On April 23, the time has come: The Bavarian purity law (Reinheitsgebot) is 499 years old. The German Brewers take this as an opportunity to kick-off the upcoming anniversary year even if 499 is not yet a big birthday. Next year's celebration will be a really big party then – the purity law will celebrate the 500th anniversary. In April 1516 at Ingolstadt the Bavarian "Landstaendetag" (meeting of the representatives of the nobility, the church prelates and the delegates of the cities and villages) convened and approved a submission of the Dukes Wilhelm IV. and Ludwig X saying that Bavarian beer is to be brewed only from barley, hops, malt and water.

The purity law should the citizens of his time not only protect against illegal ingredients, such as belladonna and datura. It is a quality standard which even today is the basis of the work of thousands of breweries on every continent . Beer should only consist of water, malt, hops and yeast.

For more information please see http://www.lebensmittelwirtschaft.org/foodculturenet/