Beer in Ostland
Beer (Ostlandic: Bier) is, by far, the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the nation of Ostland. However, the laws, taxation and traditions surrounding the beverage make it a complex subject - often confusing natives and foreigners alike, akin to Ostland's complex system of currency.
In Ancient Ostland
The tradition of brewing beers is thought to have originated in ancient Normark, with this method of fermenting cereal grains into a drinkable alcoholic beverage having been brought with those that crossed the Strait of Haifa and settled what is now Ostland. However, Ostlanders are known to consume, on average 50% more beer per capita than their Norse cousins. This is attributed to the much longer growing season, more favorable climate and soil types for the growing of grains. As such, there is a much richer tradition surrounding the brewing and drinking of beers that has survived to this day.
Originally, the brewing of beer was the work of temple priests of whom used surplus grain that had begun to germinate and could no longer be used for the milling of flour. They used leavened bread as a source of yeast, which brewed a slightly sweet and mildly effervescent beer known as kivaßbier. This method of brewing came from an unfamiliarity with the abundance of wild yeasts and through the interaction with the Livlandic peoples along the northern seacoasts and the western Strait shores. Among the Livlanders, this beverage was known as vaasa. It would take another century after permanent settlement before the use of local, wild yeasts came into widespread use.
Once the priests had become more familiar with the wild yeasts - of which they found produced a superior beer - many began to develop ways to domesticate and cultivate cultures of these yeasts of which many strains survive to this day as erbstückhefe or heirloom yeasts. Many temples, especially those dedicated to Ägir, had specific recipes of grains, specially cultivated yeasts and methods of brewing that defined them as the first brewhouses. Many temples began to construct dedicated areas and buildings for the brewing and consumption of beer by the local populace, then known as bryggahus, which has evolved into the modern day brauhaus.
The Bierstein
The Bierstein (lit. Beer Stone) is the traditional mug in which beer is consumed in Ostland. They come in various shapes, sizes and varying levels of adornment. The most commonly seen stein is that which is used at beirgartens and brauhauses, a tall, cylindrical glass mug with a robust handle. More ornate steins, known as edelsbecher, are made of porcelain and have a metal topper which can be lowered to cover the top of the mug - these are often ornately painted and decorated, many of which are very expensive, serving as heirlooms or as extremely expensive gifts. In contrast, a common Ostlandic proverb regarding the stein indicates that the want of a quality beer far exceeds the splendor of an expensive stein, reflected by a common proverb:
It is better to drink fine beer from a cheap mug than to drink cheap beer from a fine mug.—Ostlandic proverb regarding the consumption of beer and beersteins
This particular notion stemmed from a period when the commercialization of beer-brewing first started where the quality of the beer was belied by overly fancy steins while some of the most reputable brauhauses still served their beer in plain, polished stone mugs. This created an almost gimmicky nature around ornate steins which eventually evolved into their status solely as gifts and heirlooms - whereas beer in any venue throughout Ostland is still served universally in plain glass steins. This is reflected in another common proverb:
A stein with more jewels than beer is suspicious - you have paid for the jewels, not the beer. Enjoy the beer, not the mug.—Ostlandic proverb regarding steins and their quality versus the beer it is served in.
Despite that particular notion, the crown jewels of Ostland includes a variety of very ornate steins but are often the butt of many jokes made by members of the royal family. To this day, beer at royal banquets is served in plain stone bowls.
Modern Day Beer Culture
Today there exist two distinct venues in Ostland for the consumption of beer, the brauhaus and the biergarten. While many foreigners use them interchangeably, they differ drastically in form and function. The modern-day brauhaus is a licensed brewery of beer which meets the beer purity laws established by the Royal Government. This is in contrast to a biergarten which only sells beer. Although many brauhaus facilities have venues for the sale and consumption of their products, there is both a traditional and legal distinction between the two. In some regions, a venue with only indoor accommodations is known as a bierhaus, but in official licensing documentation, they are listed as a biergarten.
