Thirty five small German brewers visited 15 Belgian brewers at the end of 2004 to study Belgian brewing techniques. This study trip was organized by Mr. Conrad Seidl, AKA in Europe “ Bierpabst”.
The German brewers want to know why the Belgian special brews are so successful in the world. The Germans are very concerned about the lack of profitability in brewing their German Pilsners. They finally start to recognize that the famous “Reinheitsgebot” (Purety law) is hurting them.

For years, this antiquated law protected them from imports, but the result was a mono-culture, where every local German brewer brewed only one beer for its home market, tasting the same as his neighbor. All creativity, and originality was killed off over time. Result: all (or almost all) the German specialty brews were lost.
The German and Czech Pilsner beers have become so common that 90 percent of the beer consumed world wide traces its roots back to this style of beer, but it is now brewed all over the world in a quality that rivals or even surpasses the German originals.

We only hope that the Belgian brewers were not so stupid to give all their secrets away. But, then again, Belgian brewers have done more stupid things in the past.

Newsletter February - March 2005