REINHEITSGEBOT QUINCENTENNIAL

Half Millenium. Five Centuries. Eight Batmen (Batmans?). Forty Nine Olympic Games. Six Thousand One Hundred Eighty Four Lunar Cycles. Billions of Beers.

The Reinheitsgebot, or German Beer Purity Law, turns five hundred today! The most well-known and influential beer related legislation has changed a bit (read: a ton) since its first signing, but most know of its original form.

"...we wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops, and Water. Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the Court authorities' confiscating such barrels of beer without fail." - Bavarian Reinheitsgebot of 1516.

Now, any good beer-lover should be screaming, "Yeast! Silly Germans, forgot about the yeast!" and they'd have a point. Surprisingly, yeast wasn't added as a permissible ingredient until the 1800s. And now any great beer-lover should be screaming, "What about hefes and dunkels? Those are German!" and they'd be right, too. Wheat, coriander, and oddly enough, bay leaf, were added the to law less than a century into its life.

Although the name sounds well intended, the purity law was more about economics than beer, and can be viewed very differently based on your 1516 trade and location. The order was written to prevent competition with bakers for wheat and rye (two ingredients modern brewers are familiar with), in hopes to secure affordable and stable bread prices. Additives commonly used in North Germany were also nixed, which helped secure market presence for Bavarian brewers. Also, many blame the Reinheitsgebot for the extinction and limitation of many German beer styles. Pilseners became top-dog in the years following the law, while regional beer styles like Kölsch and Altbier barely survived. The strictness of the law also slowed innovation and adoption in Germany.

All of this sounds pretty bad, and one might wonder why the Reinheitsgebot is still around. Fear not, dear reader, German brewers are fighting back. Nils Klawitter wrote an interesting two-parter about the ensuing battles and uncertain future of this long standing code, in a true craft brewer revolution.

Despite the Reinheitsgebot, and its questionable motives, beer has endured. Take a minute today to sit down and enjoy some German suds, and be proud of those suds, because those suds have survived five hundred years of tyranny and oppression.