Reply #9: I still think it's BS. There are many different beers that can be made...

[JVS]

before you have to start dumping fruit into the beer. Besides, although most German brewers brew from a basic canon of beer styles (usually a Helles, a Pilsner, an Export, a Dunkles, a Weizen, and a Bock) the charactaristics can vary a lot between brewers. For example the Augustiner brewery in Munich makes beer that tastes different from the Paulaner brewery in the same city even though they make the same types. It's not about making a beer that is completely different so much as it is about creating excellent executions of the various forms.