1st Kulmbach Beer Law Conference at the Bavarian Brewery Museum

Dr Reinhardt, you are organising the premiere beer law event for the Food Law research group. How did the idea of the Beer Law Day come about?

Dr. Tilman Reinhardt: The idea came about - how could it be otherwise - over a glass of beer. We were guests at the Mönchshof museums with the Chair of Food Law and talking about current research topics and possible collaborations. I deal a lot with wine law. The new European plans for sustainability have enormous significance for the wine sector. Every autumn there is a "Wine Law Day" on the Mosel, where the industry, government, and research come together to discuss current legal and political issues. I asked whether Kulmbach would not be the right place to organise a similar event on the subject of beer. The Mönchshof Museums and the Kulmbacher Brewery immediately supported the idea. We quickly went on to involve other institutions as well. The response was very good everywhere. Especially the Bavarian Brewers' Association and the Nutrition Cluster got very involved.

Dr. Helga Metzel: Yes - our board at Kulmbacher Brauerei AG immediately took up this fascinating idea. We then got involved in the planning and organisation straight away, together with our other partners, it was such an exciting project. Mönchshof with its museums - especially the Bavarian Brewery Museum - represents the topic of food and food culture per se. In fact, the very purpose of the Museums Association is to preserve and cultivate food culture. No tradition means no future - in this respect, the 1st Kulmbach Beer Law Day offers the perfect platform for exchanging views on the challenges and the future of beer law - in the setting of the historic "Kulmbacher Mönchshof".

Prof. Richard Balling: Beer stands for Bavaria like no other foodstuff. This is what Bavaria is known for around the world, for its Bavarian Purity Law, for the Oktoberfest, for Bavarian beer as one of the most important EU-protected specialities. It is part of our lived, festive culture everywhere in the Free State of Bavaria - and it is not entirely by chance that the first Kulmbach Beer Law Day ends on the eve of Kulmbach Beer Week! Thus, significant trends in the German beer market were and still are set in Bavaria: wheat beer has its home in Bavaria, and it is from Bavaria that the pale lager began its triumphal march around the country and beyond. In the difficult environment of recent years, the Bavarian brewing industry has been able to position itself better and profit, especially in exports. And the Kulmbach Beer Law Day will make Bavaria's claim to competence in the field loud and clear.

You are targeting the conference at interested parties from the brewing industry, beverage technology, the beverage trade, and research. What is the objective behind addressing this large and quite heterogeneous target group?

Dr. Reinhardt: The Beer Law Day offers a forum for an informed dialogue between government, research, and industry: What needs to happen to realize the European sustainability goals? What is possible? What has worked in other areas? Only in this way can meaningful rules emerge. The programme will involve many perspectives and thus hopefully create added value for all stakeholders. Our aim is to let relevant experts from government, research, and industry present their perspective, e.g. the ministries at federal and state level, and members of the Bundestag and the European Parliament who are involved in the relevant expert committees. Walter König is deals with many of the issues involved on a daily basis, as Managing Director of the Bavarian Brewers' Association, the Malting Barley Association, and the Society for Hop Research. Meanwhile, Prof. Kai Purnhagen, Chair of Food Law in Kulmbach, is helping to develop the new regulations on sustainability in food law as the German representative on the EU Commission's Council of Experts. And there are many more interesting contributions.

Prof. Balling: Today, more than ever, it is about seeing "the whole picture". And the thematic focus on "sustainability" is a cutting-edge and highly appropriate framework for this. Sustainability is increasingly becoming a basic criterion for credibility and for a "good product". In Bavaria, craft and entrepreneurial know-how in beer is complemented by a strong raw material base. For instance, Hopfen aus der Hallertau g.g.A. is one of the world market leaders in hops, and Spalt Spalter g.U. is a speciality that is an example of special competence in raw materials. Bavarian malting barley - in combination with a strong Bavarian malting industry - is a second important basis that together make Bavarian beer such a force. Only from the outside do you sometimes recognise the strength that such an alliance provides. And this overall view is in turn the basis for true sustainability. Hence my appeal is that, regarding Bavarian beer, these character-giving raw materials should be given the place they deserve - especially from the point of view of sustainability.

What is the focus of the event in terms of content?

Dr. Reinhardt: The substantive focus is on the changes in agricultural and food law brought about by the Green Deal and the EU's Farm to Fork strategy. The EU wants to fundamentally transform the entire food system. What does this mean for the individual sectors? What specific changes are on the horizon? Which processes are perhaps already underway? At first glance, the European Green Deal does not raise the existential questions for the brewing sector that it does for meat production, for example. Nevertheless, there will be new regulations in every single area, from raw material production to trade and marketing.

