1780 - 1815 Cellarmanship

Well, that's the 1970s finished. Time to look further back. All the way to the 18th century. Which is about as far back as I go.

Just as with cask-conditioned beer today, all the care taken in brewing a good beer was in vain if it was poorly handled in the cellar.

The text below is taken from "A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer" by E. Hughes, Uxbridge, 1796, pages 34-37.

"Beware, lest you forget to pay attention to your beer which is at tap; for, "as the eye of the master maketh his horse fat", so the head of a family, now and then giving a look into his cellar, may be the cause of beer drinking more agreeable to his palate, by taking care that the vent-holes are kept closely stopped, and the cocks secure.

"Do not fail to stoop your cask when the beer is about two parts in three out; this should be done whilst the tap is spending, for then you will not disturb the sediment. By stooping the cask when the beer is about two parts in three out will prevent it from becoming flat and sour; when, on the other hand, it is too frequently to be observed when a person is drawing a pot of beer, the stream is impeded; for the beer, being so nearly out, will not run till it is stooped. Now before this, the cock discharging the beer but slowly, the air is admitted into the cask, which causes the beer to drink flat, and, perhaps, turn sour: therefore this will enforce the necessity of stooping your cask before it be so nearly out."

Stooping I take to be tipping up the cask. Which you need to do to get the last of the beer out of a cask. Interesting  that the author recommends that this is done while the tap is open. That sounds rather counterintuitive.

"This is a fault with many publicans, not paying attention to their cellars; even many who brew their own beer are neglectful, notwithstanding their own interest and credit is concerned. Tis not uncommon for the vent-peg, and even the bung, to be left out of those casks which are actually on draught.

"Publicans, who retail common brewer's beer, and neglect their cellars, have this excuse, if their customers find fault with the beer, by saying "tis such beer as my brewer sends me," so it may be; but let a publican be served with beer of the first quality, it entirely depends on the management of the retailer thereof, whether the beer shall be of good or bad quality. This is proved by persons in the same town, each being served with beer from one and the same brew-house; there will be generally a disparity in the quality after it comes into the stock of the respective retailers thereof, which proves it to be the good or bad management in the cellar."

Just as today, there was plenty of room for the publican to fuck up a good beer, either through ignorance or laziness.

"I am convinced I shall not offend the attentive publican by what I have said respecting the cellar; but should this fall into the hands of the inattentive, it may offend; but that I will excuse, if, by the reading of this, he should be convinced of his error, and pay more attention to his cellar; that he may be enabled to draw a pot of beer to please those useful and valuable men, the labourer and the mechanic; and where they used to drink but one pot of beer with him, they may, from finding his ale much better than usual, perhaps, drink two." 

There you have it: if the beer was well looked after, customers would drink more. I don't think I can argue with that.
 

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-seven)

Three Bass Charrington breweries today. All in the Northwest. All closed as production was switched to the disastrous Runcorn plant.

I've absolutely no idea what any of their beers were like. Doubtless better than the stuff churned out by Runcorn.

Bent
Liverpool,
Merseyside.
Founded:    1810
Closed:            1975
Tied houses:    514

Bought in 1967 by Bass Charrington, soon after its formation. One of the breweries closed to make room for Runcorn.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Red Label Stout	Stout	bottled	1045.2

Case
Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria.
Founded:    1860
Closed:            1972
Tied houses:    60

Bought by Hammond's United Breweries Ltd. 1959. One of the smallest breweries operated by Bass Charrington.

Catterall & Swarbrick
Blackpool,
Lancashire.
Founded:    1871
Closed:            1971
Tied houses:    104

Bought by Northern Breweries in 1961.

The above is an excerpt from my latest book, "Keg!".

Get your copy of "Keg!" now!

Let's Brew - 1966 Maclay PA 6d

To get you in the mood for the 1970s, here's a beer from the mid-1960s. A 60/-. Is it a Mild, is it a dark Pale Ale? Who gives a fuck? I don't any more. SO what if I thought it was a Dark Mild when I drank it?

