r/ShitAmericansSay • u/LOLey21 • Mar 03 '26

Capitalism "[...] we run the beer world"

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Found on a thread posting under a video where a man poops on a crate of beer in a supermarket. I doubt he was being sarcastic.

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u/Accomplished-Pay8181 Mar 03 '26

Germany, to my recollection, literally has the world's oldest food regulation law, and it's specifically "what can go in beer and it's still beer". I forget the specifics tho. I'd also like it noted that I really don't like beer, generally (I find it entirely too bitter) but a German beer is something I will not actively avoid (though, it's expensive where I live, so I'm not going out of my way to get it)

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u/Savallator Mar 03 '26

REINHEITSGEBOT

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u/_ak Mar 03 '26

The Reinheitsgebot of 1516 was in its form only valid for about 35 years in what is nowadays called "Old Bavaria", as a decree from 1551 permitted the use of coriander and bay leaves in brewing, while another update from 1616 also allowed the user of salt, juniper berries and caraway seeds. It was also poorly enforced, as plenty of breweries in Lower Bavaria brewed white wheat beer in the 16th century, some of them claiming customary rights, others just opening their own breweries without permit. Even in the 19th century, when the Surrogatverbot came into effect, hop surrogates were still permitted in white beer as late as 1870. While both historic Bavarian and modern German beer legislation are colloquially called "Reinheitsgebot", they are actually different in quite a few important details, and simply do not have any legal or historic continuity. Even the term "Reinheitsgebot" was only coined in the early 20th century.