The verdict is in! Miller Genuine Draft is not beer!

.. that's a slightly skewed interpretation of the story, but here's a news blurb that I found amusing:

Judge Jeffrey K. Sprecher of Berks County, Pa., dismissed charges against a man in August for buying beer for his underage neighbor, ruling that the prosecutor hadn't proved all of the elements of the crime. Specifically, said Sprecher, there was no evidence offered that Miller Genuine Draft is "beer."

-walker

Yeah, I saw that article awhile back : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1879&highlight=Miller

my bad for repeating a post. that original one predates my entrance to this forum.

In any case, there may be some truth in it. If I understand how this works (maybe someone across the water can correct me if I am wrong), nothing in Germany can be sold as beer if it has anything more than water, malted barley, hops and yeast in it. The German Beer Purity Law of 1547 or whatever.

Hey, those boys pretty much perfected the stuff <ducks> - if they say that's how it should be, then that's how it should be.

SteveM said:

In any case, there may be some truth in it. If I understand how this works (maybe someone across the water can correct me if I am wrong), nothing in Germany can be sold as beer if it has anything more than water, malted barley, hops and yeast in it. The German Beer Purity Law of 1547 or whatever.

Hey, those boys pretty much perfected the stuff <ducks> - if they say that's how it should be, then that's how it should be.

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Yeah, but there's a lot to the Reinheitsgebot that is no longer true.

Especially the part where it reads that a Mass (1 liter mug) should not cost more than 1 pfennig (penny)!

EDIT: I just read the article and the funny thing is the mention of 5%. Anything in the US or any "beer" imported into the US that is 5% or higher has to be labeled "malt liquor".

homebrewer_99 said:

Anything in the US or any "beer" imported into the US that is 5% or higher has to be labeled "malt liquor".

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I've seen this repeated elsewhere, and it's not true. Right now, I've got a bottle of Victory Golden Monkey (Made in U.S., 9.5%ABV), and a bottle of Chimay Grand Reserve (imported from Belgium, 8%ABV), and nether one mentions "malt liquor".

Hmm...sitting here typing this, I think I figured it out. Lagers over 5% may have to be labeled malt liquor, because I just checked a bottle of Spaten Oktoberfest, and it does say "malt liquor". So I guess that's it.

homebrewer_99 said:

...Especially the part where it reads that a Mass (1 liter mug) should not cost more than 1 pfennig (penny)!

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I am mputting out a call for enforcement! I may have a work trip to Bavaria in early November (woot!) and I know I still have a bunch of pfennigs gathering dust!

SteveM said:

I am mputting out a call for enforcement! I may have a work trip to Bavaria in early November (woot!) and I know I still have a bunch of pfennigs gathering dust!

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They don't use pfennigs anymore. Euros and cents now.

You may be right about the lagers and such, but Hefe Weizen is an ale and it's labeled Malt Liqueor.

Now I'm cornfuzed!

I know about the Euros - that's why I want to dump my pfennigs! Maybe someone will want them for curiosity value!

Here's something I always wondered about Genuine Draft when it came out: the whole idea behind it was that even though it came in a can or a bottle it was still supposed to taste like draft beer, right? So why do they also need to have it in kegs? What is it then-- Miller REAL genuine draft?