Please don't frack with my beer
May 27, 2013 5:17 PM   Subscribe

German Brewers Say Fracking Will Mess Up the Country's Beer (via The Atlantic) Brewing the world's best hefeweizen, you see, requires great drinking water -- and fracking, they said, "could reduce or even completely eliminate the security of the water supply." In a letter (in German), the organization (Deutscher Brauer-Bund) argued that this newfangled way of extracting energy would conflict with Europe's oldest food purity law, the Reinheitsgebot of 1516.
posted by michswiss (34 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Reinheitsgebot: the only Bavarian purity law of which I approve.
(try this if you get the chance)
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:30 PM on May 27, 2013 [3 favorites]


Ach, mein thirsten!
posted by Awakened at 5:35 PM on May 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


"Guys, doing this will poison us all." [crickets] "Guys, doing this will make it hard to make beer." "TO THE PITCHFORKS!"

It's sad-making that this is what it takes to get headlines on this issue, but I'll take it. Most media coverage I see takes the all-sides-can-have-their-own-facts View From Nowhere, so this is an improvement.

Previouslyish, regarding the general topic but sans booze.
posted by daveliepmann at 6:05 PM on May 27, 2013 [9 favorites]


Mein biercanfp.

And the beer's going to be fine even if the most rabid hippie is right. They'll be able to make that in orbit out of recycled pee someday.
posted by codswallop at 6:10 PM on May 27, 2013


Bullshit.

If you're making a hefewizen, you've already failed at reinheitsgebot, because the core reason of the law was "stop brewing wheat!"

In fact, no brewery in the world follows that law, which demands that one put only barley, hops, and water into beer.

Note the lack of the word "yeast". They didn't know about that when they wrote the law.

But anybody brewing a wheat beer and claiming to be compliant? They've failed at step one.
posted by eriko at 6:48 PM on May 27, 2013 [9 favorites]


the core reason of the law was "stop brewing wheat!"

I thought the reason was to stop people from using herbs other than hops, because some of those herbs tended to be hallucinogenic.
posted by goethean at 7:36 PM on May 27, 2013


Which? Ground ivy or ginger?
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:05 PM on May 27, 2013


In a letter (in German), the organization (Deutscher Brauer-Bund) argued that this newfangled way of extracting energy would conflict with Europe's oldest food purity law, the Reinheitsgebot of 1516.

That's not the letter, as far as I can tell. It's a press release that says roughly "German beer is very excellent and we are an important organisation because we ensure the beer continues to be excellent and oh, isn't beer nice?"
posted by hoyland at 8:09 PM on May 27, 2013


> some of those herbs tended to be hallucinogenic

Once we stopped burning witches that should've become a feature, not a bug.
posted by codswallop at 8:09 PM on May 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Too late to save Beck's from InBev, this is not going to help the remaining German beers any.
posted by buzzman at 8:10 PM on May 27, 2013


"...and oh, isn't beer nice?"

This is certainly a thesis I can get behind.
posted by pompomtom at 8:18 PM on May 27, 2013


I thought the reason was to stop people from using herbs other than hops, because some of those herbs tended to be hallucinogenic.

Would have been hilarious, right?

"Hey, you want another beer?"
"Sure but only if you promise not to load it with dancing mermaids."
"Uh, mermaids?"
"Well they cant be fish, that would be disgusting."
"You clever bastard! And all this time I was worried about the fish. The kids will be relieved."
"You have kids?"
"When I pour this I do. Mostly they sit up by the ceiling. Lets go sit by the river."
"What river? Oh, the one by the fireplace! My god that's big. Better still, Wotan, what say we burn down the Rathaus? "
"Absolutely. Wait, there's flies all over your forehead, let me get my axe."
Yeah. Good times.

But fracking in Europe is pretty seriously fucked up. Especially as those areas that appear to have a lot of oil shale, Romania, North-eastern Germany, have strong economic incentive to go ahead. Let me get my axe, indeed.
posted by From Bklyn at 8:28 PM on May 27, 2013 [3 favorites]


So why is it that when dangerous stuff about the environment, privacy, etc., comes out it is always Europe that takes the side of people?