There’s not a great deal to the recipe, which is also typically Scottish. Mostly pale malt with a bit of sugar and, some flaked maize. There’s also a proprietary sugar called DCS. No idea what that is, so I’ve just increased the quantity of No. 1 invert. And a touch of malt extract. But it’s really just a variation on a theme. Styrian Golding and English hops.

As for colour, the one in the recipe is as brewed. The versions I drank were around 20-25 SRM. Feel free to colour it with caramel to any shade you fancy.

1966 Maclay PA 6d
pale malt	5.00 lb	75.28%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	11.29%
malt extract	0.125 lb	1.88%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.75 lb	11.29%
caramel 5000 SRM	0.02 lb	0.26%
Styrian Goldings 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1030
FG	1012
ABV	2.38
Apparent attenuation	60.00%
IBU	23
SRM	11
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 

Keg! is out

The 1970s. A decade as fashionable as mullets and flared trousers. One not remembered with the same rose-tinted specs as the 1960s. But the time when I started drinking beer.

A worrying frailty of my own memories meant an idea to weave a book out of their fraying threads was immediately ditched. What if I could, like a lamprey, latch onto fellow oldies and drink their memories? Yes, that would work.

An attempt to cling onto a vanishing past. Before my memories fade into grey dust. And to keep alive those glorious technicolour days of the 1970s. 

Get your copy of "Keg!" now!

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-six)

Three more Big Six breweries for you. One Allied and two Bass Charrington.

Can you guess which was my favourite? It's not hard.

Wrexham Lager Brewery
Wrexham,
Wales.
Founded:    1878
Closed:    2000
Tied houses:    

Bought by Ind Coope in 1949. One of the first dedicated Lager breweries in the UK that didn’t collapse after a few years. I can’t remember ever seeing their beer anywhere. Not that I would have tried them, as they were Lager.


Bass Charrington (Tadcaster)
Burton-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Founded:    early 18th century
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    247

The Tower Brewery was purchased by Hammond in 1946. I never cared much for their beer. XXXX Mild was way inferior to Tetley’s Mild.
 

beer	style	format	OG	description
Brew Ten	Pale Ale	draught	1036	enjoyable
Extra Light	Pale Ale	draught	1034	thin
Mild	Mild	draught	1033.7	fruity
XXXX Mild	Mild	draught	1031.8	thin
Toby Light	Pale Ale	draught	1031.8	very thin

Bass Worthington (Burton)
Burton-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Founded:    1777
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    

The original Bass brewery, which merged with M & B in 1961.Home of the magnificent Draught Bass and Worthington White Shield, two beers which were run through the union sets. 

beer	style	format	OG	description
Draught Bass	Pale Ale	draught	1044	well-hopped and distinctive
Worthington Best Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1036	pleasant and refreshing
Joules Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1035
Light Mild (or M)	Mild, Light	draught	1033.1	thin
Worthington E	Pale Ale	keg	1040
Worthington White Shield	IPA	bottled	1052	nutty
Bass Red Triangle	IPA	bottled	1052	same beer as White Shield
Bass Blue Triangle	IPA	bottled	1052	filtered Red Triangle
Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1033.2
Light Ale	Light Ale	bottled	1031
BB	Pale Ale	bottled	1036.6

New local update

How is it going, the search for a new local? Well, we seem to be settling on Checkpoint Charlie.

For the last six months our little gang has been going there pretty much every Saturday. Who's there on any given weekend varies quite a bit. Me and Will are often off on the other side of the world. And Mikey is sometimes too knacked after working. But most weekends at least some of us make it.

Steamed up window of Checkpoint Charlie

We haven't really started to interact with other customers. Not being as intimate as Butcher's Tears, contact with other punters isn't as easy. And it doesn't seem to have the same number of Saturday regulars. Perhaps the drinkers here are in more self-contained groups, too.

At least the bar staff seem to be getting to know us. Probably because Lucas is such a social bloke.

