AMD 4 Reinheitsgebot & Beer in Germany

For many years, in fact, since 1516, the brewing of beer followed strict guidelines according to the Reinheitsgebot. Reinheitsgebot literally means "purity order" and involves laws regarding the actual process of brewing and the ingredients involved. For the majority of years that Reinheitsgebot was in existence, the only ingredients that could be involved in the brewing process were water, hops, and barley. Since 1993, luckily, beer production has followed the guidelines of the Provisional Beer Law, which is not nearly as strict as its predecessor.
Although I stated that the brewing of beer has followed strict guidelines since 1516, no one is actually sure when the Reinheitsgebot was actually implemented. Some Bavarians even contest that we can look all the way back to 1434 to see a "common list of ingredients" that include water, wheat, and barley. This document was discovered in 1999 in the town of Runnenburg. Before the Reinheitsgebot was repealed, it was the oldest food regulation law in the world.
It is interesting to note the strict laws that governed beer, a staple of the stereotypical German diet, when you would think the opposite would be true.