Thursday 2 October 2014

Munich Winterbier in 1843

Here's something else I'm glad I was pointed in the direction of: all the Munich Winterbiers as of 24th January 1843.

There are 42 entries in the table, though, as Hofbräuhaus has both a Weissbier and a Doppelbier, there are only 41 breweries. Only. That's still a fair few. Sadly, most are long gone. I've never heard of the majority

You should by now remember that Winterbier was the name given to a lower gravity bottom-fermenting beer which was served in the winter. It had a shorter lagering time and a lower hopping rate than the stronger Sommerbier, which was brewed to last through the summer.

Munich Winterbier in 1843
Year Brewer Beer OG FG OG Plato ABV App. Atten-uation
1843 Utzschneider-Brauerei Winterbier 1043.0 1016.5 10.76 3.42 61.65%
1843 Gilgenrainerbräu Winterbier 1043.7 1015.8 10.92 3.60 63.83%
1843 Prüglbräu Winterbier 1044.0 1022.4 11.00 2.78 49.12%
1843 Bacherbräu Winterbier 1044.4 1018.0 11.10 3.41 59.49%
1843 Lodererbräu Winterbier 1044.4 1019.2 11.10 3.25 56.79%
1843 Zacherl, Vorstast Au Winterbier 1044.5 1018.2 11.11 3.39 59.08%
1843 Hallerbräu Winterbier 1044.7 1016.8 11.17 3.61 62.44%
1843 Hallmeyrbräu Winterbier 1045.1 1018.5 11.25 3.43 58.95%
1843 Hascherbräu Winterbier 1045.6 1016.7 11.37 3.73 63.35%
1843 Löwenbräu Winterbier 1046.4 1015.1 11.56 4.05 67.43%
1843 Ober-Ottlbräu Winterbier 1046.4 1020.1 11.58 3.40 56.83%
1843 Singelspielerbräu Winterbier 1046.5 1018.6 11.59 3.60 59.99%
1843 G. Pschorr, Neuhauserg. Winterbier 1046.7 1019.6 11.65 3.50 58.07%
1843 M. Pschorr, Sendlingerg. Winterbier 1047.2 1018.5 11.75 3.70 60.77%
1843 Löwenbräu, Buttler Winterbier 1047.4 1019.1 11.81 3.65 59.72%
1843 Probstbräu Winterbier 1048.0 1016.7 11.95 4.05 65.21%
1843 K. Hofbräuhaus Weissbier 1048.4 1017.2 12.04 4.03 64.45%
1843 Ober-Spatenbräu Winterbier 1048.6 1016.7 12.10 4.13 65.66%
1843 Faberbräu Winterbier 1048.7 1020.2 12.12 3.68 58.54%
1843 Zengerbräu Winterbier 1048.9 1021.9 12.17 3.48 55.24%
1843 Augustinerbräu Winterbier 1049.0 1019.9 12.18 3.75 59.36%
1843 Wagnerbräu Winterbier 1049.1 1018.7 12.22 3.93 61.94%
1843 Kapplerbräu Winterbier 1049.3 1019.8 12.26 3.81 59.94%
1843 Eberlbräu Winterbier 1049.4 1015.6 12.29 4.38 68.44%
1843 K. Hofbräuhaus Doppelbier 1049.5 1018.9 12.30 3.95 61.80%
1843 Thorbräu Winterbier 1049.9 1016.3 12.41 4.35 67.36%
1843 Leistbräu Winterbier 1050.2 1018.0 12.48 4.17 64.17%
1843 Kreutzbräu Winterbier 1051.8 1022.6 12.84 3.75 56.33%
1843 Gebhardtbräu Winterbier 1051.8 1017.9 12.84 4.38 65.41%
1843 Stubenvollbräu Winterbier 1052.1 1021.1 12.92 4.00 59.50%
1843 Sterneckerbräu Winterbier 1052.4 1020.5 13.00 4.12 60.90%
1843 Dürnbräu Winterbier 1053.3 1023.2 13.21 3.88 56.49%
1843 Oberkandlerbräu Winterbier 1053.7 1018.1 13.30 4.61 66.30%
1843 Metzgerbräu Winterbier 1054.0 1020.6 13.38 4.32 61.88%
1843 Hirschbräu Winterbier 1054.5 1020.1 13.48 4.44 63.10%
1843 Menterbräu Winterbier 1054.5 1019.4 13.49 4.54 64.41%
1843 Büchlbräu Winterbier 1055.1 1019.7 13.62 4.57 64.23%
1843 Högerbräu Winterbier 1055.2 1026.3 13.65 3.71 52.35%
1843 Maderbräu Winterbier 1057.0 1022.1 14.08 4.51 61.25%
1843 Schleibingerbräu Winterbier 1058.1 1021.9 14.34 4.68 62.33%
1843 Schützbräu Winterbier 1059.6 1026.0 14.67 4.32 56.34%
1843 Unterkandlerbräu Winterbier 1061.0 1022.6 15.00 4.96 62.93%
average 1049.8 1019.4 12.38 3.93 61.03%
Source:
Über quantitative Analyse durch physikalische Beobachtungen by Carl August von Steinheil, 1843, page 706.

