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German brewers warn fracking could hurt beer industry
REUTERS ^ | MAY 23, 2013 | MADELINE CHAMBERS

Posted on 05/23/2013 1:35:09 PM PDT by rickmichaels

BERLIN - German brewers have warned Chancellor Angela Merkel's government that any law allowing the controversial drilling technique known as fracking could damage the country's cherished beer industry.

The Brauer-Bund beer association is worried that fracking for shale gas, which involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure into the ground, could pollute water used for brewing and break a 500-year-old industry rule on water purity.

Germany, home to Munich's annual Oktoberfest - the world's biggest folk festival which attracts around 7 million visitors - has a proud tradition of brewing and beer drinking.

Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.

"The water has to be pure and more than half Germany's brewers have their own wells which are situated outside areas that could be protected under the government's current planned legislation on fracking," said a Brauer-Bund spokesman.

"You cannot be sure that the water won't be polluted by chemicals so we have urged the government to carry out more research before it goes ahead with a fracking law," he added.

Germany is Europe's biggest producer of beer and has the third-largest per-capita consumption after the Czech Republic and Austria.

It is home to more than 1,300 breweries which produce about 5,000 different beers, enough for a drinker to try a new beer for 13.5 years, according to the Brauer-Bund.

With pressure mounting from German industry to at least look into the option of tapping its shale gas reserves, Merkel's center-right coalition is working on a law setting out the conditions for exploration that would protect certain areas.

Given resistance from opposition parties which could block the law in the upper house of parliament, it is unlikely that a law on fracking will be passed before an election in September.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany
KEYWORDS: energy; hydrofrac; naturalgas; oil
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1 posted on 05/23/2013 1:35:09 PM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: rickmichaels

Das ist gerade dumm!


2 posted on 05/23/2013 1:36:56 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: rickmichaels

No problem . I really hate Beer , Blah


3 posted on 05/23/2013 1:37:35 PM PDT by molson209
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To: rickmichaels

Good to know the USA doesn’t have a monopoly on idiots.


4 posted on 05/23/2013 1:39:30 PM PDT by IMR 4350
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To: rickmichaels
Under the "Reinheitsgebot", or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water.

Technically, under the Reinheitsgebot, Budweiser isn't beer since it contains rice.

5 posted on 05/23/2013 1:42:00 PM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: rickmichaels

They did not invent beer.

THEY PERFECTED IT!...............


6 posted on 05/23/2013 1:42:46 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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To: molson209

American beer really is Blah.

Try some gute German Beer!......


7 posted on 05/23/2013 1:43:36 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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To: rickmichaels

I agree with Reinheitsgebot......


8 posted on 05/23/2013 1:44:12 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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To: Red Badger
Mrs. GBC prefers Leffe over Warsteiner as far as European imports go.

No great loss to us.

9 posted on 05/23/2013 1:44:47 PM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,)
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To: rickmichaels

What the frack!


10 posted on 05/23/2013 1:44:48 PM PDT by 353FMG ( I do not say whether I am serious or sarcastic -- I respect FReepers too much.)
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To: Resolute Conservative

Not much of a beer drinker, but a friend of mine is serious when it comes to German beer; so much so, that fell into a bit of depression when Becks became a “Product of USA”.


11 posted on 05/23/2013 1:44:53 PM PDT by eaglescout1998
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To: IMR 4350

Germans really take their beer seriously........


12 posted on 05/23/2013 1:45:15 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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To: rickmichaels
"You cannot be sure that the water won't be polluted by chemicals so we have urged the government to carry out more research before it goes ahead with a fracking law," he added.

How many decades of use are required to demonstrate it's safe usage. I guess six isn't enough for some.

13 posted on 05/23/2013 1:46:16 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Red Badger

Trappist monks might have something to say about that.


14 posted on 05/23/2013 1:46:55 PM PDT by Yogafist
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To: thackney

Was hoping you’d weigh in on this...


15 posted on 05/23/2013 1:47:00 PM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,)
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To: Red Badger
Germans really take their beer seriously........

But not their economy.

16 posted on 05/23/2013 1:47:18 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: rickmichaels

17 posted on 05/23/2013 1:48:35 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: gov_bean_ counter

There are 4,999 beers on the call.......


18 posted on 05/23/2013 1:48:58 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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To: Red Badger

Yeah, but I can only get a couple different brands at the local Publix or Kroger.


19 posted on 05/23/2013 1:50:00 PM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,)
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To: Yogafist

They make some of the best beers!.......


20 posted on 05/23/2013 1:50:01 PM PDT by Red Badger (Want to be surprised? Google your own name......Want to have fun? Google your friend's names........)
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