German. Beer. These two words just seem to go together. Beer makes us think of bratwurst, Oktoberfest, crazy drunken Germans in leiderhosen, beer steins, and so on. And German beer tastes great! Even many of the popular US beers, Busch for example, are from original recipes brought to America from Germany. According to Wikipedia, only the Irish and the Czechs drink more beer than the Germans.

But did you know that (most) German beer is also (relatively) good for you?

By law, domestic German beer can only contain water, hops, barley-malt, and yeast (top-fermenting beers (ales) can use sugar as well). This Reinheitsgebot (order of purity ) dates back to 1516 and is one of the main reasons that Germany makes such great beer. No artificial anything, no additives, just natural stuff, fermented as nature intended.

Compare that to Guiness and other British beers/ales, and many wines, which use isinglass (fish bladders!), egg whites, gelatin, or other various things to refine them. Yuck. This is really bad for people who are trying to be vegan (refraining from eating or using any animal products). Of course, if you’re a vegan, you should stay away from white sugar (used in some drinks, and in ale), which is bleached by being filtered through charred animal bones (yuck…makes you think twice, doesn’t it?)

So, for great-tasting, high-quality, vegan beer, get on a plane to Germany, pop open a bottle of Beck’s, OR even better, brew your own from home! That way you know exactly what you’re drinking.

Drink safe, and don’t drink and drive, please!