April 23, 1516: Bavaria Cracks Down on Beer Brewers

(Wired) 1516: Two Bavarian dukes issue a decree that limits the ingredients used in brewing beer to barley, water and hops.
Referred to today as the Reinheitsgebot (purity ordinance), the decree has come to be known as a beer-purity law that was intended to keep undesirable or unhealthy ingredients out of beer. But the original text doesn’t explicitly state the reasoning behind the regulation.
An English translation of the decree simply states,”We wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be barley, hops and water.”
In fact, the main intent of the decree had more to do with bread than beer. Continued

Image: Tradecard for Wiedemann Beer: old cowboy holding glass of Wiedemann's (Library of Congress).