What do I miss most from Butcher's Tears? The beer.Being able to reply, when asked what I'd like to drink "A pint of Mild, please." Having the choice of multiple beers I would like to drink. Not just Mild, but also a full-strength Stout. Or an Old Ale.

On the beer front, Checkpoint Charlie just can't compete. There is a guest tap, which sometimes has something to tempt me. Otherwise, there's just 't Ij Zatte amongst the draught offerings that I might opt for. Otherwise, I have to delve into the bottled selection for a Tripel Karmeliet.

On the upside, they do have a drinkable jenever - Zuidan Korenwijn - at a decent price. Something I take advantage of later in the session.

It's starting to feel more like home. Not the same as Butcher's Tears. And without some of that's features. But still a new home. For now.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1877 Strangman X Ale

Here’s another confusing beer from Strangman. On the face of it, the name, X Ale, indicates that this was a Mild Ale. But it’s not that simple.

The gravity is very much in the range of a London X Ale. However, the hopping is a good bit heavier. At 14 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, the rate is about double that of London Mild Ales. And similar to the hopping rate of a London Pale Ale. It’s also higher than the hopping rate for Strangman Beer. Which makes no sense, as Ale should be more lightly hopped than Ale.

Not much to the recipe: just one type of malt and one of hops. The malt was made from English barley by Strangman themselves. The hops, from grower Springett, were, I assume, English. And were pretty fresh, being from the 1876 harvest.
 

1877 Strangman X Ale
pale malt	13.00 lb	100.00%
Fuggles 90 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	2.25 oz
OG	1056
FG	1013
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	76.79%
IBU	75
SRM	5
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

 

Australia here I come

I've just booked up flights to Australia for me and my son Andrew. It's been a long time since I was last there. 1991, to be precise. I wonder if it's changed at all?

We'll be there from Sunday 20th July until Monday 4th August. Visiting Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 

Hopefully, we'll get to meet some people and drink some beer. Any tips on good places to drink will be much appreciated.

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-five)

We're still with Allied Breweries today. Possibly the least bunch of twats of the Big Six. And the brewers of one of my favourite beers of all time, the wonderful Tetley’s Mild.

An Ind Coope pub wouldn't have been my first choice of pub in London. I knew they had pubs in Leeds that were swapped with Tetley in the 1960s, but I was surprised at some of them. Like the Cross Green, Garden Gate and Hyde Park. Pubs that I drank in and thought were typical Tetley's pubs. I can remember seeing one (particularly run down) pub in Leeds in 1975 that still had an Ind Coope sign up.


Ind Coope (Romford)
Romford,
Essex.
Founded:         1800
Closed:            1992
Tied houses:    

The most southerly of all the Allied breweries. I tried the Bitter in a few London pubs and it was OK, but nothing particularly impressive or distinctive.


Tetley Walker (Leeds)
Leeds,
West Yorkshire.
Founded:         1822
Closed:            2011
Tied houses:    1,100

The brewery of Joshua Tetley, one of the largest in Yorkshire. And home of my beloved Tetley’s Mild. It served cask in most of its pubs, especially in the Leeds area. Where I lived for the second half of the 1970s.


Tetley Walker (Warrington)
Warrington,
Lancashire.
Founded:         1864
Closed:            1996
Tied houses:    

Merged with Joshua Tetley in 1960 to form Tetley Walker. I had their beer a few times when west of the Pennines. I didn’t think they were as good as those brewed in Leeds.
 

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Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-four)

Slight mistake in the last post in this series. I started the Big Six with Bass Charrington. Where, obviously, I should have kicked off with Allied. Apologies for that.

Alleid was probably my favourite of the Big Six. Mostly on account of Tetley, whose Mild I loved. And because they didn't mess their pubs around like most of the other big brewers. Leaving the multiroom layout in most of their pubs.

Allied Breweries
With just seven breweries, the production of Allied Breweries was very concentrated. Meaning that they didn’t have many breweries to close. Unlike some of the other national brewers.


