Does Reinheitsgebot apply to the beer brewed by the Egyptians three thousand years ago? I'm not sure why we need purity laws now that we have ingrediants listed on the labels. If you only want barley, hops, yeast and water then read the bottle and buy accordingly.

As far as I know Rob - the only Germans who put fruit in their beers are a few weak beers served in and around the Berlin area. I traveled all over Bavaria and Austria and never once saw any fruit even close to a stein of beer. If you had to ask a Bavarian (that's where the Reinheitsgebot came from) they would probably turn their nose up at Belgian beers because of all of the exotic ingredients. If you want fruit, eat fruit. Just like bad wine can be covered up and sold by fortifying it - beer with all kinds of spices and fruits can mask bad flavors. That's why the law was created. Like the French are with defining foods, Germans are equally strict about defining beer.

Come on Rob people didn't know what yeast was in 1516. That's like complaining that Ford forgot to put seatbelts in the Model T.

It's a German based rule and for German style beers it has a total validity, that said beyond those beers the rules change entirely.

I am of similar ilk who used to believe in only Reinheitsgetbot in brewing, but as a homebrewer I expanded my perspective and it has opened my eyes to a great world with other grains, sugars, spices, and ingredents. That said when I brew German style I brew to Reinheitsgetbot.

Rob wrote, "So I say it is okay to drink fruit beer, as long as it is good beer. Agree?"

Yes, I agree. Drink what you like.

bryanintimonium wrote, "beer with all kinds of spices and fruits can mask bad flavors."

But I've heard brewers say just that about hops. Just because something can mask bad flavors doesn't mean it is masking bad flavors.

I'm no fan of fruit in beer, but that's me.

Drink what you like.

bryanintimonium is right when he says that Bavarians and Austrians don't put lemon slices in their beer. That's just another way we can spot American tourists and make fun of them.

I remember when I was in Bavaria you could buy a mixture of lemonade and beer (a shandy, essentially, but with a German name I don't remember and probably couldn't pronounce).

This seems to provide another backdoor for Germans to drink fruited beer.

For the record, I drank a pre-bottled Shandy last night from Leinenkugel. It was OK. One is all you really need. Pretty sweet.

Grant, the beer and lemon soda mix is called a Radler, unless the beer is a wheat beer/Weizen, in which case it's called a Ruß.

For a great dissection of the Reinheitsgebot (entitled, rather objectively, "Why I think the Reinheitsgebot is a bunch of old bollocks" by European beer writer Ron Pattinson, click here:
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/reinheit.htm

Ron's site is essential for any visitor to Europe who wants to find good beer. He is also an encyclopedic source of beer history and lore.
Prost,
Volker