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Free Beer

Free Beer is a beer brand collaboration between students of IT University of Copenhagen[1] and the artist collective Superflex initiated in 2004. The recipe of the beer is published under a Creative Commons license, granting others the right to freely use and distribute it.[2][3]

History

Vores Øl

In December 2004, a group of students from the IT University of Copenhagen, in partnership with Superflex, brewed a batch of beer in the university's cafeteria. The group named the beer "Vores Øl" (Danish for "Our Beer"), inspired by a 1994 Carlsberg beer advertisement slogan. They launched a website to promote the project and released the beer’s recipe and label design under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.5 license. Since cooking recipes are not protected by copyright, the share-alike licensing approach used is legally questionable and had not been tested in any court of law.

Free Beer

The developers of the beer stated that they wanted to raise awareness of the "dogmatic notions of copyright and intellectual property that are dominating our culture."[4] The group admitted to having limited experience with beer production. After the first batch of the open-source beer was brewed, Superflex continued developing the concept under the name "Free Beer" and designed a new label. Inspired by colourful aesthetics of the 1960s, it was meant to further underline the concept of freedom.[5] The name Free Beer is a play on Richard Stallman's quote about free software being “'free' as in 'free speech,' not as in 'free beer.'”[6]

Recipe

The first Vores Øl recipe drew criticism from the homebrewing community for its lack of necessary instructions.[7] Community members were concerned the recipe had not outlined how much water to use in the mash, what type of yeast to use, the style of beer being produced (other than being dark and heavy), whether or not to add any hops, what the fermentation temperature should be, or how the beer was supposed to taste.[8]

Due to the free availability of the recipe, the recipe has been changed several times. Major Free Beer recipe iterations (v3.0 and v4.0) were developed in collaboration with a Danish brewery, Skands, in Brøndby.[9][10] The amount of sugar has been decreased by 90% to improve the quality of the beer.

Derivatives

Known derivatives using the free license include:

  • Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Baiser de la Princesse (French for "The Kiss of the Princess"), in 2008.[24][25]
  • Schiltigheim, France: Affichage Libre, brewed for the 2011 edition of the Libre Software Meeting in Strasbourg.[26][27]

Reception

Free Beer has received coverage in international print and digital media.[28][29][30] The brand has been discussed in books on copyright.[31] The project been written about by figures in the free software movement, including Cory Doctorow[32] and Lawrence Lessig.[33][2] In 2005, Superflex interviewed Richard Stallman on the project.[34]

Free Beer has been distributed at technology conferences, including Summit 2008 and RMLL 2011, 2012, and 2014.[26][35] The FSCONS 2008 resulted in an ebook that featured Free Beer.[36][37] Free Beer was also exhibited in art exhibitions and museums, such as the Art Basel Miami Beach 2006, the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands in 2007, and the Taipei Biennial 2010.[38]

In 2007, a columnist writing for BeerAdvocate regarded Free Beer's licensing structure as a "great marketing gimmick," even if superfluous, remarking that "recipes are generally not copyrightable to begin with."[39]

Gallery

See also

  • OpenCola (drink)
  • Moonshine
  • Open-source software
  • Copyright

External links

References

  1. Danish students launch open source and shareware beer Copenhagen Capacity, 2004-12-30, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  2. Lessig. Free, as in Beer Wired, 2006-09-01, retrieved 2024-01-11^
  3. Jim Drobnick. Bottles of Art, Works of Alcohol Gastronomica, Winter 2018^
  4. Harewood. Danish offer a recipe for open source beer CBC Radio, 2005-07-21, retrieved 2015-06-26^
  5. Rasmus Koch. Free Beer Rasmus Koch Studio, 2007-01-01, retrieved 2015-08-24^
  6. What is Free Software? GNU Project, retrieved 2024-01-11^
  7. Free Beer That's Free as in Speech Slashdot, 2005-07-25, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  8. Free Beer That's Free as in Speech Slashdot, 2005-07-25, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  9. Photos of FREE BEER 3.0 at final production stage FREE BEER, 2006-06-09, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  10. FREE BEER VERSION 4.0 FREE BEER, 2009-10-08, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  11. FREE BEER – Performa Version FREE BEER, 2022-08-09, retrieved 2024-06-27^
  12. FREE BEER / FREE UKRAINE FREE BEER, 2022-08-09, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  13. Free Beer version 8.0 – Brewery 304 FREE BEER, 2022-05-31, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  14. FREE BEER 6.0 – The Atlantic Brew FREE BEER, 2017-10-30, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  15. SUPERFLEX ARTSPACE^
  16. FREE BEER macht sich schön für die re:publica antischokke, 2008-03-09, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  17. Free Beer BLOG BGT BIERGARTEN, 2009-01-16, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  18. Bryggeriet Skands Bryggeriet Skands, retrieved 2015-06-21^
  19. 2006 Status version 3.0 FREE BEER, 2007-01-10, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  20. Free Beer version 2.1 on the Apollo brewery in Copenhagen FREE BEER, 2006-08-01, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  21. Jay Babcock. SUPERFLEX Arthur Magazine, 2005-05-22, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  22. Jens Balzer. Wer will schon eine würdelose alte Frau? Berliner Zeitung, 2005-05-23, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  23. English info Vores ØL^
  24. 'Free Beer' et 'Le baiser de la princesse', les bières open source ! Free Tools, 2008-05-03, retrieved 2023-11-07^
  25. Le Baiser de la Princesse Le Baiser de la Princesse^
  26. RMLL has free beer (as in speech) MCLD blog, 2011-07-15, retrieved 2011-07-15^
  27. Bière Libre – Free Beer Guide Bière, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  28. Clark Boyd. 'Free' Danish beer makes a splash BBC NEWS, 2005-07-28, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  29. David Cohn. Free Beer for Geeks Wired, 2005-07-18, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  30. Kopenhagen: Studenten brauen Open-Source-Bier Der Spiegel, 2005-07-20, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  31. New Directions in Copyright Law, Volume 6 Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007, retrieved 2015-08-25^
  32. Cory Doctorow. Danish hackers launch Free Beer 3.0, with guarana Boing Boing, 2006-06-09, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  33. Lawrence Lessig. How much RMS has won Lessig, 2008-08-04, retrieved 2015-07-08^
  34. Henrik Moltke. Richard Stallman on FREE BEER SUPERFLEX, 2005^
  35. Bière Libre 13es Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre (RMLL), Genève 2012^
  36. FREE BEER book out now. FREE BEER, 2009-11-26, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  37. FREE BEER FSCONS, retrieved 2024-01-11^
  38. Cultural and Creative projects Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2010-01-13, retrieved 2024-01-12^
  39. Free Beer BeerAdvocate Magazine, BeerAdvocate, September 2007, retrieved 9 September 2025^
  40. Program Taipei Biennial, retrieved 2024-01-12^