Brewing in Vienna in the 1830's

You can probably guess what's coming. More stuff from David Booth. I'm enjoying his descriptions of continental brewing even if you aren't. And me having fun is all that matters. Sorry if that sounds selfish.

The text below is a fascinating insight into brewing techniques in Austria pre-lager. As in Prague, the mash is a type of decoction, but the fermentation is top-fermenting. It can't have been 100% satisfactory, as Viennese brewers were amongst the first to switch to bottom fermentation.





METHOD OP BREWING AT VIENNA.

Barley here, which is at present twelve shillings a quarter of 375 pounds, pays no duty when making into malt; but beer is charged ten shillings a barrel in the city, and four shillings in the country. In Vienna, the current price is a guinea per barrel, but a better sort is sold at twenty-seven shillings. The political economist, however, would err in drawing any conclusion from those prices. The money value of commodities of internal consumption in one country cannot be appreciated in another.

The malt is bruised by means of iron rollers; and a quantity of it, amounting to 14.38 English quarters, is put dry into the mash-tun. About 28 barrels of cold water is turned over this malt, which gradually imbibes- the moisture, till, at the close of the maceration (which continues during two hours in summer and four hours in winter), the liquor and the goods appear equally mingled at the surface of the tun. Meanwhile, a square copper, filled with liquor to within three inches of the top, is heating.

Four barrels of the cold wort are now drawn off, by a cock under the false bottom, into the under-back, of which a third of a barrel is put into a vessel and placed in a corner of the cooler: between two and three barrels are required to fill up the copper, and about a barrel remains in the under-back.

When the liquor in the copper, which has been mixed with the cold worts, comes near the boiling point, it forms a very thick frothy head, which is skimmed off and given to the pigs. It is then allowed to boil three quarters of an hour; when, to the amount of 18 or 20 barrels, it is turned over the goods in the mash-tun, leaving merely sufficient to cover the bottom of the copper. The goods are then mashed nearly an hour, and the heat has risen to 104 degrees.

Immediately after the mashing is over, the small quantity of cold wort that remained in the under-back is pumped up into the copper; and the cock of the mash-tun being turned (slowly at first), the pumping is continued while the wort is draining, so that there is never above a barrel at a time in the under-back. The copper being full, the quantity above stated remains in the under-back, and the rest of the wort stands on the goods, wetting them to the height of about a foot above the false bottom. The draining and pumping takes up above an hour.

This second mash (as it is called), now in the copper, on acquiring a certain heat, presents a similar head of froth as the former; which is also skimmed off in the same manner, and used for the same purpose. The copper is not allowed to boil; for at the moment when it arrives at the boiling-point, it is turned upon the goods in the mash-tun, through a trough, and mashed as long a time as the first—that is, an hour. The heat has now increased to 135 degrees.

After being allowed a few minutes to settle, the worts are drained from the mash-tun (when they usually run clear), and pumped into the copper, where they are boiled for half an hour. They have now become perfectly transparent, and are turned again on the goods, with which they are mashed half an hour, when the heat is found to be about 162 degrees.

On first opening the cock after this mashing, eight or ten gallons which are a little foul are returned upon the surface of the goods; when the rest of the worts, running off pure, are pumped up to the copper, as much as it will hold: and as, by the frequent boilings, the quantity has been lessened, the under-back is enabled to hold the remainder of the worts, so that the goods remain dry.

The wort in the copper is now boiled for half an hour, when as much is run off upon the goods as allows it to receive what was left in the under-back. The copper is then allowed to boil a quarter of an hour longer; after which its whole contents are turned upon the goods, and it is charged anew, half full, with cold liquor, for a subsequent sparge. The goods are now mashed, for the last time, during half an hour; and (the heat being about 180 degrees) are allowed to stand an hour longer before draining.

The cock of the mash-tun is now turned; and the liquor in the copper (having become very hot) being wholly run off into a vessel kept for the purpose, the pumping of the worts from the under-back is instantly commenced. Forty-eight pounds of hops are put into the copper, and the pumping continued until it is full: the under-back holds the remainder of the runnings from the mash-tun. When the goods are drained dry, a grey slimy substance is found on their surface; which being taken off, and the grains a little loosened, the hot liquor preserved in the vessel above mentioned (and which yet retains the heat of 132 or 133 degrees) is sprinkled over the goods. This sparge necessarily remains in the tun until room is made for it in the copper.

After the worts with the hops have boiled an hour and a quarter, part of them are cast; but before they are thrown into the cooler, the twelve gallons of cold wort which stood in one corner of it, as formerly mentioned, is spread over the bottom. The cock of the mash-tun is now opened; and the worts from the sparge, as well as what were left in the under- back, are pumped up to the copper, which is thereby filled; and the hops of the first wort being returned, the whole is boiled an hour and a half. The hops have been thus boiled with worts during two hours and three quarters: the second worts are cast, and the brewing is finished. Nevertheless, another sparge of cold water is passed through the goods, the produce of which is carried to the distillery which is connected with every brewhouse. The quantity of beer made is 34 barrels.

When the two worts are cooled to a heat of between 86 and 90 degrees, they are let down into a large tun, and well mixed with sixty pounds of yeast. In a short time, usually about an hour, the surface mantles, and then the beer is immediately cleansed into casks of twenty-five gallons each. These casks are placed on stillions in the cellar. The fermentation (ober-gahrung) in those casks begins instantly; a thick white froth is thrown out from the bung-holes into the stillions ; and along with this froth, a quantity of beer is also thrown out, which is collected, and put into a separate vessel to continue its fermentation : this is called Hop-Beer. Twelve hours afterwards, if the fermentation is perfect, this froth becomes yeasty; and the working out of yeast continues about five hours, when it begins to fall down. " We let it do so," says our informant, " till the smell of the cask is no longer offensive ; and then fill it up with the hop-beer, formerly mentioned, which by this time has become tolerably clear. Some Brewers fill up their casks at a much earlier period, never allowing the beer to fall down ; but we have found it advisable to follow the plan here pointed out. After filling up, the casks work out that stiff and good yeast which we employ for the next brewing; and we keep them always full ever after, until they cease entirely to work, which usually happens in forty-eight hours after cleansing: at which time we send it out to the publicans, retaining only a cask or two of the brewing; and we have seldom any more of it in our cellars three days after the beginning of the fermentation."
"The Art of Brewing", by David Booth, 1834, Part IV pages 35-37.