Output of Berliner Weisse 1885 – 1937

Nowhere near done with Berliner Weisse yet. This time we’ll be looking at how much of it was being brewed.

I’ll warn you: the figures are nothing like complete. For a start, it’s not everyone, just members of the Weissbier Brewers’ Association (Verein der Berliner Weißbierbrauereien). And it doesn’t even have the output for all of those.

It’s not clear whether the figures are for Berliner Weisse or for all beer produced. Though from the names it’s clear that many were specialist Weissbier breweries. So we can assume at least a reasonable amount of those figures really is Weissbier.

According to Methner (quoting Schönfeld) in 1897-98 there were 71 Weissbier breweries making between them 1.3 million hl of Berliner Weisse.* I make that an average of 18,310 hl per brewery. Which is a fairly modest amount. The 15 breweries for whom the output is given for 1885, produced on average 38,043 hl per annum. I think it’s safe to say that included there are most of the larger producers.

Table 18 Weissbier breweries that founded the Verein der Berliner Weißbierbrauereien E.V. (on the attendance list there is no date!)
Nr.	Firm	Output				year of closure
		1885	1890	1900	**)
1	J. C. A. Richter & Co. Weißbierbrauerei	19,600	18,000		X	1920
2	Berliner Weißbier Brauerei Akt. Ges. vorm. Carl Landré	80,000	86,000		V	1927
3	C. Breithaupt Weißbierbrauerei	96,000	90,000		V	1927
4	Berliner Export Weißbierbrauerei C. & O. Fischer	-			X	1912
5	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Julius Boehm	16,750	-		X	1906
6	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei „Friedrichstadt" Jul. Borsdorf	12,300			X	1896
7	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Ed. Gebhardt A.G.	9,900		ca. 30,000	V	1913
8	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei und Malzfabrik Albert Bier	15,400		ca. 15,000	X	1910
9	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei E. Willner	-	-		V	1990/91
10	Gabriel & Jaeger Weißbierbrauerei	70,000	-		V	1913
11	Hartmann's Brauerei	-			X	1914
12	Berliner Weißbierbrauerei Carl Richter	-			V	1964
13	Weißbierbrauerei vorm. H.A. Bolle A.G.	22,100	47,000		V	1932
14	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Fiedler & Billep				V	1912
15	Berl. Bierbrauerei Act. Ges. vorm. F. W. Hilsebein	68,000	62,000		X	1911
16	A. Landre Weißbierbrauerei	58,000			V	1917
17	S. D. Moewes Weißbierbrauerei	57,000			V	1912
18	Verinigte Berliner Weißbier-Brauereien G.m.b.H.				X	1914
19	Rud. Frömchen Weißbierbrauerei	-			X	1910
20	Christ. Stauch Weißbierbrauerei	-	-		X	1920
21	Berliner Weißbierbrauerei Act. Ges.(vorm. Gericke)	30,000	77,600		X	1911
22	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Max Füllgrabe				X	1920
23	Alb. Laue Weißbierbrauerei	10,000			X	1923
24	Rud. Braun Weißbierbrauerei	5,600			X	1920
25	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei W. Bönnhoff	-	-		X	1906
	Total	570,650	380,600
**) v label known x no label known
Source:
Die Berliner Weisse, by Gerolf Annemüller, Hans-J. Manger and Peter Lietz, 2008, page 115.

By 1913/14, output of Berliner Weisse had fallen to around 500,000 hl**. But it didn’t stop there. In 1933 just 123,000 hl were brewed and in 1937 117,000 hl.*** By 2010 just 10,180 hl of Berliner Weisse were sold in the off trade****, meaning total output couldn’t have been more than 20,000 or 25,000 hl.

You have to wonder how long the association lasted. Because a huge percentage of the member breweries closed between 1910 and 1930. The second table shows when most of those closures occurred. Though care needs to be taken. Breithaupt and Landré are shown as closing in 1927, whereas in fact they merged. In reality, Breithaupt produced Berliner Weisse until 1968.

Weisssbier brewery closures by decade
year	closures	%
1890-1899	1	4.00%
1900-1909	2	8.00%
1910-1919	12	48.00%
1920-1929	7	28.00%
1930-1939	1	4.00%
after WW II	2	8.00%
Total	25	100.00%

Not sure where we’re going next. Either some more tables or more detailed descriptions of brewing methods.







* “Über die Aromabildung beim Berliner Weissbier unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Säuren und Estern” by Frank-Jürgen Methner, 1987, page 2.

** "Zur Geschichte des Berliner Brauwesens" by Karl Bullemer, 1963 page 15.

*** "Die Herstellung obergärige Biere und die Malzbierbrauerei Groterjan A.G. in Berlin" by A. Dörfel, 1947 page 3.

**** Deutscher Brauer Bund.