Free Beer
{{short description|Open source beer}}
{{About|an open source beer||Free beer (disambiguation){{!}}Free beer}}
{{COI|date=August 2021}}
{{infobox beverage
| image = File:Freebeer english3.2.svg
| type = Beer
| manufacturer = Independent
| origin = Denmark
| introduced = 2004
| related = OpenCola (drink)
| website = https://freebeer.org
}}
Free Beer is a beer brand collaboration between students of IT University of Copenhagen{{Cite web |date=2004-12-30 |title=Danish students launch open source and shareware beer |url=http://www.copcap.com/composite-8636.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050104084130/http://www.copcap.com/composite-8636.htm |archive-date=2005-01-04 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Copenhagen Capacity }} 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.{{Cite magazine |author=Lessig |first=Lawrence |date=2006-09-01 |title=Free, as in Beer |url=https://www.wired.com/2006/09/free-as-in-beer/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite journal |last=Drobnick |first=Jim |date=Winter 2018 |title=Bottles of Art, Works of Alcohol |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26586442 |journal=Gastronomica |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=54–70 |doi=10.1525/gfc.2018.18.4.54 |issn=1529-3262 |jstor=26586442 }}File:"Free Beer".jpg
File:Superflex, Free Beer Factory, 2008 ongoing, taiwan taipeh 3.jpg at the "Free Beer Factory" event at the Taipei Biennial 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan{{Cite web |title=Program |url=https://www.taipeibiennial.org/2010/en/program.html |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Taipei Biennial }}]]
File:Isummit 2008, Japan, free beer crop.png in Japan sold for 500yen.]]
File:FREE BEER version 3.2, St Austell 2.jpg display with a "Free Beer version 3.2 St. Austell" mascot and a sign reading "Copyright is preventing access to knowledge" (2007)]]
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."{{cite news |author=Harewood |first=Adrian |date=2005-07-21 |title=Danish offer a recipe for open source beer |url=http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2005/open_source_beer_20050721.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423230451/http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2005/open_source_beer_20050721.html |archive-date=2008-04-23 |access-date=2015-06-26 |work=CBC Radio |publisher=}} 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.{{cite web |last=Koch |first=Rasmus |date=2007-01-01 |title=Free Beer |url=http://www.rasmuskoch.com/project/detail/0240_045/jInSD69996/ |access-date=2015-08-24 |website=Rasmus Koch Studio |publisher= |quote=''FREE BEER refers to information freedom, not economic freedom. [...] Designing a visual program for an idea [...] builds on a vivid and colorful reference to 60's liberation."}} 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.'”{{Cite web |title=What is Free Software? |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=GNU Project}}
= Recipe =
The first Vores Øl recipe drew criticism from the homebrewing community for its lack of necessary instructions.{{Cite web |date=2005-07-25 |title=Free Beer That's Free as in Speech |url=https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/05/07/25/0524239/free-beer-thats-free-as-in-speech |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Slashdot |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2005-07-25 |title=Free Beer That's Free as in Speech |url=https://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=156902&cid=13154412 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Slashdot |language=en}}
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.{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-06-09 |title=Photos of FREE BEER 3.0 at final production stage |url=https://freebeer.org/blog/archives/36 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=FREE BEER}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2009-10-08 |title=FREE BEER VERSION 4.0 |url=https://freebeer.org/blog/archives/154 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=FREE BEER}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2008-05-03 |title='Free Beer' et 'Le baiser de la princesse', les bières open source ! |url=https://free-tools.fr/inclassable/free-beer-et-le-baiser-de-la-princesse-les-bieres-open-source-474/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Free Tools |language=fr-FR}}{{Cite web |date= |title=Le Baiser de la Princesse |url=http://baiserdelaprincesse.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517155646/http://baiserdelaprincesse.com/ |archive-date=2008-05-17 |access-date= |website=Le Baiser de la Princesse}}
