February 24, 2005
Neuzelle Wins the Right to Market Schwarzer Abt as Beer
On February 24, 2005, Germany's Federal Administrative Court ruled that Neuzelle's brewery was entitled to permission to produce and market Schwarzer Abt as beer. The brewery added invert sugar syrup to its bottom-fermented Schwarzbier after filtration, prompting a dispute over Germany's brewing requirements. The court held that the drink qualified for an exception as a "special beer." The judgment confirmed that an authorized exception to the ingredient rules could also permit the product to retain the designation "beer."
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Bundesverwaltungsgericht. Judgment of February 24, 2005, BVerwG 3 C 5.04. Primary judgment: describes the bottom-fermented Schwarzbier and invert sugar added after filtration, and establishes entitlement to permission for both production and marketing as beer under the special-beer exception.
Claus-Dieter Steyer. "Süß schmeckt der Sieg." Der Tagesspiegel, February 26, 2005. Contemporary reporting identifies Neuzelle's Schwarzer Abt, the brewery, and the court's victory in Leipzig.
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