Re: [OT] Reinheitsgebot and Beer without C

On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:32:01 +0200
Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> wrote:

On 26.06.2024 14:54, Michael S wrote:

On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:20:58 +0200
Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> wrote: 

>
Glad we have here, where I live, something called "Reinheitsgebot"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot] and also a history
of quality beer, of course. :-) 

 
I am not sure whether it is off topic or on topic, since it is about
advantages of not following standards very strictly. 

 
Hmm.., okay. - But there's definitely no vitamin "C" in beer. :-}
 

According to my understanding, beers that *do not* follow
"Reinheitsgebot" today are very popular in Germany. 

 
Frankly, I cannot tell, I have no numbers or statistical information.
 
WRT popularity of (specifically Bavarian) beer I hear more about the
global preference; it seems that Bavarian beer is still appreciated
worldwide - if the rumors are true and the reports based on facts not
myths or so. And rightly so. :-)
 
But you should know that there's many many breweries, large and small
ones in Bavaria. And every beer has it's own taste. A few are (or had
been) of relatively bad quality and were often depreciatively titled
and avoided. Generally the quality is, of course, excellent. ;-)
But since it's a matter of taste we can spare us religious wars about
what being the best; we have more than enough choices that everyone
can choose what fits best to him or her. (And we also have the mass
market for those who don't care or care less, or who just don't have
access to other sources.)
 
In Germany it's noteworthy to know that - again AFAICT - the most
beer is sold by few larger companies (and not in Bavaria).
 
WRT the Reinheitsgebot; the truth, AFAICT, is that none of the beers
we have here today conform to the (original) Reinheitsgebot any more;
there's some ingredients necessary and generally used today that don't
conform. But the Reinheitsgebot is also no formal law; it's informally
a statement in advertisement (but mostly not even mentioned any more).
What matters more are the generally valid and quite strict food laws
(and no one speaks about those as well; they are just standard).
>

There are levels to non-conformance. Some times there, as you say,
some ingredients. Like minor gcc extension over C Standard.
And sometimes you have Weißbier, where they use very major component
(wheat) explicitly prohibited by Reinheitsgebot. That's no longer 'C'.
May be, it's Java. But lost of drinkers (not necessarily me) consider
it very good.

I don't know
whether they are more popular than those that do follow it, or a
little less popular, but at very least they are close.
All those Weißbier of the Souths and Berliner Weisse of the North....
And that's even before we consider raising popularity of
foreign styles, esp. of IPA and stouts. IPA would be almost legal
by strict Reinheitsgebot, but only almost. Stouts can be in theory
produced in strict Reinheitsgebot manner, but I don't believe
that it is done by any modern German manufacturer. 

 
There's some "foreign" (from German perspective) beer that has indeed
a market here and in other countries (Budweiser or Heinecken comes to
mind); I'm not sure whether it is because of some marketing, just hip
because it's been seen in some film, or really good. It's beer that is
also sold worldwide (by big companies). I tried some of them (and some
were okay) but given the choices I have certainly other preferences.
>

When I wrote "foreign-style" rather than "foreign" I meant beers
manufactured in Germany, most often by smaller manufacturer, that
resemble beers of foreign origin, most typically beers from GB,
Ireland, Belgium and craft beers from US. The exception are pilsener
beers. Despite Czech origin IMHO they can't be consider "foreign-style"
in Germany.

 
On the other hand, mass market American lagers probably follow
"Reinheitsgebot" rather closely, Bud a little less so, Miller a
little more so. Which still does not make them decent drinks in the
eyes of pundits and even of non-pundit like myself. 

 
Wasn't "Bud" (if you mean the abbreviated form of "Budweiser") a beer
from the Czech Republic? (Since you mentioned American beers here?)
>

I would think that when people say Bud they pretty much always mean
American mass market Budweiser beer rather then Czech beer with
similar name (Budějovický Budvar).

Hereabouts the common opinion on US American beer is not too good;
it's often - sorry guys! - disrespectfully declassified as dishwater.
 
As an anecdotal end; I was once inspecting the menu card of a London
pub (there was a Nethack meeting planned) and was astonished to find
an Aventinus on the card, a "heavy" dark beer from a comparably small
Bavarian brewery (Bavarian oldest Weißbier brewery). So even smaller
breweries occasionally spread.
 
Habe die Ehre und Prost!
 
Janis