"Don't worry, this is completely fine and your water will only be slightly poisoned. The status quo goes on, excellent news!"
posted by Meatbomb at 8:30 PM on May 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Doesn't fracking have potentially damaging effects on drinking water that has implications for, uh, drinking water. (Basically, what daveliepmann said...) Or, put another way, no bad press is bad press.
posted by Bartonius at 8:46 PM on May 27, 2013


Yes. Lets go back to coal. Much cleaner.
posted by kenaldo at 10:41 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


I thought the reason was to stop people from using herbs other than hops, because some of those herbs tended to be hallucinogenic.

like henbane
posted by telstar at 10:54 PM on May 27, 2013


Do Cylons even drink beer?
posted by radwolf76 at 11:08 PM on May 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Yes. Lets go back to coal. Much cleaner.
posted by kenaldo 36 minutes ago [+]


I suspect you mean that speciously, but seriously, until they sort out the polluting the ground-water issue, it could well be that coal is cleaner. Which is a brain-ache inducing thing to say.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:22 PM on May 27, 2013 [3 favorites]


Do Cylons even drink beer?

No, they drink whisky.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:56 PM on May 27, 2013


No, they drink whisky.

Exactly my point.

(source)
posted by radwolf76 at 12:23 AM on May 28, 2013


Fucking Fracking aside, the Reinheitsgebot is worthy of some ridicule. As pointed out, even a lot of German beers don't rely on it. We have better regulations now; this nearly medieval crap serves no purpose but marketing. It's (non) existence has nothing to do with decent beer in our times.

This is a direct parallel to this bullshit. While not a fan of fracking, I detect the scents of petrol, cat urine, and bourgeois reactionaries. Let's not progress; it may interfere with an aspect of my easily replaceable pleasure, even though it probably won't. But let's not take that chance.
posted by converge at 12:42 AM on May 28, 2013


Also, sorry, justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow, but Okanagan 1516 is not a very good beer. It's two steps from Bud. Much better lagers out there.

It'll do, though, if you're stuck in Prince George for two or three months.
posted by converge at 12:45 AM on May 28, 2013


Reinheitsgebot is German. German beer is definitely not the best beer.
Belgian beer is the best, and Belgium laughs at German bullshit.
Seriously. Marketing has sold you on this Reinheitsgebot nonsense. You've been fooled. Literally.
posted by Goofyy at 12:52 AM on May 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


I am gonna say two controversial things:

One, German beer is not great. You can get bored of pilsner and hefeweizen really easily. What I wouldn't do for just one good cask ale, or strongly hoppy IPA... thank God that Belgian bar opened up down the street.

Two, stop talking about fracking. Fracking is one activity in the oil and gas development system. You think the other day to day drilling activities don't endanger your water supply? How quaint. And while we're at it stop talking about tarsands. These words are used by environmental activists like some kind of NLP shit. Tarsand sounds like pure hell (combing evil tar and useless sand). Fracking just sounds violent and depraved. In fact it's hard to see how these activities are quantitatively worse than the usual expansion of existing drilling practices to new regions. What the brewers association should say is that any drilling practice near their water supply has the potential to poison it.

While we continue to use lots of energy, buy lots of things, yadda yadda, oil and gas technology will march ahead. Having a law that says "hey, it's okay to put horrifying chemical 'mud' down a hole or spill toxic crud everywhere as long as you don't do this 'fracking' thing" is sad.
posted by sixohsix at 1:29 AM on May 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


One, German beer is not great.

That's not controversial, but the default opinion in yank beer geek circles. It's wrong of course, if only because you can't generalise on any country's beer range in this way, not even America.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:05 AM on May 28, 2013 [4 favorites]


German beer is not great.

But many German wines are. The Rieslings from the Mosel valley are superb. In particular, the grapes grown along the River Nahe where the soil is volcanic and the slopes very steep, produce a wine with a distinct petroleum nose.