Alloa
Alloa,
Scotland.
Founded:    1810
Closed:    1998
Tied houses:    

The former Arrols Brewery. Came under the control of Allsopp in 1931. Fully taken over by Ind Coope & Allsopp in 1951. Operated as a Lager-only plant in the 1970s.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Skol	Lager	keg	1033.2

Ansell
Birmingham,
West Midlands.
Founded:    1838
Closed:    1981
Tied houses:    1,800

A rather troubled brewery in the 1970s, it was closed after a series of strikes. The Bitter wasn’t great, but I had a really soft spot for their Mild.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Aston Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1045	well-hopped, slightly sweet
Mild	Mild	draught	1035.5	dark
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	pleasant and sweet
Kingpin Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1034

Ind Coope (Burton)
Burton-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Founded:    1740
Closed:    still open (sort of)
Tied houses:    

Originally the brewery of Samuel Allsopp, after running into financial difficulties in the runup to WW I, it struggled along for a while before merging with Ind Coope in 1934. In the 1970s, the brewery was best-known for keg Double Diamond and later cask Burton Ale. Which, ironically, was the same as the bottled version of Double Diamond.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Bitter	Pale Ale	draught	1037	light
Burton Ale	Pale Ale	draught	1047.5	sweetish and malty
Double Diamond	Pale Ale	keg	1037.6
Super Draught	Mild	keg	1031.1
Long Life Keg	Pale Ale	keg	1043
Superdraught Bitter	Pale Ale	keg	1036.4
Double Diamond	Pale Ale	bottled	1047.2
Light Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	1031.4
Long Life	Pale Ale	bottled	1039.8
Nightcap Stout	Stout	bottled	1034.7
Arctic Barley Wine	Barley Wine	bottled	1078.6
Brown Ale	Brown Ale	bottled	1032

 

Beer in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s (part two)

Time for another instalment of 1980s socialist nostalgia.

In this period Czechoslovakia had the best overall beer quality of anywhere I've ever been. I never came across a beer which wasn't of at least a decent standard. Even the stuff I wasn't that keen on - such as Staropramen - was still perfectly acceptable.

Something which never seems to get mentioned nowadays is the serving method. People go on about crap like "mlíko" pours - something I never came across in the 1980s and which I suspect was just made up recently. But not the reason why Czech beer was so drinkable: air pressure. Rather than CO2, air pressure was used to pump up beer from the celaar. Much like tall fonts in Scotland. The resulting half litre had a wonderful creamy head, but wasn't overly fizzy. Being more like beer served through a sparkler in texture. Why does no-one lament the loss of this wonderful practice?

In recent years, breweries have been built as standard projects in Slovakia with an annual output of around 750,000 hectolitres, in Hurbanovo or in Banska Bystrica. This is intended to relieve the burden on breweries in the homeland of beer, Bohemia, and to generally improve quality. In the "U Kalicha", where Schwejk wanted to meet with the sapper Vodicka "at six o'clock after the war", there is now Pilsner Urquell, and this Prague restaurant is just as much a tourist attraction as "U Fleku" in Kremencova Street, where beer was brewed 33 years before Columbus discovered America.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 55.

The brewing industry was relatively undevelopped in Slovakia, which is why large new breweries were built there.

Here's a confession: despite having read Švejk in the original Czech, I've never been in U Kalicha. Too touristy, even in the 1980s. I preferred the more basic type of Czech pub. Ones in the third or fourth category in the official way of classifying pubs. The type of place that only sold 10º beer.

Of the 1,500 beer bars in Prague, however, “U Fleku” is one of the best known because, as I said, they not only serve beer here, they also brew it. The famous 13-degree dark lager has been available here since 1840 in the large beer garden and in the many stylish rooms decorated by Czech artists. The rooms have their own names, such as Jitrnice (liver sausage), Redakce (editorial office), Academy, V kufru (In a suitcase), Chmelnice (hop garden). However, there is an inimitable atmosphere in all rooms, and workers, craftsmen, writers, artists and scientists have always sat together at the beer table in cheerful and contemplative conversation, stimulated by the tasty dark beer.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 55.

