Bud - official beer of the World Cup...in Munich?

I thought I'd heard it all, but I read in the paper this morning that Budweiser was the official beer of the World Cup this year. They bought the sponsorship for $40M (US) even before Munich was selected as the site for the tournament. AB cut some sort of deal so that Bitberger could also be sold there to mollify the locals.

I am stunned that Bud can even be sold there - possibly it is not called "beer." I had always heard the German beer purity laws made it impossible to sell there (with one exception, noted below). What German would buy it?


Two related notes and a question - first off, if you have not seen the stadium the games will be in, take a look. If you goggle on Munich stadium, you can probably find pictures. It is an awesome sight.

Also, for years, notwithstanding the German beer purity laws, Bud was the best selling beer in Germany...because American GIs were buying it at the Exchange stores. My understanding is that this exception to the general law was allowed because it was restricted to stores on post.


Finally, does anyone know if home brewing is legal in Germany? Just curious...I mentioned to some friends there that I brew my own and they all seemed stunned, as if they had never heard of such a thing. They might just have narrow horizons in this regard though (as do many people here in the US).

Here's the link to a German homebrewer forum that I'm also a member of: http://www.hobbybrauer.de/

True, American Budweiser is confined to posts and bases. On the outside you'll find Budvar from Budweis, Czech Republic. I brought back 2 cases of the stuff when I moved back to the States 2 years ago.

I used to live 40 miles from Munich and went to concerts (Pink Floyd, ELO, Queen) at the Olympic Stadium. It's a huge place.

Bitburger is only regarded as a great beer by Pils lovers because of its hoppiness. IMHO Munich beers are much better.

We used to trade cases of Bud to our British neighbors for freezer space when we went to the commisary, and we'd get together for his homebrew, again, traded for Bud. Totally mystified me, but hey, it was cheap.

The Reinheitsgebot were officially lifted in 1987 after an EC ruling. Most German brewers still follow them, but there are many styles that fall outside of the "purity laws". Belgians, wheats, sweet stouts, etc.

david_42 said:

The Reinheitsgebot were officially lifted in 1987 after an EC ruling. Most German brewers still follow them, but there are many styles that fall outside of the "purity laws". Belgians, wheats, sweet stouts, etc.

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The Reinheitsgebot is only valid in Germany. The beers you mention aren't made there so they would not come under it anyway.

I could be mistaken, but I think the World Cup is not in the Olympic stadium, but in the new one, formerly called Allianz Arena, built specifically for soccer, located a bit north of the city right off the Autobahn.

Here is a link: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/d/s/munchen.html

OK. My bad assumption...

So I'm still confused about the German laws... I know German brewers CAN make "beer" with ingredients other than the holy four, but they can't call it "beer," right? What about "beer" like Bud that's imported into the country? Can that be called "beer" or not?

Basically, is Bud "The Official Beer of the World Cup," or "The Official Somewhat Malt-Based Alcoholic Product of the World Cup?"

money talks

the_bird said:

So I'm still confused about the German laws...

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http://www.american.edu/TED/germbeer.htm

go down to the 7th paragraph; they talk about imports to Germany...

david_42 said:

The Reinheitsgebot were officially lifted in 1987 after an EC ruling. Most German brewers still follow them, but there are many styles that fall outside of the "purity laws". Belgians, wheats, sweet stouts, etc.

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Wheats are Reinheitsgebot-able (but not the 1516 version). Wheat was added as an acceptable ingredient in the 17th century when the German nobility acquired the exclusive rights to brew wheat beers. Funny how that works...

- If it is not made according to the RHG, it cannot be called beer in Germany. Corona is sold as Corona and Budweiser will be sold ad Budweiser. If it is not beer it will als be taxed differently. Brewers can brew whatever they want and importers can import whatever they want. But they will have a hard time marketing it if they can't call it beer , that's why they have to obey the RHG.

- Yes home brewing (and even home distilling) is legal in Germany. The rules are a little bit more strict as you have to register each batch with the authorities. But E-mail to them is sufficient. That's what I gathered from the home brew forum Homebrewer_99 mentioned. And yes, I'm a member of that one too as it gives me a different view on a lot of the brewing related subjects. But home brewing doesn't seem to be as popular over there as it is here. I guess having better beer available everywhere makes a difference.

- In my opinion, Bittburger was a poor choice as the Budwiser alternative for the Wold cup. There are many better beers over there. But money rules and Bittburger is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) breweries in Germany.

Kai

Enough talk about Bud and football.IMHO they deserve each other,as they are both a watered down,pissy imitation of a beer and sport.Thank god that Rugby Union attracts neither.
As the Wychwood brewery advertizing states"scared of the dark lager boy"

Yours faithfully

An ale and rugby fan:rockin:

Kaiser said:

- In my opinion, Bittburger was a poor choice as the Budwiser alternative for the Wold cup. There are many better beers over there. But money rules and Bittburger is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) breweries in Germany.Kai

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I'm with you on that too. I think any Munich beer is better than Bitburger, but I'm not a Pils fan anyway.

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm with you on that too. I think any Munich beer is better than Bitburger, but I'm not a Pils fan anyway.

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I feel, the further north in Germany the less I like the beer. It gets drier and hoppier up there. But there are a few middle Germany Pilsners that I really like besides the Bavarian/southern Germany beers.

Kai