Some drinkers might choose their beer on the fruity flavour or the promise of a hint of spice. But while including pumpkin in the kettle or adding ginger to a recipe is fine by most brewers, in Bavaria it’s not. For 500 years, Bavaria’s beer purity law, known as the Reinheitsgebot, has restricted beer recipes to only the essential ingredients: barley, hops and water. While technologies have improved and there have been some amendments to the law – yeast and wheat, for instance, were permitted into the recipe at later dates – the country is not likely to remove this cultural cornerstone anytime soon.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20161027-how-pure-is-the-beer-in-germany
