At the very least you should know how to pronounce it.
"Rine-Hites-gaBoat"
Most Americans are probably familiar with the "German Beer Purity Law" only because it has been mentioned in Samuel Adams beer commercials. Not long ago, it was completely irrelevant to the American beer scene, but the current popularity of micro and craft brews in the U.S. and Canada has made "Reinheitsgebot" a meaningful term in discussions about North American beer.
So what is this Reinheitsgebot thing all about?
First of all, it should be understood that the Reinheitsgebot is the oldest food regulation in the world and that it still exists today. Translated to English, the word "Reinheitsgebot" essentially means "purity law." The complete, original text of The Rineheitsgebot is included below.
In the middle ages brewing beer was a primitive science, but by the 15th Century it was also becoming a very lucrative industry. Brewers looking to make greater profit often used cheaper ingredients of mixed variety to achieve their financial goals. Unscrupulous brewers would add fruit, herbs, eggs, tree bark, fish bladders and who knows what else to their beer. As a result, beer was frequently foul tasting and occasionally poisonous. In a beer-loving country like Bavaria a purity law was desperately needed.
The first regulation appeared in Augsburg, Bavaria sometime in the 1490's. Establishments that served bad beer or dishonest amounts of beer would be fined and their beer destroyed. In 1516, Bavaria's reigning Duke Wilhelm IV expanded the Augsburg regulation to cover all of Bavaria, creating the world’s first Pure Food & Beverage Law. The "Reinheitsgebot." Thanks to the regulation, Bavarian beers quickly became renowned for their superior quality. Eventually all the lands of Germany enforced the regulation.
The Reinheitsgebot stated, in brief, that only pure and essential ingredients be used in beer. The only ingredients allowed were barley, hops and water. Today, of course, yeast is also recognized as a vital ingredient. Yeast was a brewing element whose effect was not understood at the time the law was written. In the 1500’s, brewers utilized naturally occurring, airborne yeast and attributed fermentation to the will of God. In fact, lambic beers are still produced this way.
The Reinheitsgebot Today
As a result of the Reinheitsgebot, German beer became world renowned for its quality and consistency. Germany beer still enjoys the reputation to this day. There are more than 900 breweries in Germany and they all adhere to the purity law. In the German beer tax law, which regulates beer production, it states: "For the preparation of beer, only malt, hops, yeast and water can be used." The Reinheitsgebot lives!
Because of the free movement of goods within the European Union, the sale of imported beers which are not brewed in conformity with the Purity Law has recently been permitted in Germany. They can contain other raw materials (such as unmalted barley, maize, rice or millet) or additives, although they must be clearly labeled. These impure, imported beers have not sold well in Germany because of poor consumer acceptance.
Although the United States Food and Drug Administration would not allow a brewer to produce an unsafe product, they do nothing to prevent the use of non-traditional ingredients in beer. Truth be told, there are plenty of American craft and micro brewers which use non-essential ingredients go give their beer a distinctive character or a marketing advantage. Although many popular craft and micro brews do not meet the German purity standard, they are admirable, "real" beers in their own right.
Other American brewers, who manufacture their product on a massive scale, use ingredients that are not traditionally associated with beer. Although many of the ingredients may be untraditional or even inorganic, they are not immediately poisonous and produce no noticably nasty taste. One could argue that the goal is to use unessential ingredients to give the beer as little flavor as possible.
The Complete Reinheitsgebot Text Translated
We hereby proclaim and decree, by Authority of our Province, that henceforth in the Duchy of Bavaria, in the country as well as in the cities and marketplaces, the following rules apply to the sale of beer:
From Michaelmas to Georgi, the price for one Mass [Bavarian Liter 1,069] or one Kopf [bowl-shaped container for fluids, not quite one Mass], is not to exceed one Pfennig Munich value, and
From Georgi to Michaelmas, the Mass shall not be sold for more than two Pfennig of the same value, the Kopf not more than three Heller [Heller usually one-half Pfennig].
If this not be adhered to, the punishment stated below shall be administered.
Should any person brew, or otherwise have, other beer than March beer, it is not to be sold any higher than one Pfennig per Mass.
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.
Should, however, an innkeeper in the country, city or markets buy two or three pails of beer (containing 60 Mass) and sell it again to the common peasantry, he alone shall be permitted to charge one Heller more for the Mass of the Kopf, than mentioned above. Furthermore, should there arise a scarcity and subsequent price increase of the barley (also considering that the times of harvest differ, due to location), WE, the Bavarian Duchy, shall have the right to order curtailments for the good of all concerned.