The problem now is that since these laws have been in place since the beginning of time, there really isn’t a German market for experimental beer (anything ‘outside the box’). Removing or appending the laws would appease some of the more daring brewers, but only a small percentage of the consumers. Even Schneider’s Hopfenweisse (which was quite good, by the way) was poorly received in Germany- and that wasn’t a far stretch.

My opinion: it’s worth the shake-up, even if it only affects a small group. Brewing innovation over the last 15-20 years in America has given way to countless new styles and techniques, and expanded the market share of the craft brew industry there. The trends will catch on eventually in other countries too, if the laws allow. I, for one, would love to see a German Double Chocolate Stout.

Anyhow, great writing. I’ll be adding a link to your site, feel free to do the same should you see fit. Cheers.

What follows is a brief retort — in the form of an example from a bad movie — on this comment: “It points to the power of belief at the expense of reason, the propensity for people to feel when they could instead think. It restrains progress and inhibits learning, endangering our development as a species.”

Regrettably, the movie is I, Robot. There is a point at which Will Smith’s character is talking to his love-interest about what had happened to his arm, during which he relates the story of how a robot opted to save him instead of a little girl because it had calculated his chances of survival to be greater than hers.

I’m all about logic — hell, that’s what I do. But sometimes, the “human condition” wins out because of irrational decisions, not in spite of them. The right decision would have been to save the girl.

Logical reasoning is only infallible in a strictly logical system. I am yet to be convinced that we (humans) have that.

Plus, if the damn thing would have just saved the girl I wouldn’t have had to endure that awful movie.