[rufibarbatus]

It doesn't have any hops? Well I got that wrong in my description! :-) But maybe that's why I found it so easy to drink after all.

As for whether or not it's officially a beer, I think under Brazilian law a beer is a carbonated beverage made from the fermentation of starch-based produce (heresay—so don't quote me on that). So here it officially is.

(At any rate, it's funny to think that the oldest beer recipes may be "not officially beer.")

[evilduck]

Well yeah, classification by law is different than how the industry itself describes stuff. There's lots of categorical beers that have to be sold as a malt liquor by law in certain states of the US due to high ABV percentages. For example, Oklahoma I think classifies beer at 4.2% ABV, and most styles of beer can approach 6% ABV and still stay within the guidelines, so basically every DFH product is legally "not beer" in that state.

There's also not an official industry group that I'm aware of that enforces and standardizes what breweries can call their product, the style guidelines are for judging purposes and consumer expectations. There's nothing stopping DFH from submitting Midas Touch in a "Pale Ale" or "Stout" category, but they'd surely lose and wouldn't get the increased publicity and recognition that would come with being best in class (although at this point, DFH has a big enough following and reputation that it matters less now than when they were smaller).