Bierstunde
Bierstunde (lit. Beer Hour) is the colloquial term for the hour offered by employers as a standard meal break period in Ostland. Under the law, all Ostlanders above the legal drinking age of beer are permitted approximately 1 liter of beer during this period unless the nature of their work would prove to be a hazard to themselves and others.
Beer Purity Law
The brewing of beer for commercial sale in Ostland is a highly regulated industry with many laws regarding both its manufacture and sale. The most important of which is, by far, the beer purity laws. It is a set of laws which govern exactly what may be used in the manufacture of a beverage which may be legally considered a beer under Ostlandic law. It is a serious violation of commercial and criminal law to label any beverage for sale as a beer without proper licensing and strict adherence to these laws.
Under the law, any beverage manufactured for sale as a beer may only contain water, whole grains - be they germinated or not - a government certified yeast culture (various exceptions exist for the use of wild yeast brewed beers) and hops. Any deviation from those requirements means that the beverage may not legally be sold and marketed as a beer. Although yeasts are used to produce the beverage mead, it falls under a different category of law, including any fermented, primarily grain-based beverages which use honey either as an additive or a major secondary ingredient in the brewing recipe.
Origins
The origins of the beer purity laws start with the reign of King Gerhardt I - the third-great grandfather of Nikolaus VI - of whom was concerned about the very same proverbs regarding beer quality mentioned previously. Summoning all beer-producing priest-orders, guilds and private enterprises, it took nearly two years to finally come to the minimums which established the very first purity laws for beer. Since then, however, further refinements have been made but nothing that would otherwise constitute a significant change in the standard. Despite personal political opinions, the purity laws regarding beer are almost universally accepted by the populace of Ostland with only the interpretation of the established laws being a point of contention.
The need for such a law came into being because, at one point, it was regarded as a case of caveat emptor as to what it meant to simply buy a beer. Before the laws were enacted, a wide variety of beverages were sold as beer, even if they were never brewed with any grain at all - the worst of which was known as schwachetbier - a beverage made by using spent brewers wort, water and fermenting fruit to produce a cheap and mildly alcoholic drink. As time went on, other adulterations were added to hide the true nature of the drinks served - be they rancid, poorly brewed or not brewed at all and mixed with illicitly produced distilled spirits. To Gerhardt I, this was an affront to the culture of the Ostlandic people itself, based upon the sole motivation of profiteering off of the Ostlandic appreciation for beer. As such, in 1170 AN, the very first beer purity law was passed - establishing what can legally used to produce beer. The term pferdepisse came into use around this time, translated roughly to the crude term "horse's piss", which was used for anything served that had not met the new purity laws. This further evolved into the use of the term pisshändler (lit. piss handler) for anyone who brewed or sold anything which did not meet the standards as set by the new laws.
Debate On Source of Hops in Ostlandic Beer
There is a significant debate as to what constitutes the use of hops in the brewing of legal beer in Ostland. The letter of the law itself does not specify any requirements for the use of hops other than it may not be an artificially manufactured flavor or natural extract of the hops plant. As such, this has opened the debate amongst brewers and politicians alike as to what constitutes the use of "real hops". There is an almost equal divide as to whether or not the use of dried hops, so long as the use of additives, preservatives and pesticides are foregone, meets the guidelines established by law. The preservation of dried hops can prove to be troublesome without the use of artificial means, but not without considerable expense - in aspects both monetarily and quality wise. It allows a single, consistent product throughout the year for major producers, while many smaller producers rely on seasonal variations to their recipes as a means of profit.
There is also some debate as to whether or not the hops must be of domestic source. The primary source of this debate is the Duchy of Grünheim, the main producing region of hops within Ostland - the Duchy produces roughly 38% of all hops in the nation for both domestic use and foreign export. However, the use of both Hurmudan and Constancian strains has gained significant popularity for their flavor profiles imparted to the beer.
Following the Giftunheile, the use of hops from aggressor nations has also fallen under considerable scrutiny, with either complete unavailability or limited reserves driving the price of certain brands to all-time highs. Efforts by many Brewers' Unions (Ostlandic: Brauergewerkschaft) to domestically breed and produce these foreign strains has, in recent years, become a focus of the wider beer industry.
