The German 'Reinheitsgebot,' or beer purity law, started 482 years ago. Germans find reason to celebrate the drink even the mild-mannered Benjamin Franklin once called "proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." The German Reinheitsgebot, or beer purity law, celebrates its 482nd birthday on April 23. Brewski. Suds. Cold one. Pint. Cerveza. Call it what you will, beer may be the world's most traditional beverage. First brewed in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia over 8,000 years ago, it rates a mention in the epic of Gilgamesh, and its earliest chemical traces -- from 3500 BC -- have been found in the Godin Tepe in the Zagros mountains, in present-day Iran. Beer is a model internationalist. On Wednesday, Germans mark their own contribution to the history of beer, the Reinheitsgebot, or purity law, which strictly regulated the price and ingredients of beer at the start of the 16th century. It's an excuse for parties and brewery tours across Germany. The state of Bavaria has declared a whole "Beer Week," to let tourists and residents sample beer from some of the state's 40 breweries and 4,000 brands. Bavarians tend to be the most proud of the Reinheitsgebot. Most of their breweries adhere to it -- and they came up with it the law the first place.
The German 'Reinheitsgebot,' or beer purity law, started 482 years ago. Germans find reason to celebrate the drink even the mild-mannered Benjamin Franklin once called "proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
The German Reinheitsgebot, or beer purity law, celebrates its 482nd birthday on April 23. Brewski. Suds. Cold one. Pint. Cerveza. Call it what you will, beer may be the world's most traditional beverage. First brewed in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia over 8,000 years ago, it rates a mention in the epic of Gilgamesh, and its earliest chemical traces -- from 3500 BC -- have been found in the Godin Tepe in the Zagros mountains, in present-day Iran. Beer is a model internationalist.
On Wednesday, Germans mark their own contribution to the history of beer, the Reinheitsgebot, or purity law, which strictly regulated the price and ingredients of beer at the start of the 16th century.
It's an excuse for parties and brewery tours across Germany. The state of Bavaria has declared a whole "Beer Week," to let tourists and residents sample beer from some of the state's 40 breweries and 4,000 brands. Bavarians tend to be the most proud of the Reinheitsgebot. Most of their breweries adhere to it -- and they came up with it the law the first place.
And as the law only allows water, hops, barley and yeast, wheat beer breaks the law. So any brewery that makes wheat beer, which include most of the ones in Bavaria, are technically in breach. keep to the Fen Causeway
