Reinheitsgebot?

[cecil_spivey]

I'm wondering...if I throw in Irish moss or Whirlfloc tabs, would that be a violation of the Reinheitsgebot? I just want to be accurate in my boasts and claims about my brews. And the last thing I'd want to do is to stumble anyone concerning their beer convictions. To some, drinking a beer that doesn't comply with the purity law might be like feeding bacon to a Jewish person! In the interest of truth in advertising, I wanna have it straight.

Any experts care to weigh in?

[beerking]

I am pretty sure that irish moss is not in compliance with the RHGB.

[chazwicke]

It's not. Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast only.

[psychodad]

When I want to brew something that isn't in compliance with the RHGB, I brew it late at night under the cover of darkness so to not be caught. I understand the punishment is pretty severe.

[Otis_The_Drunk]

Aww get the rabbi a ham sandwich and a glass of milk.

[zoom6zoom]

It's doesn't remain in the beer, I would not consider it an ingredient.

[gestyr]

Isn't the Reinheitsgebot a diet? similar to Atkins?

[steveh]

When I want to brew something that isn't in compliance with the RHGB, I brew it late at night under the cover of darkness so to not be caught. I understand the punishment is pretty severe.

LOL! I was going to tell Cecil he was fine... right up to the point he told us what he would do!

To the point of usage in a RHGB lager, their would be no need for finings with the good malts and cold lagering; no great deal of proteins to muck up, and any left would settle with cold storage.

S.

[psychodad]

Seriously though I'd never worry about RHGB. From what I gather, for the most part it was intended to keep Klaus and Wilhelm from putting things such as animal matter and whatnot into the beer they sold, not to make a better tasting beer. Were some Belgian dude to tell Klaus to try some wheat, corriander and orange peel in the boil and Klaus did it, he likely would have shared it with Wilhelm too.

[steveh]

From what I gather, for the most part it was intended to keep Klaus and Wilhelm from putting things such as animal matter and whatnot into the beer they sold,

Not really, it was more of a tax shelter to support Bavarian (then German) farmers.

S.

[Mad Scientist]

Seriously though I'd never worry about RHGB. From what I gather, for the most part it was intended to keep Klaus and Wilhelm from putting things such as animal matter and whatnot into the beer they sold, not to make a better tasting beer. Were some Belgian dude to tell Klaus to try some wheat, corriander and orange peel in the boil and Klaus did it, he likely would have shared it with Wilhelm too.

My understanding is that wheat (as a malting grain) is part of it as well...otherwise, we would not have those wonderful hefes.....

[Mill Rat]

The wheat was an exception written in later. Part of the intent was also to keep the brewers from driving up demand for wheat so much that it would make bread (not the liquid variety) too expensive.

[Saint-Thomas]

You may notice that many hefeweizens still carry the words "malt beverage" or "malt liquor" on their label. It is because they couldn't legally call it beer. You couldn't even add CO2 as it would be in violation! There were complicated methods of capturing CO2 from fermenting beer, and of course the process of krausening; neither of which I know a whole lot about.

Now it doesn't matter because the EU struck down the Rheinheitsgebot.

[steveh]

You may notice that many hefeweizens still carry the words "malt beverage" or "malt liquor" on their label.

That designation on the labels is strictly an American step (note that it's in English). There are still a few states left that don't consider a beverage to be "beer" if it's of a high ABV. They must then be designated "malt liquor." It's stupid law, but it has nothing to do with the RHGB.

S.

[Mad Scientist]

That designation on the labels is strictly an American step (note that it's in English). There are still a few states left that don't consider a beverage to be "beer" if it's of a high ABV. They must then be designated "malt liquor." It's stupid law, but it has nothing to do with the RHGB.

S.

You can include Texas in there.

[MrNate]

I also strive to brew according to section XIII in the Code of Hammurabi.

[beerking]

I also strive to brew according to section XIII in the Code of Hammurabi.

I prefer following Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
(I also make sure there is an entry in the Encylcopedia Galactica for every batch I brew.)
;)

[Dangerous Beans]

That designation on the labels is strictly an American step (note that it's in English). There are still a few states left that don't consider a beverage to be "beer" if it's of a high ABV. They must then be designated "malt liquor." It's stupid law, but it has nothing to do with the RHGB.

S.
So that's what malt liquor is, we don't call it that here and I wondered what those Americans on tv were referring to.

[Mill Rat]

I also strive to brew according to section XIII in the Code of Hammurabi. I prefer the text found on the cover of each edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Don't Panic!

[wortchillergoal]

I always thought it was something you said to a person after they sneezed.

[Mad Scientist]

I prefer following Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
(I also make sure there is an entry in the Encylcopedia Galactica for every batch I brew.)
;)

I missed this earlier today when I read it...sigh...time to turn in my towel...

[steveh]

Don't Panic!

Perfect words to live by at all times.

If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you obvioulsy haven't checked your voicemail. :p

S.

[MrNate]

Perfect words to live by at all times.

If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you obvioulsy haven't checked your voicemail. :p

S.


Nice... I hadn't heard that variant.

I'm thinking about painting a big smiley face and "don't panic" on my fridge now...

[steveh]

Nice... I hadn't heard that variant.

It's an updated version of a Hawkeye Pierce variant (figure most folks wouldn't know what an "answering service" was these days. ;))

S.

[jonlouisville77]

So that's what malt liquor is, we don't call it that here and I wondered what those Americans on tv were referring to.

Typically, malt liquor is not simply synonymous with any high ABV beer. Malt liquor may or may not be flavored with hops and unlike a real beer, it often has alcohol added to it that was not produced by the fermenting of the malt liquor itself. I guess it depends how loosely you want to describe the term "beer".


The first rule of Rheinheitsgebot is You don't talk about Rheinheitsgebot.
The second rule of Rheinheitsgebot is You don't talk about Rheinheitsgebot!......

[jesskidden]

Typically, malt liquor is not simply synonymous with any high ABV beer. Malt liquor may or may not be flavored with hops and unlike a real beer, it often has alcohol added to it that was not produced by the fermenting of the malt liquor itself.



Sounds like you may be confusing "malt liquor" with "malternatives" (aka "alco-pops") or the broader term "malt beverage" (which includes all beers and the "malternatives" and is the legal term used by the TTB).

This is a good history of Malt Liquor (http://home.earthlink.net/~ggghostie/maltliquor.html#anchor310914) and includes a link to this paragraph about how malt liquors are brewed (http://home.earthlink.net/~ggghostie/maltliquor.html#anchor310914).

Malt liquors are a separate type of "malt beverage" (just as "lager beer" "porter" "stout" etc.. are) by the TTB definition (http://www.ttb.gov/beer/chapter4.pdf) (page 4-3 and yeah, some circular definitions there- ""...possessing the characteristics generally attributed to and conforming to the trade understanding of..." O...K...), but they have to contain a minimum amount of hops, just as other beer styles do (see page 4-2) - 7.5 pounds per 100 barrels. At least, that'd be the case of the (dare I say call them such?) "traditional" malt liquors.

Of course, as others have noted above, that's not to say that the flavored "malternatives" AREN'T also required to be labeled "malt liquor" in those states with such labeling laws (primarily Texas) due to a higher alcohol rate.

Certainly, the "creation" of all the flavored malternatives (mostly to be able to sell those high alcohol sweet drinks as "beer" rather than more restrictive wines or hard liquor rules in many states) have confused the industry and it's regulators. This TTB FAQ (http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/flavored_malt.shtml)'ll make anyone's head spin.

(See also the strange deal where an anti-alco-pop tax regulation in Calif. seems to have netted some barrel aged beers in this thread (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=18480)).