Current legislation:  Decree No. 2314, dated September 4, 1997

Beers:  Chapter II, Section I.

• Regulates Law No. 8918, dated July 14, 1994, which determines standardization, classification, registration, inspection, production and verification of drinks.
• Article 64, §2 – Part of the barley malt can be replaced by malted or unmalted cereals and by transformed or untransformed carbohydrates of vegetable origin, being established that:
  • a) the cereals referred to in this Article are barley, rice, wheat, rye, corn, oats and sorghum, all whole, in flocks or their amylaceous part;
  • e) the cereals or their by-products shall be used in accordance with the classification of the beer as regards the proportion of barley malt, by weight, over the primitive extract, as established in this Regulation;
  • f) transformed carbohydrates are those derived from the amylaceous part of cereals obtained through enzymatic transformations.
• Article 66.  Beers are classified:
  • I – as regards the primitive extract;
  • II – as regards color;
  • III – as regards alcoholic content;IV – as regards the proportion of barley malt in:
    • a) pure malt beer, which has one hundred percent barley malt, by weight, over the primitive extract, such as a sugar source:
    • b) beer, which has a proportion of barley malt greater than or equal to fifty percent, by weight, over the primitive extract, such as a sugar source;
    • c) beer with the vegetable’s name predominant placed, which has a proportion of barley malt greater than twenty percent and less than fifty percent, by weight, over the primitive extract, such as a sugar source.
  • V – as regards fermentation.