Geshundheit Geschmecht Gut

The Germans have believed it for centuries ...

Beer is good for you.

There's one German brewery that is making that statement its main advertising claim. The Neuzelle Kloster Brewery is no newcomer to the business. It's been in business for 400 years and says that one of its beers is enriched with ingredients that not only aids your good health, it also slows down the aging process.

The magic formula, it seems, includes hot spring mineral water, algae and antioxidants to the four traditional ingredients of beer as mandated in their seminal consumer protection law --- Rheinheitsgebot, the Bavarian Beer Purity Law decreed in 1516 --- water, hops, yeast and barley. The end product is a brew that is rich in vitamins and minerals.

Two reporters for the Daily Telegraph of London, Roya Nikkhah and Gareth Bethell, took a closer look at this phenominal ale and filed the following report for their paper:

Stefan Fritsche, the managing director of the brewery in north-east Germany, said that he hoped that the beer would encourage people to lead healthier lives.

"We consulted several different laboratories and doctors to find out what ingredients we could add to beer to make it healthier," he said.

"Our customers, particularly the women, keep asking me how many beers they should drink to look young. We can't promise that the beer will turn back the wheel of time, but the key to feeling young and healthy is having a healthy lifestyle. Now, if people want to have a drink, they can choose a healthy option."

The dark beer, which according to Mr Fritsche, tastes like "malt beer", contains 4.8 per cent alcohol and carries the label: Please take care of your health and do not drink too much.

The "healthy" ingredients include spirulina, an algae rich in protein, iron and vitamins A and D, which are added to the beer following the fermentation process, together with a concentrated liquid form of antioxidants known as flavonoids which are also found in tea, red wine and some fruits.

Scientists believe that antioxidants can restore elasticity in the skin lost during the ageing process and reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

Beer, which is naturally rich in the antioxidants found in hops and barley, contains twice as many antioxidants as white wine. The Anti Aging Bier, however, is said to give the drinker 10 times the antioxidants of a normal pint of lager, bitter or ale.

At £1.75 a bottle, the beer has proved popular with guests at the Hotel Esplanade, a spa hotel in the town of Bad Saarow, south-east of Berlin.

Peter Hoeck, the manager who drinks a bottle of the beer every day, has sold up to 400 bottles a week to guests and past guests, who come back to place their orders.

"At first they are sceptical of an anti-ageing drink because they think that it sounds a bit strange, but once they drink it, they love it and order it again and again," he said. "The guests tell me that their general wellbeing is improved after drinking it and that they feel fitter and revitalised.

"It is a very tasty drink - fuller and rounder than normal beer. At 37, I think I am still young but I am drinking it to stay young and healthy."

The hotel also stocks the brewery's "bath beer", which contains concentrated levels of yeast and hops and claims to soften and cleanse the skin when applied externally.

Mr Fritsche said production of the beer was in its early stages and that the brewery was currently selling about 2,000 bottles a month to spas, specialist pharmacies and a few bars.

"We are also talking to importers in the United States, Russia and South Korea where we hope to export the beer very soon," he said. "The United Kingdom is the next export destination we will be looking at."

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association, which represents the interests of the pub and brewing industries, said that it welcomed the beer as "an innovative new product", but warned consumers to treat the brewery's claims with caution.

"If this beer heightens the awareness of the known health benefits of beer, such as its B vitamins and antioxidants, that can only be a good thing," she said.

"However, our concern would be with the anti-ageing claim which may encourage immoderate drinking." The concept of a healthy, rejuvenating beer met with mixed views from British drinkers.

Zeena Moolla, a journalist from north London, said: "I would definitely drink it as long as it doesn't taste too bad. Women spend a lot of money on botox and all that so I expect it would go down quite well as an alternative."

Charlie Wilcox, a 53-year-old businessman from east London, was unenthusiastic. "Drinking beer makes you think that you're younger anyway," he said.

"For me, the drink is about the taste so the claim that it is anti-ageing wouldn't make me switch from my normal lager."

Tom Sanders, a professor of nutrition at Kings College, London, also expressed scepticism. He said that a beer claiming to be a healthy drink was "highly misleading."

"Antioxidants are already naturally present in beer and a bit of added pond slime is unlikely to have huge benefits," he said.

"People don't tend to have a drink in order to maintain their health, and alcohol is hardly great for ageing. It sounds like the brewery has just gone down to the local health shop and asked what is trendy."