U Fleku, on the other hand, was a wonderful place. Not totally swamped with tourists and genuinely having all walks of society clumped together along its long tables. And home to a magnificent dark Lager. The beer - at least the last time I was ther emore than ten years ago - was still excellent. The atmosphere, not so much so.

These are specialties in the CSSR that are often recommended to visitors, because beer drinkers quickly agree on where a good beer flows from the tap.

By the way, beer from the CSSR is served in 80 countries around the world. Recently, for tropical zones (and not only for these), beer is available in cans with “Budvar” and a “golden pheasant” on the label.

In addition to “Urquell”, it is above all “Budvar” and “Crystal” from České Budějovice, the Prague “Staropramen” and the dark Pilsner lager “Diplomat” that have a good name all over the world and are witnesses to the art of Bohemian brewing. Over 1,250,000 hectolitres of Czechoslovak beer flow in a never-ending stream all over the world - to the delight of beer connoisseurs and beer drinkers!
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 55.

Currently, Czechia exports considerably more than Czechoslovakia did in the 1980s. Over 5 million hectolitres.

Let's Brew - 1882 Strangman H Porter

Another Strangman beer today. And another mystery. So many questions and so few answers. As so often when bathing in the pool of history.

Here we have a beer which actually is called Porter. Though what does the prefix “H” stand for? Could it be “heading”.

Heading being the high gravity, fermenting wort added at racking time as a sort of Kräusen. Two problems with that theory: the gravity isn’t high enough and there’s far too much of it. The 132 barrels would have been enough for 7 or 8 batches of their Beer. So about two weeks’ worth. But it wouldn’t last that long. And it was pitched in tuns the normal way.

My guess is that it’s one of the other elements of Irish Porter and Stout” aged beer. At least, that’s what the high hopping rate implies to me.

The grist is similar to Single Stout, having around 5% black malt. Of which around 20% was added to the copper rather than the mash tun. Which probably resulted in a beer darker than the 27 SRM in the recipe below.

Just a single type of hops, which I assume, based on the grower’s name of Noakes, were English. 

1882 Strangman H Porter
pale malt	15.25 lb	94.57%
black malt	0.875 lb	5.43%
Fuggles 90 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	2.25 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1068.5
FG	1016
ABV	6.95
Apparent attenuation	76.64%
IBU	69
SRM	27
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-three)

Yippee! We're finally moving on to the final part of my guide to 1970s breweries: the Big Six. Who, at the time, operated a large number of plants. Especially Bass and Whitbread.

Bass owned breweries of massively differing size, ranging from the massive Runcorn plant to tiny operations such as Case and Highgate. There was a similar huge variation in the quality of the beer they brewed. Which was pretty much in reverse proportion to the size of the plant.

None of the three featured today brewed any cask beer.

Bass Charrington (Belfast)
Belfast,
Northern Ireland.
Founded:         1897
Closed:            2004
Tied houses:    

The former Caffrey’s plant in Belfast was the only brewery in Northern Ireland. It brewed exclusively for the local market.

Bass Charrington (Runcorn)
Runcorn,
Merseyside.
Founded:         1974
Closed:            1991
Tied houses:    

The infamous megakeggery, which was plagued by industrial action and production problems during its short life.

Bass Charrington (Hope & Anchor)
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire.
Founded:         1892
Closed:            1994
Tied houses:     

In 1960 merged with Hammonds United Breweries and John Jeffrey to form Northern Breweries. It didn’t brew any cask beer in the 1970s.

beer	style	format	OG	description
Jubilee Stout	Stout	bottled	1042.3	Sweet Stout

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part forty-two)

"When will this all end?" I hear you say. Not for a while yet. Though I am finishibg off the independent brewers and homebrew pubs today. Which is why there are four rather than three entries.

Quite a varied set. There are a couple of short-lived new brewpubs, who made very little impact. And made no cask beer. Along with one of the longest-lived of the new cohort of brewpubs. And one of the original half-dozen survivors.

