The Bitburger brewery group brews the “Benediktiner Hell” in the Hessian Licher brewery. It is advertised with the Bavarian monastery Ettal. A court must now decide whether this is a deception of origin.
Dcan a beer that is brewed in Hesse be advertised with the image of a Bavarian monastery? The judges at the Munich District Court have to deal with this question. According to the court, the warning association “Central Office for Combating Unfair Competition” has against the Hessian brewery Lich sued for injunctive relief. The accusation: The Licher brewery, which belongs to the Bitburger brewing group, gives the consumer the misleading impression that it is a beer brewed in Bavaria by advertising its “Benedictine beer” with a reference to the Benedictine monastery in Ettal.
In fact, the bottled beer is brewed in Hesse, according to the statement from the Munich I Regional Court. The brewery has previously defended itself against the allegation of deception of origin. The Bitburger Group has been cooperating with the Bavarian Benedictine monastery in Ettal since 2014. Together with the monastery, the company Benediktiner Weißbräu GmbH was founded for the beer, based in Ettal. However, because the beer is brewed in the Hessian Licher brewery, the monastery had to put up with the accusation from Bavarian Radio earlier that the beer was a “cheat pack”.
The monks and the brewery fight back. Cooperations are completely normal in the industry. The beer is brewed on the basis of a contract with the Ettal Benedictine monastery according to the monks’ original recipe. “The monks personally monitor compliance with the Benedictine principles,” says an older communication from the Bitburger brewery group. The judges plan to announce their verdict on July 14.