I'm a bit dubious about the chemicals injected into the ground used to fracture the sub-surface, but the idea that natural minerals, oil and gas in the soil are automatically contaminants to produce would seem to be taking the concept of "purity" to an unnatural level.
posted by three blind mice at 2:16 AM on May 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Two, stop talking about fracking. Fracking is one activity in the oil and gas development system. You think the other day to day drilling activities don't endanger your water supply?

Not to mention a wide range of existing agricultural and industrial practices - or the straightforward business of just depleting groundwater supplies.

The taste of a beer in influenced by the type of water you put into it - if you take a beer recipe developed in a hard water area and brew it somewhere with soft water then you will have a different tasting beer. Unless you doctor the water so as to match the original source - if you do that then you can replicate a beer from another place so as to pass blind taste tests. This is what happens with much of the beer drunk in the world - if any British drinkers think that their "Foster's" has ever been anywhere near Australia then they should think again, for example.

So, I think it is specious to imply that German brewers are just blindly taking their water from single well (as opposed to city water supplies), that they are not constantly monitoring the water that they are using for any changes or that groundwater pollution would prevent them from being able to make their beer from another source.
posted by rongorongo at 3:13 AM on May 28, 2013


Let's not progress; it may interfere with an aspect of my easily replaceable pleasure, even though it probably won't. But let's not take that chance. ...
Huh? Extracting fossil fuels of any type is in no senses of the word "progress"
posted by delmoi at 5:07 AM on May 28, 2013


Too late to save Beck's from InBev

So, InBev buys Anheiser Busch.

Anheiser Busch brewers leave, and found, as far as I can tell...

The Civil Life Brewing Company.
Cathedral Square Brewery.
Four Hands Brewing.
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company.

I have to say that InBev buying AB may have been the best thing to happen beer in St. Louis. Heck, even Kräftig is a pretty fine lawnmower beer -- it's a pale light lager, but it's better than anything AB made by a long stretch.

I wonder of other cities that have been InBeved have had a similar renaissance in beer?

The taste of a beer in influenced by the type of water you put into it - if you take a beer recipe developed in a hard water area and brew it somewhere with soft water then you will have a different tasting beer.

In particular, the rate of hop uptake is dramatically affected by the hardness of the water. The perception of bitterness is also changed by the water hardness, but the actual extraction of the bittering elements in hops changes with the hardness of the water.
posted by eriko at 8:08 AM on May 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


until they sort out the polluting the ground-water issue, it could well be that coal is cleaner

I'd like to see some really rigorous scientific analysis that supports that claim.
posted by yoink at 8:56 AM on May 28, 2013


"Extracting fossil fuels of any type is in no senses of the word "progress""

Huh? Extracting fossil fuels has created the greatest advances in the history of humankind.

The energy that coal, oil and gas provide has made life better for billions of people. The extraction of fossil fuels have literally been the most important advance in history and have benefited humankind in innumerable ways.

People live longer, better, happier lives because of the energy and products extracted from fossil fuels. From tractors to fertilizer to the freedom derived from train, air and truck travel, all these things are due to fossil fuels.

What a ridiculous statement.
posted by Phreesh at 10:24 AM on May 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


"Huh? Extracting fossil fuels has created the greatest advances in the history of humankind."

Notice how you're using the past tense there? That's history, not progress.

We need to stop emptying carbon out of the ground and pumping it into the sky. Whether it comes from coal or gas or tarsands or whatever, is starting to have real, measurable impacts on the quality of life for living things of all stripes.

We need to stop coming up with ways to stretch out our dependency on this old tech and start embracing the new ones. If anything it's kind of tragic only the brewers have been able to stand up to the oil companies against the practice.
posted by Jilder at 12:21 PM on May 28, 2013


Unless you doctor the water so as to match the original source - if you do that then you can replicate a beer from another place so as to pass blind taste tests.

IIRC, the ability to do that (or, more specifically, of replicating the brewing-conducive water of Burton-upon-Trent) was one of the technological turning points of mass brewing in England; they called the process Burtonisation, and to an extent, all water used in industrial-scale brewing is Burtonised these days.
posted by acb at 4:16 PM on May 28, 2013




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