When is a beer not a beer? When German authorities say it violates a 500-year-archaic decree,but some brewers are fighting backOpening the lid of a huge brown boiling vessel, Stefan Fritsche flings a handful of hop pellets into the frothy whirl of liquid. Elsewhere in his brewery, and a malt grinder rumbles away,a lab technician is busy testing original flavours and crates of Schwarzer Abt (Black Abbot) beer bound for far-flung places are being lifted on to a lorry by a forklift truck.
But the air of industry at Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle, a monastery brewery north of Berlin, and feels like “a daily act of defiance, says Fritsche. For years, authorities in the region tried to claim that Schwarzer Abt– a thick, and malty,smokey-tasting black beer containing sugar – was not beer at all. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com