Public beer fountain commemorates 500 years of pure German beer

INGOLSTADT, GERMANY — A German city has installed a public beer fountain to celebrate the 500th anniversary of a law regulating the purity of beer.

It's part of month-long festivities in honor of the decree here in the southern German state of Bavaria back in 1516.

To some it's the real deal, to others it's a bland brew. But thanks to a 500-year-old rule, everybody can be sure what's in German beer.

For many brewers, it's a guideline on how traditional German beer ought to be made.

According to the decree, beer should only be made with three ingredients: hops, water and malt.  The law slowly spread to the rest of Germany. It's still on the books, albeit with some exceptions, today.

Chancellor Angela Merkel raised a glass of (alcohol-free) frothy brew to the law Friday at a ceremony in Ingolstadt, quoting Martin Luther's saying that "he who has no beer, has nothing to drink."

Critics say the so-called Reinheitsgebot — whose name suggests divine commandment — is little more than a marketing trick dreamed up in the early 20th century to keep foreign beers out of Germany.  While no longer actual law, it is still regarded as an important tradition.

Cox Media Group