max´s forest brew orca brau x hotel forsthaus fürth

For a long time, anything was possible when it came to beer ingredients: every conceivable type of grain, herbs, spices, and all sorts of other things went into the brewing kettle, and the taste of the final product was anything but uniform and not always clearly classifiable as beer. The Bavarian Purity Law put a temporary end to this unbridled hustle and bustle in 1516. From then on – at least in Bavaria – only that which was made from the four specified basic ingredients of water, barley, hops, and yeast could be called beer. The Bavarian beer landscape was shaped by this decision until the 1990s, and it was only the craft beer movement that loosened brewers' attitudes toward unconventional ingredients. Today, Gose with cucumber, Saison with chili, or Berliner Weisse with basil are no longer uncommon, and the beer market is diverse and colorful.

One of these creations that deviates from the Bavarian Purity Law is Max's Forest Brew, created by Orca Braus in Nuremberg. In collaboration with the Hotel Forsthaus in Fürth, they created a Helles beer that, in addition to the usual ingredients, also contains spruce needles. The special raw material comes from the hotel's front garden: On the day of brewing, the young spruce shoots were picked and placed fresh in the brewing kettle. The spicy green complements the balanced aroma of the Helles beer with a hint of forest, which pairs perfectly with the robust malt and the crisp, bitter, delicately fruity hops.