German craft beer

mixing my words a bit there... and making them into absolutes..
Yes, I do think they can have positive consequences... However, I do not think the RHG is why there are good beers, but it has, of course, greatly shaped beer in Germany, especially Bavaria and I still contend that the RHG was not a great thing and is nowadays used merely for marketing.

 

The only shaping the RHG has done for places outside Bayern was to ruin traditional styles. Inside Bayern it's a very different story even though a lot of the stuff that supposedly is brewed according to the RHG is crap.

 

And I still contend that the RHG's role in shaping beer in Germany -- and especially Bavaria, but also in Koeln and Duesseldorf, to name just two other places -- resulted in many, many positives that have been retained to this day and continue to separate traditional from non-traditional takes on German styles.

 

You may want to read:

Ron Pattison has an ‘interesting’ blog entitled: “The German Reinheitsgebot - why it's a load of old bollocks.”

http://patto1ro.home.xs4all.nl/reinheit.htm

Prost!

 

This is a good summary of my arguments

Herrburgess - I would contend Kölsch isnt a positive

Jack - Ive read it, good stuff

 

I tend to agree with all of Ron @patto1ro P.'s thoughts on the negative aspects of the RHG -- of which there are certainly many. However, I would also love to hear his thoughts -- and his historic understanding of/perspective on -- some of the traditions/practices I mentioned (and see as positive) and their relation to the RHG...especially since all that has been provided so far to discredit any possible connection is conjecture and/or opinion

 

“However, I would also love to hear his thoughts -- and his historic understanding of/perspective on -- some of the traditions/practices I mentioned (and see as positive) and their relation to the RHG...”

The above message should be included in a beermail directed specifically to Ron (patto1ro).

Prost!

 

I've posted that like 4 or 5 times in this forum; rats, you beat me to the punch... I think most of you know where I come down on this argument: the RHG is a historical fact that today means absolutely nothing to ensure quality beer is produced. Good beer is produced in Bayern that use high quality ingredients and see their produce as artisianal endeavor, in other words, the process is fine craft. The RHG is totally immaterial to both criteria... if I add an orange peel to my recipe... oh never mind.... their needs to be a Natural ingredients standard, and that's it. Today the RHG is solely a limiting factor used to brainwash the masses into believing their Fernsehbier is a direct descendent of... again, I better stop before I blow a gasket.

 

Whatever, Jack.

Just availing myself of the new tagging feature designed for precisely such purposes.

 

Good stuff. And FWIW, this is almost verbatim what Matthias Trum told me when asked about his views of German brewing and what makes it different than, e.g., U.S. "craft."

 

Just my 2 cents worth, both Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing obtained training in Germany: Weihenstephan and Doemens. I concur that brewers who have been trained at Weihenstephan and Doemens are fully capable of brewing German style beers regardless of the country where the beer is brewed.

Cheers!

 

Weeeelll. Do you want to scroll back to our earlier discussions or should I bother to copy and paste it ?

 

[Adolf voice] DER TEUTSCHE BRAUER BRAUCHT DISZIPLIN !!!!!!!!![/Adolf voice]

 

Linked to an article on Liebingsbier.de in an article "Reinheitsgebot soll UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe werden? Falsche Behörde!" or "Reinheitsgebot is to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site? False [govenrmental] authority!"

Here's my translation of the text (with a little help from Google Translate)... interesting read, and I fully agree with what they say.

Enjoy.

 

Lots of stuff on that UNESCO Heritage Site existed at a time when burning witches was cool. Not sure why the writer of that article even goes there. Regarding recognizing a "marketing ploy" for the World Heritage list, well...what is that World Heritage list if not a "marketing ploy" for the tourism industry. "Let's go see this place, it's on the UNESCO World Heritage List!"

All that said, I'm all for the Purity Law being on there. It is something that you immediately think of when you think of German beer, and vice versa. Think of it as being the world's oldest consumer protection law.

The Heidelberg Castle is also nominated for that list by the way. Now there is something that doesn't need to be recognized.

 

Reinheitsge-bogeyman.

 

If you need any further reason than this...

"French Cusine" is already on the list of UNESCO World Heretige BTW.

 

Surely most of the brewing processes - decoction, lagering, kräusening, bunging - aren't covered in the Reinheitsgebot.

I'm just embarking on enormous research project into German beer, past and present. When I'm finished, I should have a much better idea about what matters and what doesn't.

 

Good to hear that you're tackling that huge undertaking. (Still...whew! Lot of work.)

I didn't mean to imply that the RHG covers or dictates these German brewing practices, only that perhaps some (such as spunding) were retained in the face of more modern techniques due -- at least in part -- to the RHG's tenets about adding nothing artificial (such as CO2 gathered by a process other than natural fermentation).

Either way, looking forward to the fruits of you labors here. Prost!