The German Beer Purity Law

"Rine-heights-guh-boat." There. Now, instead of running in fear, you can pronounce this word: Reinheitsgebot. This is a German word that translates to "purity order," and it's probably had a profound effect on your life if you enjoy unwinding with a good brew.

Often known as the "German Beer Purity Law," Reinheitsgebot is, broadly, the reason that beer is beer. Or bier. Did you notice the word "Law" up there? Why would someone pass a law about what is or isn't beer? (Legislating about what can legally be called beer does make a bit more sense if you've ever had Miller Lite. No disrespect, Miller. It's just that your beer is undrinkable.) Time to get a bit epic.

The camera swoops through the Alpine peaks. The moon is full, and CGI bats wheel across its luminous facade. The music broods cautiously. The camera dips into the shadow of a valley, then rockets up and past a great summit to reveal... The Duchy of Munich, 1487. We see the city of Munich at night, mostly dark, but peppered with lanterns and torches. The screen probably fades in the words The Duchy of Munich, 1487, in a very serious-looking font.

In the back room of some tavern, clandestine arrangements are fast and quiet over steins of pure, Bavarian-style beer. The War of Succession of Landshut, which was some proper Game of Thrones business, would come soon after, in 1503, and still-independent Munich was smoldering with tension. But also very concerned with the purity of its beer. Presumably because of such backroom dealing (I'm quite sure the "back room" has always been the true chamber of political negotiation, not the gilded monuments that house the formal proceedings), it was decided that beer brewed in Munich must be just so:

Beer may only contain water, barley, and hops. Not wheat, or gruit, or any of that other junk. (I added that for emphasis.)

Unfortunately, due to the scope of this blog, we're going to breeze past all of the political machinations that resulted in the contention over who ruled Bavaria (where Munich was located), the war from 1503 to 1505 (which left many hamlets in ash), and the intercession by Emperor Maximilian (Archduke of Austria) that ended the war. I promise there would have been more dynamic camera work and brooding music.

By 1506, all was well in Munich, which was now officially part of Bavaria. And in 1516, all of Bavaria formally adopted the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, which echoed its Munich predecessor. It said:

"We hereby proclaim and decree, by Authority of our Province, that henceforth in the Duchy of Bavaria, in the country as well as in the cities and marketplaces, the following rules apply to the sale of beer:
From Michaelmas to Georgi, the price for one Mass [Bavarian Liter 1,069] or one Kopf [bowl-shaped container for fluids, not quite one Mass], is not to exceed one Pfennig Munich value, and
From Georgi to Michaelmas, the Mass shall not be sold for more than two Pfennig of the same value, the Kopf not more than three Heller [Heller usually one-half Pfennig].
If this not be adhered to, the punishment stated below shall be administered.
Should any person brew, or otherwise have, other beer than March beer, it is not to be sold any higher than one Pfennig per Mass.
Furthermore, 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.
Should, however, an innkeeper in the country, city or markets buy two or three pails of beer (containing 60 Mass) and sell it again to the common peasantry, he alone shall be permitted to charge one Heller more for the Mass of the Kopf, than mentioned above. Furthermore, should there arise a scarcity and subsequent price increase of the barley (also considering that the times of harvest differ, due to location), WE, the Bavarian Duchy, shall have the right to order curtailments for the good of all concerned." —Bavarian Reinheitsgebot of 1516 (emphasis added), Eden, Karl J. (1993). "History of German Brewing" Zymurgy 16 (4).
So there is some standard soporific volume and price talk that's a bit outdated at this point, but why the strictures on ingredients?

Well, in 1516, in Bavaria, tradespeople were specialized. Bakers baked, and brewers brewed. (This was before everyone you know casually brewed a Belgian banana porter with a hint of cardamom in his basement with $100 of supplies from Frandor.) Bakers required wheat and rye to make bread. If brewers were also using those same components, this would put undue stress on a finite supply of food. The powers that be weren't about to run out of bread, so they insisted that beer simply use different products so that it wouldn't become a problem.

2 Germans grabbing a brew.

Now I should mention that there is another, very multifaceted component to the law, hidden behind the ingredients. During this era, Martin Luther, author of Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, as well as other writings, kicked off a little party called the Reformation. At the time, the Roman Catholic Church's monastic orders were brewing with gruit—a mixture of mugwort, yarrow, ground ivy, horehound, heather, and sweet gale (and also a sweet Guardians of the Galaxy character)—and using hops was perceived by some as a move away from the imperialism of the Church. That said, Germans were using hops for centuries before that to brew beer, so it's likely that this was a factor, but not a cause, per se. 

The Reinheitsgebot remains an important part of German beer culture to this day. No one loves the Bavarian purity law more than Bavarians, who insisted on its institution throughout Germany as a precondition of becoming part of the country in 1871. Those people are serious about their beer.

This persnickety law has remained a law for hundreds of years, with big revisions and redefinitions occurring in 1987, 1993, and 2005. Some see the law as restrictive, while some see it as an intangible piece of cultural heritage. Unfortunately for the people of Bavaria, UNESCO does not yet agree. Sorry, folks. Maybe if you hold out for a bit longer.