Beer History Storyline
Beer Laws and Regulation
Explore the rules governing ingredients, prices, production, taxation, licensing, geographical identity, and access to brewing.
Chronological milestones
Sources and further references are available on each individual event page.
1750 BC
The Code of Hammurabi Regulates Female Tavern Keepers
301
Diocletian’s Price Edict Sets Maximum Prices for Beer
800
The Capitulare de Villis Requires Skilled Brewers for the Royal Court
1266
The Assize of Bread and Ale Regulates English Ale Prices
June 26, 1364
Charles IV Authorizes a Tax on Hopped Beer in Utrecht
August 17, 1397
Utrecht Prohibits Selling Kuit as Hamburg Beer
1415
Neuhaus Receives Brewing and Serving Rights
November 30, 1487
Duke Albrecht IV Issues the Munich Brewing Ordinance
April 23, 1516
The Bavarian Beer Regulation of 1516 Is Issued
1538
Spalt’s Hop Seal Is First Documented
August 3, 1548
Wilhelm IV Grants the Degenberg Wheat-Beer Privilege
1553
Bavaria Prohibits Summer Brewing
March 23, 1601
Jan Ostroróg Grants New Statutes to Grodzisk’s Maltsters and Brewers
1603
Cologne Mandates Top-Fermented Brewing
1609
Hannover Recognizes the Brewers’ Guild as an Independent Legal Entity
1616
Bavaria Revises Its Brewing Rules in 1616
1751
Paulaner Receives Permission to Serve Its Festival Beer
August 6, 1798
Bavaria Abolishes the Wheat-Beer Monopoly
January 4, 1812
Bavaria Legalizes Public Beer Gardens
1820s
Early Oktoberfest Rules Reserve Beer Service for Munich
1822
Russia Restricts British Ale Imports but Continues to Admit Porter
July 23, 1830
The Beerhouse Act Liberalizes Beer Sales in England
June 2, 1851
Maine Enacts the Maine Law
April 21, 1855
Chicago’s Lager Beer Riot Challenges Nativist Liquor Enforcement
1868
Bavaria Fully Abolishes the Summer Brewing Ban
August 10, 1872
The Licensing Act Tightens Pub Regulation
August 12, 1880
The Free Mash Tun Act Reshapes British Beer Taxation
May 24, 1893
The Anti-Saloon League Is Founded
March 1896
Salvator Becomes a Protected Trademark
1900
Japan Prohibits Unlicensed Household Alcohol Brewing
June 3, 1906
The German Brewing Tax Law Standardizes Brewing Rules
1908
Natal’s Native Beer Act Enables Municipal Beer Monopolies
1916
Colonial Korea’s Liquor Tax Ordinance Restricts Home Brewing
August 29, 1919
The Vandervelde Law Restricts Belgian Alcohol Sales
January 17, 1920
National Prohibition Takes Effect in the United States
May 1929
Pauline Sabin Organizes Women for Prohibition Reform
1932
English Hop Growers Establish the Hops Marketing Board
1933
Repeal-Era States Build the American Three-Tier Distribution System
April 7, 1933
The Cullen–Harrison Act Brings Legal Beer Back
December 5, 1933
National Prohibition Ends in the United States
August 29, 1935
The Federal Alcohol Administration Act Reshapes the US Beer Market
October 24, 1945
Czechoslovakia Begins Nationalizing Its Brewing Industry
January 3, 1946
Poland’s Nationalization Law Targets Large Breweries
September 1949
Dai-Nippon Beer Is Divided into Asahi and Nippon Breweries
October 14, 1978
Jimmy Carter Signs the Federal Homebrewing Exemption
December 22, 1981
Germany Introduces Best-Before Dates for Beer
December 28, 1983
Belgium Repeals the Vandervelde Law
June 25, 1985
Cologne Breweries Adopt the Kölsch Convention
March 12, 1987
The European Court Rejects Germany’s Beer Import Restrictions
January 1, 1988
Nigeria’s Barley-Malt Import Ban Accelerates Sorghum Brewing Research
December 1989
Britain’s Beer Orders Restrict Large Brewery Tied Estates
December 19, 1989
Britain Introduces the Beer Orders
January 17, 1990
Court Upholds Oktoberfest’s Restriction to Munich Breweries
1995
South Korea Ends the Crackdown on Alcohol Brewed for Household Use
November 21, 1997
Traditional Lambic and Gueuze Terms Receive European Protection
November 25, 1997
Kölsch Receives European PGI Protection
July 18, 1998
Munich Beer Receives European Protection
March 1, 2002
The European Union Registers Sahti as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed
June 1, 2002
Progressive Beer Duty Supports Small British Breweries
2005
Echter Zoigl vom Kommunbrauer Becomes a Registered Trademark
February 24, 2005
Neuzelle Wins the Right to Market Schwarzer Abt as Beer
November 6, 2008
České pivo Receives European Protection
January 22, 2013
The EU General Court Rules in the “BUD” Trademark Dispute
July 1, 2013
Homebrewing Becomes Legal in All 50 US States
August 25, 2016
Italy Legally Defines Birra Artigianale
March 14, 2025
South African Regulations Define Traditional African Beer