Only the national brewers to go now. For whom, rather bizarrely, I have rather less information when it comes to their packaged beers.


Miskin Arms
Miskin, Pontyclun,
Wales.
Founded:         1976
Closed:            1979
Tied houses:    1

A short-lived brewpub. No cask beer.


New Fermor Arms
Rufford, Ormskirk,
Lancashire.
Founded:         1976
Closed:            1985
Tied houses:    1

Handpumped beer, but sold under CO2 pressure. Meaning I have no details of any beers they brewed. Sold to Allied in 1981, then rebought by founder Alan Mawdesley in 1985.


John Thompson Inn
Ingleby,
Derbyshire.
Founded:         1977
Closed:            2021
Tied houses:    1

An early brewpub which did have legs, lasting more than three decades.

beer	style	format	OG	description
JPS  3X	Pale Ale	draught	1045	well-balanced

Three Tuns
Bishop’s Castle,
Shropshire.
Founded:    1642
Closed:    still open
Tied houses:    1

Another of the original surviving brewpubs. There were a couple of breaks in brewing from 1995 to 1996 and 2001 to 2003. One of the first UK brewers to revive Porter. 

beer	style	format	OG	description
XXX	Pale Ale	draught	1042	well hopped
Heavy	Pale Ale	draught	1048
Mild	Mild	draught	1032	malty and dark
Castle Steamer	Porter	draught	1045

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1880 Strangman Double Stout

And here we have a proper Stout. At least in London terms. Or Dublin terms, for that matter. As Guinness Extra Stout was a similar strength.

The grist is very similar to Single Stout. Around 95% pale malt and 5% black malt. Far less roasted malt than in London Stouts. Though most of that was in the form of brown malt. Even so, London Stouts of a similar strength were mostly much darker: 37 to 51 SRM (according to BeerSmith). Which is a bit of a surprise. Irish Stout nowadays being pretty black.

Unless the brewing software is way out, in this period Irish Stout wasn’t very dark at all. Having a colour similar to pre-black malt Stout. But . . the calculations don’t take into account the black malt that went into the copper, rather than the mash tun. 84 of 700 lbs, in this case. I assume that more colour was extracted during the boil than in the mash. But how much?

The hopping rate was even higher than in Single Stout: 13.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) compared to 9.5 lbs. Which results in a pretty bitter beer. The hops themselves were English from the 1880 harvest and Bavarian from 1879. 

1880 Strangman Double Stout
pale malt	17.00 lb	95.10%
black malt	0.875 lb	4.90%
Fuggles 90 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.75 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1076
FG	1018
ABV	7.67
Apparent attenuation	76.32%
IBU	102
SRM	27
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	58.5º F
Yeast	WLP004 Irish Stout

Beer in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s

Time to see what the view of Czech beer was from the DDR.

The two countries were the brewing specialists of the socialist block. Which was fair enough. They had by far the strongest brewing traditions amongst the socialist countries.

Beer at the neighbour's
The preference for beer is also gaining ground in countries that are not traditional beer producers. The CSSR and the GDR are leaders in beer production within the socialist community of states. Their experiences, which are passed on to the friendly countries within the socialist economic integration, make it easier for them to set up their own beer production. This also includes the delivery of machines and systems. In addition, beer exports and imports play a major role.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 53.

It's interesting to see these two countries held up as examples of modern brewing equipment and techniques. When many breweries there were effectively brewing in a pre-war way. Which is one of the reasons Czech beer, for example, was so good.

CSSR: Urquell - five times around the equator
Our southern neighbors are not only passionate beer drinkers, but also passionate brewers. Barley juice in Czechoslovakia has centuries-old traditions. It is not without reason that the Pilsner from the western Bohemian city of Plzen became a well-known type of beer all over the world.

