A 500 Year Old Beer Law Leads 5 Stories Over Beer

5 Stories Over Beer is a weekly article that presents 5 thought-provoking stories about beer and the brewing industry from the week before that you should read. So sit down, grab a beer, and take a few minutes to read 5 stories while drinking a beer. Cheers!

A 500 Year Old Beer Law Leads This Week’s

5 Stories Over Beer

The Ying and the Yang of a 500 Year Old Beer Law: On April 23, 1516, Bavarian co-rulers Duke Wilhelm IV and Duke Ludwig X issued what would only much later come to be called the Reinheitsgebot, or the “purity law.” In 2016, Germans—and beer drinkers everywhere—will stop to celebrate the 500th anniversary of that most famous of brewing laws, the Reinheitsgebot (pronounced, rhine-heights-geh-boat).

Many German politicians and breweries have used the law to promote German beers by using the term Reinheitsgebot to convey a meaning of unequaled purity and quality. The third paragraph of the original 1516 law reads: “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.” The full decree actually had three major aims: 1) to protect drinkers from high prices; 3) to ban the use of wheat and rye in beer so more bread could be made; and finally, 3) to stop unscrupulous brewers from adding dubious toxic and even hallucinogenic ingredients as preservatives or flavorings. The decree only applied in Bavaria at the time, home to brewing lagers, not all of today’s Germany. Paragraph 3 was not only intended to ensure public health but also to protect the brand image of Bavarian lager.

Most beer drinkers really don’t understand the real basis, history, and evolution of the Reinheitsgebot law nor its real impact (good and bad) to German beer production, quality, and sales today. Jeff Alworth wrote in All About Beer Magazine the best article I’ve encountered this year on the real nature of the 500 year old beer law and Reinheitsgebot. You can read it by clicking here.

A 500 Year Old Beer Law Gets a Fresh Look

Support Grows for Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CMBTRA): Introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (OR) and Roy Blunt (MO), and Representatives Erik Paulsen (MN‐3) and Ron Kind (WI‐3), the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015 (S.1562/H.R. 2903) has the full support of the brewing industry. The beer provisions of the legislation create a fair, equitable and comprehensive tax structure for brewers and beer importers.

This bill reforms the federal excise tax structure on beer by:

Reducing the federal excise tax to $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels for domestic brewers producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually and reducing the amount they pay from 60,001 ‐ 2 million to $16 per barrel.
Reducing the federal excise tax to $16 per barrel on the first 6 million barrels for all other brewers and all beer importers.

Lowering the federal excise tax on the brewing industry will help small businesses, spur job creation and incentivize continued growth of the brewing industry. You can learn more about the bill from the Brewers Association by clicking here.

As of April 22, 2016, 192 total legislative sponsors in 45 States and the District of Columbia have indicated their support for the bill. See the detailed list and how you can encourage your representative to support this bill by clicking here.

Image provided courtesy of the Brewers Association.

Mega-Beer Merger Clears Hurdle – SABMiller Officially Sells Peroni, Grolsch Brands For $2.9B: Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewer which is in the process of acquiring rival SABMiller, said it accepted an offer from Japan’s Asahi Group for Peroni and a group of other SAB beer brands. The sale is part of AB InBev’s plan to secure antitrust approval for its $100 billion-plus takeover of SAB, agreed last year. Read more about the sale by clicking here.

AB InBev Marches Towards Acquiring SABMiller

Deschutes hopes to make a million barrels of beer each year at Roanoke facility: Oregon-based Deschutes Brewing is building an east coast brewery in Roanoke, VA. Established in 1988 and Bend’s first brewery, Deschutes Brewery has evolved into a craft brewing powerhouse that was ranked 8th in the U.S. by the Brewers Association in 2015 as measured by beer sales volume. Their ranking actually slipped from 6th in 2013 as other brewers expanded by creating additional production facilities and broadened their distribution. Now Deschutes is adding a production facility on the east coast designed to expand production, distribution, and sales. Read about their status and progress by clicking here.

Deschutes Seeks to Expand Their Production and Sales

Foraging for Fonta Flora’s Appalachian Wild Ales: This is actually my favorite story of the week. Since opening Fonta Flora Brewery in 2014 with business partners David and Mark Bennett, Todd Boera has become known in beer circles as the bearded, bespectacled face of the Appalachian craft beer movement. He’s creating unique and exciting beers that are truly indigenous to Appalachia. Read all about Todd Boera and Fonta Flora Brewery by clicking here.