Beer in the DDR (part 6)

Today we continue with the individual beer styles of the DDR.

What I find fascinating is how they were mostly pretty much the same as in West Germany. But not exactly. And how there were some styles which were unique to the DDR. Schwarzbier being a good example of a beer which only really existed in the East.

There are multiple slides on Berliner Weisse because, well, I have more information. And I particularly liked the version brewed in the East, at the former Willner brewery. It was a wonderful beer. Sour, bone dry and very complex. You just had to ignore the funny looks when you ordered it "ohne Schüss", that is, without syrup. I don't think I ever saw anyone else drinking it straight.

I was recently given a bottle from the 1980s. I'm saving it until I can find someone who can culture up whatever is in it in the way of yeast and bacteria. Having seen photos of the brewery, where there were open wooden fermenters, I imagine that there's quite a cocktail of microflora.

Porter is a style which while not unique to the East, was much more common there than in the West. Not sure exactly why that was. The eastern version was remarkably authentic, having a top-fermenting primary fermentation and a Brettanomyces secondary.

Doppel-Karamel was unique to the DDR. And really weird. It was brewed as a 6º Plato Dunkel Malzbier, then, after primary fermentation sugar was added to bring the virtual OG up to 12º Plato. Amazingly, a couple of breweries in the former DDR still brew examples.

The base low-gravity Dunkel Malzbier was also sold straight. Surprisingly, not just in bottled form, but also on draught. Not sure how common that was. I certainly never came across it in that form.