How Germany holds back beer innovation
For nearly 500 years, the Reinheitsgebot — German Purity Laws — have established quality standards for beer, but does it hinder innovations in brewing? Locke McKenzie asks German beer makers and enthusiasts.
When one speaks of people fettered by the chains of society, beer brewers rarely come to mind. In the U.S., craft brewers have all the freedom in the world. They can brew outlandish beers, and consumers will greet each batch with curiosity, if not enthusiasm. In Germany things are different. No matter how badly they want to be free, the powers that be constantly tie the hands of brewers.
As Dick Cantwell, head brewer at Elysian Brewing Company, said, “Incredulity is the first response that I’ve gotten from Germans that I’ve told about my pumpkin beer.”
Within the brewing world, people see the German market as a major part of the canon, but never as a source of innovation.
One more beer post. From the excellent Locke McKenzie.