- Schiltigheim, France: Affichage Libre, brewed for the 2011 edition of the Libre Software Meeting in Strasbourg.{{Cite web |date=2011-07-15 |title=RMLL has free beer (as in speech) |url=http://mcld.co.uk/blog/blog.php?329 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016043254/http://www.mcld.co.uk/blog/blog.php?329 |archive-date=2011-10-16 |access-date=2011-07-15 |website=MCLD blog}}{{Cite web |title=Bière Libre – Free Beer |url=https://guide-biere.fr/biere-libre-org/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Guide Bière |language=fr-FR}}
Reception
Free Beer has received coverage in international print and digital media.{{Cite news |last=Boyd |first=Clark |date=2005-07-28 |title='Free' Danish beer makes a splash |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4718719.stm |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=BBC NEWS |language=en-GB}}{{Cite magazine |last=Cohn |first=David |date=2005-07-18 |title=Free Beer for Geeks |url=https://www.wired.com/2005/07/free-beer-for-geeks/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite news |date=2005-07-20 |title=Kopenhagen: Studenten brauen Open-Source-Bier |url=https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/kopenhagen-studenten-brauen-open-source-bier-a-365818.html |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}} The brand has been discussed in books on copyright.{{cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-T-MMoRpn4C&dq=free+beer+licensing+of+recipes&pg=PA70 |title=New Directions in Copyright Law, Volume 6 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=9781782543718 |editor-last=Fiona |editor-first=Macmillan |pages=69–70 |access-date=2015-08-25}} The project been written about by figures in the free software movement, including Cory Doctorow{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=2006-06-09 |title=Danish hackers launch Free Beer 3.0, with guarana |url=https://boingboing.net/2006/06/09/danish-hackers-launc.html |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Boing Boing |language=en-US}} and Lawrence Lessig.{{cite web |last=Lessig |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Lessig |date=2008-08-04 |title=How much RMS has won |url=http://www.lessig.org/2008/08/how-much-rms-has-won |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710113251/http://www.lessig.org/2008/08/how-much-rms-has-won/ |archive-date=2015-07-10 |access-date=2015-07-08 |website=Lessig |publisher= |quote=}} In 2005, Superflex interviewed Richard Stallman on the project.{{Cite web |last=Moltke |first=Henrik |year=2005 |title=Richard Stallman on FREE BEER |url=http://superflex.net/texts/richard_stallman_on_free_beer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013013253/http://superflex.net/texts/richard_stallman_on_free_beer |archive-date=2011-10-13 |access-date= |website=SUPERFLEX}}
Free Beer has been distributed at technology conferences, including Summit 2008 and RMLL 2011, 2012, and 2014.{{Cite web |date= |title=Bière Libre |url=http://2012.rmll.info/biere-libre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626111459/http://2012.rmll.info/biere-libre |archive-date=2015-06-26 |access-date= |website=13es Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre (RMLL), Genève 2012}} The FSCONS 2008 resulted in an ebook that featured Free Beer.{{Cite web |last= |date=2009-11-26 |title=FREE BEER book out now. |url=https://freebeer.org/blog/archives/156 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=FREE BEER}}{{Cite web |title=FREE BEER |url=https://freebeer.fscons.org/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |publisher=FSCONS}} 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.{{Cite web |last= |date=2010-01-13 |title=Cultural and Creative projects |url=https://english.tfam.gov.taipei/cp.aspx?n=8FE890E389B18FCE&s=0B0086932229B976 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Taipei Fine Arts Museum |language=English}}
Gallery
Voresol label medium.png|Original Free Beer 1.0 label "Vores Øl" (2004)
Free beer bottles.jpg|Free Beer bottles based on recipe and label variants created since 2005
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Free beer}}
{{cookbook}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060405192654/http://www.voresoel.dk/ Original website (archived)]
- [https://freebeer.org/blog/ Official website]
- [https://superflex.net/works/free_beer Superflex page]
- [https://github.com/FreeBrewers FreeBrewers GitHub page]
- FreeBeer v1.2 (2009 book PDF)
{{Danish beer}}
Category:Beer brands of Denmark
Category:Food and drink introduced in 2004