It’s the first Friday for September (already!) so that means it’s time for The Session, the monthly beer blogging event that pulls in bloggers from all over the web to write on a common topic.

This month’s topic comes from the lootcorp 3.0 blog: Deutsches Bier:

In honor of the start of Oktoberfest, I’ve decided to make September’s topic Deutsches Bier – German beer. I want you all to focus on the wonderful contributions our German neighbors have made to the beer world. You can write about a particular German style you really enjoy, a facet of German beer culture which tickles your fancy, or any other way in which Germany and beer have become intertwined in your life. Bonus points for Bavarian-themed posts.

When I think of "German beer" in the context of (world) beer culture, one of the first things that come to mind is the Reinheitsgebot. I won’t go into great detail—I really couldn’t do it justice (see Wikipedia instead)—but you all know the drill: the German Beer Purity Law went into effect in 1516 and stipulated that beer could only be made from four ingredients: barley, hops, water, and yeast. (Yeast was in fact added later.)

Almost nothing says more about culture and influence in beer like the Reinheitsgebot. I mean, every beer aficianado and homebrewer today is familiar with it—and I’ve even had people who drink nothing but light American macro lagers tell me about it!

All the more remarkable, then, that Germany developed so many of the world’s defining styles, and some of the best beer in the world is German. This in spite of—or perhaps because of—the Reinheitsgebot.

…I didn’t really have a beer to drink and review this month, so as a bonus, I’m pointing to past reviews of German beers that have appeared here:

• Aventinus Weizenbock
• Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel
• Uerige Alt
• Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
• Spaten Oktoberfest
• Paulaner Oktoberfest-Märzen
• Celebrator Doppelbock