- This topic has 3 voices and 5 replies.
-
Posts
-
As I was driving to work this morning I got behind a Maisel's Weisse beer truck. On the back of their trucks is the company logo and part of the logo proclaims that their beer is “Gebraut nach dem deutschen Reinheitsgebot von 1516”, which means brewed according to the Bavarian Putiry Law of 1516. The text of the law is is simple and says that beer will be brewed from only grain, hops, and water. It just hit me as I was driving that the law is probably one of the oldest laws on the world still on the books. In fact, many breweries in Bavaria advertise that they brew according to the law. It is also amazing how much variety in flavor you can get out of a beer using only these three ingredients. Just in the drink market in my village there has to be something like 30-40 different brands of beer. My personal favorite is Aktien Zwick'l Kellerbier although the Aktien Landbier is pretty good too.
I know you mock most of us here, since you're in a beer paradise compared to where we are. 😀Actually, I seem to recall hearing about that "purity law of 1516" the last time I was in Germany (I probably saw it in some advertisement like you did). If that is the whole law (the part about the ingredients), then it is probably simple enough where it doesn't need changes. Many laws in the U.S. have been modified over time as legal definitions or insights have developed, and as common law has been codified. I don't know of any other law which approaches anywhere near the age of that beer law.
I would say that Belgium is the beer capital. Belgian beers are way better than German beers in my opinion.
Jealousy, yes… reminds me of the old Michael Palin (of Monty Pyton fame) quote about American beer:
Drinking American beer is a lot like making love in a rowboat... it's #*$&ing close to water!
Craft beer makers of America please make note - there is no "Pumpkin Spice" or "raspberries" allowed under the Bavarian Purity Law!
Now I am mocking you guys as I sit here drinking a Zwick'l while making final revisions to the rough draft of my thesis. German beer is also between 7% and 9% alcohol making it superior to just about every American beer from the get go. Let's not forget that I grew up in the land of 3.2% beer, Oklahoma. I amaze friends when I visit back home with my ability to consume mass quantities of the water they call beer without getting drunk.
I would say that Belgium is the beer capital. Belgian beers are way better than German beers in my opinion.
Actually, I will agree with you on that one. Belgian beers are pretty awesome (with the exception of one beer in particular - I toured a lambic brewery in Brussels the last time I was there, I and realized that you really need to develop a taste for it). But the average German or Austrian beer will beat the average U.S. beer pretty much any day.
