A Culinary Journey through Europe

Exclusive Interview
EFJ: Well, the German purity law says that
beer should consist of barley, hops, water
and yeast.
Greg Koch: May we instead simply refer to it as
the “Reinheitsgebot” since it’s not, and never
was, a “purity law”? At Stone Brewing, 95%+
of our volume falls within the guidelines of the
Reinheitsgebot, but the flavors and character
of our beer would be considered very strong by
most German beer drinkers. We use dramatically
more hops and more barley, and our beer
is much much more expensive to brew.
Greg Koch: Yes. The conversation in Germany as
in many parts of the world has been reframed
so much with this idea of purity law. Nobody
really understands what it means. It’s just
rhetoric and is often used as an excuse to sell
you cheap beer and make you think that it is
still okay. Cheap industrial beer with a “Purity”
stamp on it is still cheap industrial beer.
EFJ: But industrial German beer is still successful.
The masses buy German beer here that is
produced by big beer companies such as the
Radeberger Group.
EFJ: It would be interesting to know about your
personal definition of purity.
Greg Koch: Purity means that we are not putting
anything into our beer that is not of high quality.
EFJ: So, have people fallen into the trap of a
German cliché?
Greg Koch: Yes, industrial beer is still the leading
style beer around the world. If Germans want
to take pride that they are drinking the same
style of industrial beer as the Chinese and the
Mexicans and the Americans, they can relax
and continue to enjoy their industrial beer. It is
not my job to convince anybody they should
drink craft beer. It’s my job to make amazing
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