Controversy over the Bavarian national drink: It's about the millions: Why Paulaner's Spezi shouldn't be called that anymore

When Sebastian Priller-Riegele looks at the bottle in front of him, he just shakes his head. “That’s not fair,” he repeats several times. There, on the bottle, is a word: “Spezi” – framed by two orange halves. Priller-Riegele is the senior boss of the traditional Augsburg brewery Riegele – the inventor of the “Spezi”, actually the entire Spezi cult, as he says. Riegele also holds the trademark rights. Now, as an entrepreneur, he is under pressure. And by that Priller-Riegele means neither Corona nor inflation. The problem is an hour’s drive southeast of Augsburg. At the fine Munich Kapuzinerplatz, at the brewery heavyweight Paulaner.

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