German beer is highly diverse and an important part of Germany's culture. There are around 1300 breweries in Germany, more than in any other country. The German beer market is a bit sheltered from the rest of the world beer market by the German brewers' adherence to the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot (purity requirement) dating from 1516, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops and barley-malt. 

Many breweries worldwide adopted the Reinheitsgebot for their own beers. After its discovery, yeast became the fourth legal ingredient, though for top-fermenting beers the use of sugar is also permitted. Through this law (which since 1988 has not applied to imported beer, but is still compulsory for German brewers), beers from Germany have a good reputation for their quality. The Germans are behind only the Czechs and the Irish in their per capita consumption of beer.

While the beer market is weaker but more centralized in northern Germany (the biggest brands being Beck's, Krombacher, Veltins, Warsteiner, and Bitburger), the south has lots of very small, local breweries. The highest density of breweries in the world is found near the city of Bamberg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria. In total, there are approximately 1350 breweries in Germany producing over 5000 brands of beer. One of these breweries, the Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan (established in 725) is reputedly the oldest existing brewery in the world (brewing since 1040).100%

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