Dr. Metzel: During a special tour of the Bavarian Brewery Museum, one or the other idea is sure to be born that will inspire the key players in finding solutions to the upcoming topics. Finally, the individual departments of the Bavarian Brewery Museum form the historical context of the topics that will be discussed at the 1st Kulmbach Beer Law Day. No yesterday means no tomorrow.

Prof. Balling: A large number of regulations will be revised, supplemented, or newly formulated by the Green Deal and Farm to Fork programmes. Actively accompanying this update, helping to shape it where possible, and facilitating its implementation for the brewing industry - that will be a real challenge. The Beer Law Day will be an important step in this direction. The fact that the University of Bayreuth, with its widely recognised competence in food law, is addressing this together with the industry, here at the new campus in Kulmbach, the beer city: top marks!

Are you aiming more at the lawyers or at the technicians in these fields?

Dr. Reinhardt: We address all those who have an interest in how the legal framework will develop in the future. When it comes to specific questions, technicians are often the better lawyers. They understand the subject matter best. As a lawyer, you are more of a generalist. For us, it is important to have an overview of the entire system, not to neglect any aspect, and to establish parallels to other regulatory areas. In the end, we want everyone involved to have a better understanding of where we are going. What is in store for the industry? What, if anything, still needs to be worked on? Perhaps there are also points where policy-makers need to ask themselves whether they are going in the right direction. And for us as academics, it is relevant where there is a concrete need for research.

How many participants do you expect?

Dr. Metzel: We are currently no longer bound by coronavirus requirements, but shall still act in a very forward-looking and mindful way. Our lecture hall in the Museum Educational Centre - MUPÄZ - can accommodate up to 70 people. Of course, we will also use our area for the evening "beer get-together" to enable an informal exchange of ideas and experience between speakers and participants. As Tilman Reinhardt said at the beginning - special ideas and solutions are often born "over a beer".

What do you wish for this first meeting of the parties involved?

Dr. Reinhardt: I hope that a real dialogue will take place and that concrete ideas for cooperation in the future will emerge. For participants who stay overnight, we will organise a guided tour of the new campus in Kulmbach on Saturday morning, 30 July 2022, where we will present the different research areas. And then, of course, we are looking forward to visiting the opening of Kulmbach Beer Week together.

Dr. Metzel: We hope that all participants will first of all feel at home at Kulmbacher Mönchshof. We will feel satisfied with the 1st Kulmbach Beer Law Day if the professional input and the discussions are so fruitful that a 2nd Kulmbach Beer Law Day is scheduled for the future. Then we will all have done a good job, and written another piece of beer and brewing history at a historic location.

Prof. Balling: I hope for an open, active engagement with the topic, good discussions, and inspiration - beyond the daily business. The critical points should be addressed openly. We hope to find approaches for solutions to these new challenges and to take home inspiration for our own work. And last but not least, existing contacts are to be cultivated and new ones made.

A question for you personally: What do you think is special about the 1st Kulmbach Beer Law Day?

Dr. Reinhardt: It is the first major conference that we are physically organising at the new University location in Kulmbach. In this respect, I am, of course, first of all excited that everything is working out. I'm also pleased about the pleasant and constructive cooperation with the other participants who don't come from academia. That shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Moreover, we are very pleased to be able to spend a day not only focusing on the brewing industry in terms of science and practice, but also host stakeholders from all over Europe.

Prof. Balling: Living cooperation and daring to do something new - with a real outlook for the future: that's good for the University of Bayreuth, good for Kulmbach, and good for Bavarian beer.

Are you planning more Beer Law Days?

Dr. Reinhardt: Yes, it ought to become an annual event here in Kulmbach. In the future, we would like to become even more international and include neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic and Belgium. Beer law is also relevant there and an exchange of ideas and experience would certainly be inspiring for everyone involved. There are certainly enough topics – for example, health, advertising, deposit systems, taxes, or the development of catering law. The Beer Law Day is also a first step towards establishing an institute for the law of alcoholic beverages here in Kulmbach. I believe that alcohol - with all its bright and dark sides - is a topic that affects all disciplines here at the new campus in Kulmbach: from biochemistry to neuroscience and psychology, to behavioural economics, the sociology of nutrition, and public health.