In the USA, "Budweiser" was a type of mild beer, although it does not have to come from Ceske Budejovice. The Bohemian art of brewing has found connoisseurs, lovers and imitators everywhere. However, the happy harmony of high-quality brewing barley, the famous hops such as Zatec (Saaz) and Ustek, the ideal brewing water and the storage of the beers is not easily repeatable.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 54.

As today, the most famous Czech breweries were Pilsner Urquell and Budvar. No change there.

Another common thread is how Czechs were very enthusiastic beer drinkers. Amongst the thirstiest in the world.

From 2 million hectolitres in 1864, when the rapid development of brewing began, the annual production of Czechoslovakian breweries increased to the current level of almost 25 million hectoliters. “Pilsner Urquell” alone leaves the brewery in quantities of over a million hectolitres every year. This calculation is astonishing: if you wanted to fill this amount in the half-litre glassess that our neighbours use, you could span the equator more than five times. It is not surprising when you hear that the Czechs and Slovaks consume 155 litres of beer per capita per year. That was in 1979, but now it may have increased again. In any case, the CSSR surpasses most of the European beer countries in per capita consumption.

The world-famous companies that mainly produce export beers, such as the Staropramen breweries in Prague, Pilsner Urquell in Plzen and Budvar in Ceske Budejovice, have gone through years of reconstruction and modernisation, always striving to maintain or even improve the traditional quality while increasing production. There are also a number of renowned breweries that produce high-quality beer, such as the modern brewery in Nosovice, Moravia. The traditions of Bohemian brewing are also at work here.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 54.

155 litres a year was impressive when you consider that Slovaks were mostly wine drinkers. When Czechoslovakia split apart, the Czech Republic shot to number one position in terms of comsumption per capita.

Beer in the DDR in he 1980s (part three)

Just a short post today. Where we take a look at top-fermented beer in the DDR.

Which, in this book, means mostly Berliner Weisse. Because Porter, which could include Brettanomyces, had a primary bottom fermentation. It's a bit odd that it talks of Leipziger Gose as something belonging to the past, even though it had been revived when the book was written. Though Lichtenhainer, arguably a more obscure style, is spoken of as a living type.

Top-fermented beer should also be mentioned here. It used to play a leading role, but today it is produced less and less. Examples include the former Leipzig “Gose” and “Berliner Weiße”. In top-fermented beer, fermentation takes place at temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees, and the yeast, which sits at the bottom of bottom-fermented beer and is ultimately “harvested” there, rises to the surface and is top-fermented.

What would otherwise take ten days or more is done in three to four days with this beer. “Top-fermented” beer has a slightly sour and refreshing taste, which can be further refined with a “shot” of raspberry juice in “Berliner Weisse”. This characteristic taste is caused by lactic acid bacteria that are added to the wort along with the yeast. The best-known representative of top-fermented beers is the “Berliner Weisse”. Weissbier is also still brewed in Jena-Wöllnitz and is very popular as a local specialty. It is bottled but also served in neighbouring pubs.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, pages 51 - 52.

And, finally, we have a nice table. I do love me a table. 

Types of beer	OG (in %)	Characteristics	Minimum shelf life
Einfachbier	2.9-3.1	nutritious, malty	6 days
(Jung- und Braunbier, Malzbier)	5.9-6.2	beer, especially for sick people and expectant mothers (Doppelkaramel)
Schankbier (Weißbier)	8.7-9.3	top-fermented beer, only as “Berliner Weisse”	8 days
Vollbier (Hell, Schwarzbier, Diabetiker-Pils, Deutsches Pilsner, Deutsches Pilsner Spezial, Märzenbier)	11-14.3	forms the main part of beer production, with Pilsner the alcohol content is 3 to 4 percent, Exportbier is usually more heavily hopped	8 days for Hell, 10 days for Pilsner and 90 days for Spezial
Starkbier (Weißer Bock, Bockbier dunkel, Deutscher Porter)	15.7-18.3	strong beer, which has recently been preferred as a dark bock with a malty note; Porter is rarely on offer and combines the taste of malt with the bitterness of hops	10 days