A lot of breweries claim to be the first at this or that, but the Weihenstephan brewery boldly claims on its labels that it's the "oldest brewery in the world."

Beer has been brewed commercially on the site since 1040, but brewing took place there hundreds of years earlier.

The brewery Web site, http://www.brauerei-weihenstephan.de,/ claims the Benedictine Nahrberg Hill Monastery was founded by St. Corbinian and 12 followers in 725. It says the first reference to hops was made in 768, but it wasn't until 1040 that the monks sought permission from the city of Freising to sell the beer they brewed.

Almost 500 years later, in 1516, Duke Wilhelm II of Bavaria is said to have issued the Bavarian Beer Purity Law on the doorstep of the monastery brewery. The law declared only concoctions of water, grains and hops would be used in Bavarian beers.

The monks lost control of the brewery in 1803 when the Bavarian state took control of the monastery and its brewery. Today it is known as the Bavarian State Brewery - Weihenstephan.

Weihenstephaner Original is the brewery's pale, soft, smooth lager. It weighs in at 5.1 percent alcohol, but is one of the mellowest beers you will find. Everything about it is subtle, from the initial malty glow to the slight finishing hoppiness.

Original is the perfect beer for those who claim they can drink only light beer.