingredients, that's what Sam wants to do; it's his passion, and he should be allowed to sink or swim in following it. On the other side of the coin, most of my beers do conform to the Rheinheitsgebot, and, while I really like my beer, I know it doesn't approach the level of a good, commercially available beer. In other words, at this point in history, it's more about the quality of the process than it is about the purity of the ingredients list.

I just don't think beverages like Bud Light Lime, hard root beer, and Laguintas IPA should be in the same picture. You can find them in the same cooler. I'm all for a brewer (homebrewer or pro) expressing their talent or venturing off on an idea. Do it. I support it. We define styles. Why not define beer? Not all non-Reinheitsgebot brews are gimmicks, but many are. I don't have a problem saying this is beer and that stuff over there is a cousin of beer... same family, but not exactly the same stuff.

It's a tricky thing.

Seperating beer and cousins of beer is a fight that goes back pretty far. But usually it's not really about beer. It's about money or other economic factors.

Reinheitsgebot was really more a law to preserve wheat for other purposes then beer making, under the guise of "purity". Because "purity" sounds good!

In England in some time periods, "Beer" was something made with those new fangled hops and sold in pubs - and taxable (which was the important bit!) - where "Ale" was "that old fashioned swill made with herbs and spices" that was unable to be taxed because everyone made it like they made food of any other sort and was used for sustenance, and trying to tax that pre-existing beverage would cause riots.

I'd also point out that there would be very few great Belgian beers if they followed Reinheitsgebot. The beer that many folks consider the best beer in the world, would simply not exist.

well I can't make a 'pure' beer because I use irish moss, a tiny bit of a campden tablet for the chlorine in my water, a little maltodextrine for body, and simethicone for boil over prevention. So on that score I don't agree with only barley, hops, and yeast. However beyond those 4 things, and maybe some wheat from time to time, my beer is pure.

Monty

You sir, cheat on many levels