Oldest brewery, biggest beer festival: Germany is the land of world beer records

From the oldest brewery to the biggest beer festival, Germany can lay claim to a stein full of beer records. - Photo: 2006 AFP filepic

Water, malt, hops, yeast - no more: These are the ingredients used to make beer in according to Germany's famous purity law dating back to April 23, 1516.

Use any more ingredients, and what you're brewing isn't strictly beer, purists in Germany would argue.