Deutsches Bier und das Rheinheitsgebot

1. Deutsches Bier unddas Rheinheitsgebot Matthew R. Evans (Matthias) Basic Spoken German I 26APR2007

2. die Rheinheitsgebot • Rheinheitsgebot’s literal translation is “purity requirement”. • Introduced in 1487 but not adopted until 1516. • Originally introduced to prevent brewers from using wheat and rye that could otherwise be used in baking. • Limited the ingredients in beer to water, barley, and hops. • Yeast was not included in the Rheinheitsgebot because it had not been discovered yet.

3. The Rheinheitsgebot prescribed hops as a preservative. • Luckily they replaced medieval preservatives such as soot, fly agaric mushrooms (hallucinogenic toadstools), and stinging nettles. • Penalties for violating any aspect resulted in the confiscation of all beer involved. • Bavarians take their beer so seriously that they insisted the Rheinheitsgebot be applied across Germany as a condition for unification.

4. Otto von Bismarck, Minister/President of Prussia agreed to the Bavarians demands in order to unify the German speaking people. • This upset some portions of the soon-to-be nation as many had their own regional varieties of beer that violated the strict guidance of the Rheinheitsgebot. • Many unique German beers including Kirschbier (cherry beer) and North German Spiced Beer were lost to the Rheinheitsgebot. • One of the few that survived was the typical Düsseldorf beer; Altbier. + =

5. In 1952 the guidelines set-forth in the Rheinheitsgebot were adopted by both the West German Biersteuergesetz (taxation law), and the vorläufiges Biergesetz or provisional beer law. • In 1987 a European Court of Justice ruling led to the Rheinheitsgebot being lifted. • This meant that any ingredient used in food products could also be used in beer. • Hence, Germans can now enjoy terrible beer like Heineken and Corona at the local Kneipe.

6. Deutsche Biere • Germany has a long brewing tradition and is home to more than 1350 breweries producing over 5000 unique beers. • Mayerbraü, a little known brand is brewed in Oggersheim, Ludwigshafen am Rhein and started producing fine beer in 1846. • Kloster Andechs is a brewery where Benedictine monks have been brewing since 1455, predating even the Rheinheitsgebot. • Becks the number one German Import (in the U.S.) has been brewing since 1873.

7. Ale Type Beers • Altbier – Typically brewed in the area around Düsseldorf, this beer is normally dark amber in color with an abundance of hop taste. • Kölsch – A beer found only in the area surrounding Köln. Pale and light-bodied this beer is served in smaller glasses than I would like. • Weizen – This type of beer is available mainly in two varieties; hefe- and kristall-. Hefeweizen is a cloudy pour with an underlying taste that has been described as bananas. Kristall is a clearer, light-bodied variant that doesn’t fill as fast as it’s heavier sibling. Both are brewed with wheat; and in turn violate the Rheinheitsgebot. VS.

8. Berliner Weisse – A sour, pale, top-fermented beer from Berlin. It is custom to drink this beer with your choice of syrup, Woodruff or Raspberry. • Leipziger Göse – An amber, sour, and top-fermented beer brewed in the vicinity of Leipzig in former East Germany.

9. Lager Type Beers • Helles – A pale, malty, typically Bavarian beer. • Schwarzbier – Bottom fermented beer with a dark color and roasty, chocolaty flavor. • Pilsener – Also known as Pils, this is a pale beer with slightly pronounced hop flavor. • Export – Pale and light with a more pronounced malt taste than that of Pilsener.

10. Spezial – A pale beer with full-body and bitter-sweet slightly hoppy taste. • Dunkel – A dark lager with two varieties; sweet and malty Munich style and the drier, hoppier Franconian brew. • Rauchbier – Normally dark in color, this beer is made with smoked malt and is a specialty of the Bamberg area of Germany. • Bock – This can refer to any number of “bock” style beers including Bock, Dunkles Bock, Eisbock, Maibock, and Doppelbock. Typically dark in color with full-body. The exception is Maibock which is a lighter colored beer which is brewed in Spring.

11. Oktoberfest • A two week festival held every year in München, Bayern. • Oktoberfest is the world‘s largest fair with over six million people attending during it‘s seventeen or eighteen days. • The fair is held every year in Theresienweise which is often called d‘Wiesen for short. • The mayor of München opens the fair ever year by tapping a keg and proclaiming “O’zapft is!” which is Bavarian dialect for “it’s tapped!” • Märzen is the beer of choice for Oktoberfest revelers.

12. Questions?

13. Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_beer • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot • http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/ • http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/gerstats.htm