There are a couple of points which immediately jump out at me. First the wide range of gravities, from 1043 to 1061. That's a fair old spread. Though the vast majority - exactly two thirds - were between 11º and 12.99º Balling. There were just three examples between 14º and 14.99º and one over 15º. The average gravity of all samples was 12.38º. That's pretty low for 19th-century Munich.

gravity no. examples %
10-10.99º 2 4.76%
11-11.99º 14 33.33%
12-12.99º 14 33.33%
13-13.99º 8 19.05%
14-14.99º 3 7.14%
15-15.99º 1 2.38%
total 42

The second obvious point is the poor attenuation. Not a single example manages 70% apparent attenuation. While 16 samples - almost 40% - are below 60% attenuation. The average is a mere 61%. It looks particularly crap if you compare it with the attenuation of British IPA from a few years later.

British IPA 1851 - 1852
Year Brewer Beer OG FG OG Plato ABV App. Attenuation
1851 Allsopp Export IPA 1057.1 1008.8 14.10 6.32 84.59%
1851 Allsopp Export IPA 1060.8 1008.6 14.96 6.84 85.86%
1851 Bass Domestic IPA 1064.0 1012.8 15.70 6.69 80.00%
1852 Bass Domestic IPA 1073.7 1019.2 17.93 7.11 73.95%
Source:
"The Lancet 1852, vol.1", 1852, page 474

Or if you compare them with modern Munich beers. Here's a random selection:

Munich Lagers in 2014
Year Brewer Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV App. Atten-uation
2014 Paulaner Münchner Hell Helles 1046.11 1008.5 11.5 4.90 81.57%
2014 Paulaner Münchner Urtyp Amber Lager 1050.32 1008.2 12.5 5.50 83.70%
2014 Paulaner Münchner Dunkel Dunkles 1050.32 1011.85 12.5 5.00 76.45%
2014 Paulaner Münchner Hell Leicht Helles 1030.42 1005.8 7.7 3.20 80.93%
2014 Paulaner Oktoberfestbier  Festbier 1055.41 1009.5 13.7 6.00 82.85%
2014 Paulaner Salvator Dioppelbock 1075.34 1015 18.3 7.90 80.09%
2014 Paulaner Premium Pils Pilsener 1046.11 1008.5 11.5 4.90 81.57%
2014 Löwenbräu  Urtyp Spezial 1049.90 1008.5 12.4 5.40 82.96%
2014 Löwenbräu  Original Helles 1047.37 1007.5 11.8 5.20 84.17%
2014 Löwenbräu  Triumphator Dioppelbock 1074.89 1016.8 18.2 7.60 77.57%
2014 Löwenbräu  Oktoberfestbier Festbier 1055.41 1008.7 13.7 6.10 84.30%
2014 Löwenbräu  Dunkel Dunkles 1050.32 1008.2 12.5 5.50 83.70%
2014 Löwenbräu  Weisse Hefeweizen 1047.37 1007.5 11.8 5.20 84.17%
2014 Spaten Münchner Hell Helles 1046.95 1007.1 11.7 5.20 84.88%
2014 Spaten Oktoberfestbier Festbier 1055.41 1010.2 13.7 5.90 81.59%
Average 1052.11 1009.46 12.90 5.57 82.03%
Sources:
Paulaner website
Löwenbräu website
Spaten website

The average OG is a little higher for the modern beers but the average attention is much higher: 82% compared to 61%. It's even more impressive when you consider that there are two Doppelbocks in there.

Low attenuation is an obvious feature of early Lagers. I don't really know why that was. Was it the quality of the malt? The mashing techniques employed? The yeast of the fermentation process? I've really no firm information.

Almost forgot to mention the style of these beers. With the exception of the Hofbräuhaus Weissbier, all would have been dark. So a type of Dunkles, really.

5 comments:

Tandleman said...

There would be plenty mouthfeel presumably, but a lot of sweetness?

A Brew Rat said...

One thought on the low attenuation of lager yeasts at this time. If you subscribe to the theory that modern lager yeast is a hydridization of ale yeasts and Patagonia yeasts over a period of only a couple hundred years, maybe they hadn't quite adapted to domestication in the brewery yet. Modern laboratory yeast eugenics after 1843 would have selected the best attenuators (these are German yeasts, after all).

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/LagerYeast.pdf

J. Karanka said...

Just makes you think that historic lager is much more of a lost drink than historic ale. Specially when you consider than attenuation of ales has been relatively stable the last 200 years in *some* strains / breweries. I don't think I've ever had a lager with 55% attenuation like some historic examples, but I've definitively had pale ales with 80%+ attenuation. You ask anybody on the street about lager and "sweet", "low alcohol content" and any correlates of low attenuation are the last thing that springs to mind.

Rod said...

" If you subscribe to the theory that modern lager yeast is a hydridization of ale yeasts and Patagonia yeasts over a period of only a couple hundred years..."

Genetic research at Stanford University have proved that lager yeast is a lot more than 200 years old.

Ron Pattinson said...

J. Karanka,

that's what makes getting hold of so many analyses so useful: you can't be led astray by the odd weird example.

Has anyone else published about the change in Lagers over time? It fascinates me. I just wish I had more information from 1900 to 1980.