
How pure is the beer in Germany? - hwayern
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20161027-how-pure-is-the-beer-in-germany
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agentgt
I vaguely remember on a beer tour of Sam Adams that its lager is one of the
few beers in America that is compliant (I guess allowed to be sold in Germany?
Not sure).

I really don't mind all the experimenting with American craft beers with the
one exception... please stop making ultra IPAs. Ever bar I go to in the Boston
area has like four times the number of IPA to other styles (I'm a stout,
porter, and sour lover).

It's like a competition between the micros of who can shove the most hops in a
beer.

~~~
beachstartup
i agree, but you have to understand that people really, really, really like
IPA's. they taste good and are generally brewed with high ABV meaning less
money spent and less calories for a buzz. this is especially true when eating
with your beer.

~~~
michael_h
High IBU IPA's are in fashion. For a few years, it was dark beers - the Darker
the Better™. Stouts were king[0]. Then the american pale ale, then the IPA,
then double IPA, now triple/quadruple IPAs and bourbon barrel aged everything.
Fatigue is setting in - I'm predicting that sours will enjoy a short stint
(there's only so far you can push a sour), and then porters will be the next
big thing, followed by pilseners and then the cycle starts anew.

[0] For the record, Rogue's (not Stone's) Shakespeare Stout is still the
kinglord of all beers.

~~~
kodt
Shakespeare Stout is brewed by Rogue, not Stone.

~~~
michael_h
Gah! You are correct. Posting comments in a post-lunch stupor leads to _grave
mistakes_.

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deutronium
This article from Ron Pattinson -
[http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/reinheit.htm](http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/reinheit.htm)
provides a number of interesting opinions on the Reinheitsgebot

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virtualritz
The purity law from Bavaria is not the first one. They found another one,
dated 82 years earlier, from a very different Region of Germany. Bavarians
were reportedly not amused ...

[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pr...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fspiegel%2Fprint%2Fd-12771335.html&edit-
text=)

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evils
A very misleading and poorly researched article. There are dozens of additives
and agents allowed in brewing in Germany, but merely because they don't have
to be listed on the label, breweries can uphold the illusion of purity.

~~~
ainiriand
If the label says it is bier, it has no additives as far as I know. We should
separate the concept of ingredients and additives, which in most cases, are
found accidentally and only in traces.

Can you enumerate additives allowed in german bier?

~~~
tluyben2
There are many chemicals used for cleaning / filtering in bier which
technically don't/shouldn't end up in the beer and as such do not have to be
listed; also the main ingredients are plants and as such they are fed and
sprayed with things that are not ingredients. Pesticides and micro plastics
are found in most (all?) German beer but are not direct ingredients so they
are not listed.

~~~
rerx
That is true, but not the same as an additive put in on purpose.

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nom
I can't imagine that much will change even if they stopped enforcing the
Reinheitsgebot all together. Most breweries will probably just continue the
way they always did and try out some new products in addition to that. If
there is one constant in Germany, it's beer.

~~~
rerx
I agree that the Reinheitsgebot would most likely be followed for most beers
even after its potential annulment, just because there is too much cultural
stigma against "unpure" beer. But still, there is more change in German beers
than most Germans like to realize. Kölsch for instance, the beverage that
defines much of the culture of major parts of the Rhineland region, has only
really become popular in the middle of the twentieth century -- despite all
the alleged traditions ascribed to it.

~~~
nom
Wow I never would have guessed. Der Schein trügt.

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dep_b
I'll have my impure Belgians any day over a pure German beer. Can't wait to go
back to Belgium again :)

I've tried some trappist style beers from microbreweries but so far they've
missed the mark. Even a La Trappe already has a wine like complexity in it's
flavours.

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allendoerfer
I have to admit, I like these laws. You can still brew mostly what you want,
it is just that you are not allowed to call it beer. So essentially it is a
clear definition what beer is.

There are similar rules, which define exactly what confitures, marmalades,
cremes, jellies and fruit spreads are and how they differ. Same for drinks.

This is awesome for consumers: When you buy "fruit juice" it is actually 100%
made out of fruit, not a sugary lemonade. When you buy "Wiener Schnitzel" it
will actually be a Wiener Schnitzel (veal not pork). You do not have to look
up the ingredients or ask the waiter.

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fn
google cache for those of you that can't view it:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tDlbieC...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tDlbieCZ72UJ:www.bbc.com/travel/story/20161027-how-
pure-is-the-beer-in-germany+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca)

------
rerx
Very interesting, as a German beer drinker I always wondered how Bavarian
wheat beer could comply with the Reinheitsgebot.

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drtse4
Not so pure, see [1] and [2] about glyphosate contamination of some brands.

Not really a well researched article, the research linked below is well known
in Europe and was discussed in every major news outlet six months ago.

Edit: If you disagree, reply, don't just downvote.

[1] [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-beer-
idUSKCN0VY222](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-beer-idUSKCN0VY222)

[2] [http://sustainablepulse.com/2016/02/25/german-beer-
industry-...](http://sustainablepulse.com/2016/02/25/german-beer-industry-in-
shock-over-probable-carcinogen-glyphosate-contamination/)

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bencoder
> BBC Worldwide (International Site)

> We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our
> international service and is not funded by the licence fee. It is run
> commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC, the
> profits made from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new
> BBC programmes. You can find out more about BBC Worldwide and its digital
> activities at www.bbcworldwide.com.

~~~
fn
Here:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tDlbieC...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tDlbieCZ72UJ:www.bbc.com/travel/story/20161027-how-
pure-is-the-beer-in-germany+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca)

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Udo_Schmitz
The Reinheitsgebot is more of a myth though:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-f1ztar_U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-f1ztar_U)

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velox_io
Wow, I can't believe this website is actually blocked to residents in the UK.

"BBC Worldwide (International Site) We're sorry but this site is not
accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not
funded by the licence fee. It is run commercially by BBC Worldwide, a wholly-
owned subsidiary of the BBC, the profits made from it go back to BBC
programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes. You can find out more
about BBC Worldwide and its digital activities at www.bbcworldwide.com."

~~~
pricechild
Do people in other countries have to pay to visit the page?

~~~
mrcarrot
No, but it includes advertising.

~~~
jimboj
Which is why it is blocked to people in the UK as they already pay the licence
fee and therefore aren't allowed to be shown ads by the BBC. It's a bit of a
weird situation.

~~~
revelation
So they instead.. block the page? Couldn't they just hide the ads?

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soneil
They already selectively show/hide ads - for example, I'm in the Republic of
Ireland, and see ads on the BBC News site.

It's a bit more complicated than that. BBC in the UK aren't allowed to operate
outside their charter - they're severely restricted in how much they can
compete with private commerce.

BBC Worldwide is the beeb's commercial arm, who do exactly this - outside the
UK, where they're competing fairly as any other commercial venture.

So Worldwide aren't allowed to operate within the UK precisely because of the
licence fee - it'd be unfair competition. It's not just because they're shown
ads - it's simply because the content is produced by their commercial arm, so
finds itself on the wrong side of the home/worldwide silo.

