Barley, Water, Hops and finally Yeast

     Barley, Water, Hops and finally, Yeast. These are the only 4 things that for centuries could be used in German Beers. Why? do you ask. Well this is price that Bavaria made the other German states pay for it to join them in a unified Germany in 1871. Introduced in Bavaria in 1516, it was called the Reinheitsgebot ( the German beer purity law).
     The Reinheitsgebot made it illegal to use anything but Barley, Water and Hops (yeast not having been discovered yet, wasn't included till the 1800's). Brought in supposedly to stop competition for grains between bakers and brewers and to keep the cost of a loaf of bread affordable, it's actual effect was to remove the diversity and originality from the rest of Germany. Outside of Bavaria the Germans brewed much like their Belgium cousins, lots of adjuncts, wheats, sugars, fruits and spices. Belgium today brews over 1500 different types of Beer, many of them available only in the pub where they are brewed. Imagine where Germany would be today without 200 odd years of constrictions, instead of being dominated by Pilsners and Kolsch's, Abbey ales and Lambics may have evolved even further but we will never know.
     Interestingly enough the Reinheitsgebot was also introduced into Greece in the 1800's due to a Bavarian prince, the first Greek king.
     The Reinheitsgebot is still in force today but only for beers produced in Germany (imported beers can use anything also used in making food) having transitioned through the West German Biersteueergesetz (beer taxation law) to the Vorlaufiges Biergesetz, an expanded Reinheitsgebot to include different malts and sugars for top fermenting beers (ales and the like), and for yeast to be used in bottom fermenting beers (lagers etc).
     Many home brewers and breweries  like to boast that they follow the Reinheitsgebot and that because of this their beers are better than anything else, but I thinkpersonally it's more just a way to limit their creativity. Imagine if every beer had to be brewed by those rules, it would be a pretty boring old selection. Now thats not to say there isn't a place for Reinheitsgebot, it's just not for everyone.