Tradition, Law and Craft

German Beer, Oktoberfest & the Reinheitsgebot

Course 1 · Chapter 10 · Capstone: Tradition, Law and Craft Today

The course began with a question: how did a drink made from grain, hops, yeast and water become a symbol of a nation, and how much of that symbol is history and how much is legend? This final chapter returns to it. It looks at where German beer stands today, with a famous law that is both respected and questioned, a craft movement that borrows from abroad and revives the old, and a growing market for beer without alcohol. It then follows one thread through everything the course has covered: the line from the monastery brewhouse to the microbrewery. Dates and details are given from general knowledge and flagged where they should be checked.

The Purity Law Today

As earlier chapters showed, the Reinheitsgebot of popular memory is a mixture of a 1516 Bavarian order and a twentieth-century tax law (see German Beer, Oktoberfest & the Reinheitsgebot 3), and it is now applied through the provisional beer law of 1993 (check). Most large German breweries still follow it and say so on their labels, and it is a strong part of the image of German beer abroad.

The case for

Supporters say the law guarantees simple ingredients, supports consistent quality, protects a national tradition and gives consumers a clear promise. They also point out that it has not stopped German brewers making a very wide range of beers within it (check).

The case against

Critics say it is outdated, that it excludes legitimate ingredients such as spices, fruit and unmalted grains, and that it is used as a marketing slogan more than as a real guarantee of quality. They note that the law does not cover the brewing process, additives used in processing or the use of pesticides in the crop (check these arguments).

The middle position

Many brewers treat it as a useful label for a certain kind of beer, not as the only legitimate way to brew. A beer outside the law can be sold under a different description (check how this is handled in practice).

The history lesson

The law is much less old and much less pure than its reputation suggests (see Chapter 3), and it shows how a rule can acquire a meaning far beyond its purpose.

The Craft Revival

The industrial lager of the twentieth century left most German beer drinkers with a choice of a few familiar types. From the 1980s and 1990s, craft brewing, which had flourished in the United States and Britain, began to take root in Germany too, later than elsewhere and against the weight of tradition (check the timeline and the claim). Small breweries began to appear, and the pace increased in the 2000s and 2010s (check).

New styles. German craft brewers began making pale ales, India pale ales, stouts and sour beers, borrowing styles from the United States, Britain and Belgium. Some were brewed outside the purity law, and others kept within it.
Old styles revived. Gose, Berliner Weisse, smoked beers and other styles that nearly died out came back (see Chapter 5).
German hops. Hops from the Hallertau and other regions have become a major export, and new hop varieties are bred for the craft market (check).
Local pride. The craft movement shares the old German love of local beer, which is why many craft breweries stress their town or neighbourhood.

A British comparison Britain's craft scene, including Scotland's, grew from a fight to save traditional cask ale from industrial keg beer (check). In Germany the revival often runs the other way: it is a push to add variety to a market that was already full of traditional lagers.

Beer Without Alcohol

Alcohol-free beer has become a big part of the German market, helped by strict drink-driving rules and a health-conscious public (check the market share). Brewers have improved the taste with better processes, and some firms have positioned alcohol-free beer as a sports or lifestyle drink. It is notable for the purity law debate too, since the process of removing alcohol is not covered by the old rules (check). The old medieval idea of a low-alcohol beer as an everyday drink (see Chapter 2) has, in a sense, returned.

The Monastery Brewers

The thread begins with the monasteries, and they have not gone away. A number of Bavarian monasteries still run breweries, among them Andechs, Weltenburg and Ettal, and some have beer gardens and visitors who come for the view as much as for the beer (check the list and the details). Their beers are in the same range of styles as any other, though the setting gives them a particular reputation. The Doppelbock tradition of Chapter 5, said to date from monks brewing strong beer for Lent, is a living link to that history (check).

The Thread: Monastery to Microbrewery

Looking back across the ten chapters, a few themes appear again and again.

Theme	Where it appears
Beer as food, tax and law	Early brewing and town rules (Chapter 2); the purity order (Chapter 3); beer tax and the single market (Chapter 9)
Local identity	City ales and regional styles (Chapter 5); the beer garden and Stammtisch (Chapter 6); local festivals (Chapter 8)
Science and technology	Cellars, refrigeration and pure yeast (Chapter 4); craft hops and processes (this chapter)
Rules that made customs	The summer ban that made lager (Chapter 4); the innkeepers' dispute that made the beer garden (Chapter 6)
Legend against record	"Oldest" claims (Chapters 1 and 2); the myths of 1516 (Chapter 3); the origin of the Wiesn (Chapter 7)
Beer and history	The beer halls and the putsch, East Germany, and the festival through crisis (Chapters 7 to 9)

An answer, with caveats Beer became a symbol of Germany because it was always more than a drink: a food, a tax base, a subject of law, a reason to meet, and a source of local pride. Much of the symbol rests on solid history, such as the town rules, the cellars, the nineteenth-century science and the festival. Some rests on legend, such as the oldest-in-the-world claims and the idea of a perfect, unchanged law. The best way to enjoy the subject, and to keep it honest, is to ask of each claim whether it is record, reputation or legend, as Chapter 1 proposed.

Check the details Figures for the number of breweries, the craft share, the alcohol-free share and hop exports change every year. The details of the 1993 law and the debate around it should be read in a current source. Confirm the facts about particular monasteries before quoting them.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Give one argument for and one argument against the Reinheitsgebot as it works today, and say what the history in Chapter 3 adds to the discussion.

→ Solution

Exercise 2

Describe two ways the craft revival in Germany connects to the older parts of the story, and one way it breaks with it.

→ Solution

Exercise 3

Write a short paragraph, in your own words, that traces the thread from the monastery to the microbrewery, using at least four chapters of the course.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

The law today: a provisional beer law of 1993, followed by most large breweries (check)
For and against: consistency and tradition against outdated limits and marketing
Craft: new styles, revived old styles, German hops, local pride
Alcohol-free: a growing share of the market (check)
Monasteries: still brewing, as at Andechs, Weltenburg and Ettal (check)
Method: separate record, reputation and legend

Course complete You have followed German beer from the household and monastery brewhouse through the purity order, the cellars, the styles, the beer garden and the Wiesn, to the craft revival. Keep the habit that runs through every chapter: look up the figures marked "check" before you rely on them, and ask of each good story whether it is record, reputation or legend.