Bitburger and maltsters bicker over prices

This year Germany’s brewers face a deficit of one million tons of malt. Prices for malt have already more than doubled. An angry Bitburger brewer apparently challenged maltsters by saying: “we have other ways ….” When his threat was leaked to the press, Bitburger was forced to reaffirm its commitment to the German Reinheitsgebot.

Of course, it was all hearsay and allegations. But the brewer who purportedly said that he was prepared to use adjuncts such as rice and maize was no other than Axel Simon, a brewer by training, who also happens to be one of the owners of Germany’s number three brewing group and one of the icons of traditional brewing. The severe shortage of affordable malt, caused by bad weather, seems to have redressed the balance of power between maltsters and brewers. This is why Axel Simon, when faced with a fat price hike on malt, must have lost his cool. Or why should he tell his maltsters that the Reinheitsgebot only made sense as long as it made business sense? Uuh – that was close to blasphemy. No wonder the angry maltsters grabbed a phone and told the local press that Bitburger was, err, prepared to use adjuncts. Whether Axel Simon actually said such a thing is beside the point. The question is how Bitburger would have circumvented the Reinheitsgebot when push came to shove.

Needless to add that the national press soon picked up the story – beer and sex still sell in Germany – and Bitburger was forced to state that the Reinheitsgebot had never been in question.

Dr Axel Simon, Managing Director Technology of Bitburger Braugruppe, was forced to backpaddle and re-affirm his brewery’s commitment to the Reinheitsgebot.