Whatisitgoodfor?
Mongoose
The Reinheitsgebot (Bavarian Beer Purity Law) adopted in 1516 is a beer marketers' dream, but was originally introduced to preserve wheat supplies as much as to ensure beer quality and control prices.
By mandating that beer could only use water, malt, barley and hops, the Bavarian Crown was making sure enough wheat was available to make poor people's bread rather than rich people's beer.
By the C19, the law had become a point of pride in Bavaria and was made part of the price of Bavaria joining Prussia's new expanded 'Germany'.
On the plus side, it means Germans have become very good at making this style of beer. It did however extinguish many other valid beer brewing traditions; notably the aforementioned wheat beer, as well as fruit beer and anything other than barley/hops/malt beer.
That's why, although German beer is excellent, many of the more interesting European beers come from places like The Czech Republic or Belgium - which have similar brewing trraditions, but no dead hand of the Reinheitsgebot stifling innovation and experimentation.
btw, my favourite 'German style' beer on the mass market is still Dutch - good old Heineken. So much better now they have started brewing it in my country so it is available fresh and at local prices. Unlike wine, beer does not improve with age.
By mandating that beer could only use water, malt, barley and hops, the Bavarian Crown was making sure enough wheat was available to make poor people's bread rather than rich people's beer.
By the C19, the law had become a point of pride in Bavaria and was made part of the price of Bavaria joining Prussia's new expanded 'Germany'.
On the plus side, it means Germans have become very good at making this style of beer. It did however extinguish many other valid beer brewing traditions; notably the aforementioned wheat beer, as well as fruit beer and anything other than barley/hops/malt beer.
That's why, although German beer is excellent, many of the more interesting European beers come from places like The Czech Republic or Belgium - which have similar brewing trraditions, but no dead hand of the Reinheitsgebot stifling innovation and experimentation.
btw, my favourite 'German style' beer on the mass market is still Dutch - good old Heineken. So much better now they have started brewing it in my country so it is available fresh and at local prices. Unlike wine, beer does not improve with age.
