Does smoking grains violate Reinheitsgebot?

Does smoking grains violate Reinheitsgebot?

 

No... Look at Rauchbier

 

Pretty certain it doesn't. Rauchbier is a distinctively German beer, and it still sticks to the main ingredients

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Not if you don't inhale.

 

LOL!

 

No, neither is using acidulated malt (it was invented because of the purity law).

 

Hopefully this was just one of those curiosity things and not a reflection on actually giving a [email protected] about archaic laws that were actually promulgated for tax reasons...

Cheers!

 

I was curious because I heard a German brewer saying that they can't even force carbonate because that violates the purity laws ... which I find absurd. But it got me thinking. Plus, my home brewing club is having a competition that is following Reinheitsgebot rules, and I'm trying to figure out what I can legitimately get away with :fro:

 

Carry on then! And good luck with the competition

 

Let me ask someone about the CO2 thing. It's like acidulated malt. Lactic acid is naturally found on grains so adding more via acidulated malt is allowed. I would think the same applies to CO2 being a yeast byproduct. Plus, how would you carbonate a Pilsner. The lack of trub in bottles for Pilsners would indicate that they are not naturally carbonated.

Also, there are 2 versions of the Reinheitsgebot. The Bayrischen version allows wheat to be used while the original does not.

But to answer your question, no. It doesn't violate the RHG.

 

Many German brewers use spundig devices to naturally carbonate during fermentation. The beer can then be lagered until naturally clear or could also be filtered.

 

I was thinking that too but I would imagine that you would lose a lot of carbonation during filtering.

 

There is no such thing as "the" Reinheitsgebot. There were a number of historic local beer laws, and there is a current German beer law that does not prescribe purity (unless you think that using Polyvinylpolypyrrolidon is purity). Force carbonation of beer is legal as long as the CO2 used is a fermentation byproduct. If you use other CO2, you're still allowed to do it, but you will have to sell it as "alcoholic malt beverage" or any other name that is not beer instead.

 

Depends on the type of filter. I have operated several types of DE filters and about half of them filter totally under pressure. As long as there is counter pressure in the receiving vessel, little to no carbonation should be lost.

 

Before gas and electric dryers, grain was heated over fires fueled directly by wood, charcoal or peat. Sometimes, smoked grain was just how it came out. It was done on purpose, too. People knew how to build fires without a lot of smoke, and how to keep the smoke off the grain, but sometimes, smoked was just the way it turned out. So, no. I don't think it would violate any German beer law.

 

Between those old methods and the new ones, they used coke. I read in on the Beer Advocate site that coke drying in England is probably how we got pale malt to begin with.

 

Actually, my understanding is that there was a law that we call THE Reinheitsgebot, but it was a Bavarian law that was not generally applied to all of Germany until there was actually a unified nation state called Deutschland after 1870 when the Prussians basically took over the whole shooting' match including the Kingdom of Bavaria. That may have been the deal that the Wittelsbach family cut with the Hohenzollerns. You guys get to be Kaiser, but we get to run the beer racket and build fairy tale castles for the tourists.

 

Someone has to say this and get it over with... the suspense was killing me.

What if you don't exhale?

 

10 minutes of that and you won't care what boat you violate.

 

I think you can force carbonate with CO2 but it must be CO2 that you captured from your brewing process. You can't just go out and buy it.

 

You can't really do such a competition without defining your interpretation of Reinheitsgebot. E.g.:

1. Can you add minerals like CaSO4 and CaCl to your water? If not, you'd probably end up buying RO/Distilled then blending with your filtered tap water, which is a bit silly.

2. Can you acidify with lactic/phosphoric acid? If not, you'd have to use acidulated malt.

3. How about finings like Irish Moss, on the basis that they settle out?

4. Can you force carbonate?

5. Is wheat permitted?