German top-fermenting styles in 1915 (part three)

Fun. That's that funny feeling of happiness we all experience now and again. Though probably not it in the next few minutes. Yes, I'm still banging on about German top-fermenting beer styles. In 1915.

As you'll be able to see from the label I've so thoughtfully provided as an illustration, it wasn't just sugar that was used to sweeten these beers. They used artificial sweeteners, too. For some reason that was allowed, even in the Reinheitsgebot days. It's amazing how many ingredients - other than the malt, hops, water, yeast - were allowed under the RHG.

"Süßbier and Malzbier, also Doppelbier and Kraftbier, are without exception dark in colour and have a sweet taste. The latter rests partly on the malt used in their manufacture; the minimum quantity of malt is, for such beers as Malzbier or those beers which have "Malz" in their name and are made with sugar, in the North German Brausteuergebiet legally set at a minimum of 15 kg per hectolitre. The sweet taste in these beers is also partly derived from sugar, which however is not used in all such products. The original gravity of these beers derived from malt differs greatly, however names such as "Doppel-", "Kraft-" and suchlike imply an especially concentrated wort, in whose manufacture at least the amount of malt normally used for bottom-fermenting Lager is employed. The malt is usually high-dried, and contains an addition of up to 10% Karamlemalz. It is coloured with Farbmalz, Farbebier or Biercouleur. Mashing schemes vary greatly and hopping is very light. For fermentation only lightly-attenuating yeast is used; lagering is performed in several ways according to one of the methods described. The addition of sugar, often in the form of a concentrated water solution, which these beers undergo, amounts to between 2 and 5 kg per hectolitre of beer and usually occurs during filling."
"Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie, Volume 4, Part 1", 1915, page 304. My translation.

Broyhan is next. That's the beer I'd most like to see revived. If only I could work out how the hell it was brewed. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow.

German top-fermenting styles in 1915 (part one)

I told you I'd translate the section on top-fermenting beers in "Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie". Not all at once though. It's too long and I'm a deeply lazy person.

A little general stuff to start off:

"German top-fermenting beers can be divided into four large goups (according to Schönfeld): Süß- or Einfachbier, smoky bitter beers (Grätzer), Bitterbier similar to Lagerbier and sour beers (Berliner Weißbier).

Most German top-fermenting beers are in the group Süß- or Einfachbier. They are as varied in name as they are in colour, brewing methods and flavour. The majority of these beers (Weißbier, Weizenbier, Malzbier, Doppelbier, Kraftbier, Broyhan, Werdersches Bier, Hamburger „Beer" etc.) are, through the use of Farbmalz or Couleur, coloured dark and are to a greater of lesser degree sweet in flavour, which derives partlt from the addition of sugar. The orignal gravity of varies between 5º and 7º Balling for many Einfachbier to 20º Balling for some Doppel- and Kraftbieren. The worts are prepared from barley malt, wheat malt or a mixture of the two. In many, up to 20% of the grist is made up of sugar. Fermentation takes place in tuns or barrels of widely varying sizes and lasts for two or three days at a temperature of 18º-20º C; for secondary fermentation some beer is filled into transport casks from the tun and sold after being briefly bueged up, other beer is put unbunged (ungespundet) into small casks in which it will be later transported and left to condition. A strong, foamy head is demanded of all these beers, the degree of attenuation is usually low. Sugar is added to many of these beers just before bottling and their shelf-life is increased by pasteurisation at 55 to 60º C."
"Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie, Volume 4, Part 1", 1915, page 303. My translation.

More tomorrow. I think. Unless anything particularly fascinating pops out of my Scottish material.

Again, in case you don't believe my translation, here's the original German:

Die deutschen obergärigen Biere lassen sich in vier große Gruppen einteilen (Schönfeld): Süß oder Einfachbiere, rauchig-bittere Biere (Grätzer), dem untergärigen Lagerbier ähnliche Bitterbiere und säuerliche Biere (Berliner Weißbier).

Die große Gruppe der Süß- oder Einfach- biere bilden die Hauptmenge der in Deutschland hergestellten obergärigen Biere. Sie sind ebenso verschieden dem Namen, als der Farbe, der Herstellungsart und dem Geschmack nach. Die meisten dieser Biere (Weißbier, Weizenbier, Malzbier, Doppelbier, Kraftbier, Broyhan, Werdersches Bier, Hamburger „Beer" u. a.) sind indessen durch Zusatz von Farbmalz oder Couleur dunkel gefärbt und besitzen einen mehr oder weniger süßen Geschmack, der seinen Ursprung zum Teil in dem den Bieren zugesetzten Zucker hat. Die Konzentration der Stammwürzen dieser Biere schwankt von 5 bis 7 Proz. Bllg bei vielen Einfachbieren, bis zu über 20 Proz. bei einigen Doppel- und Kraftbieren. Die Würzen werden teils aus Gersten-, teils aus Weizenmalz, oft auch aus Gemischen beider Malze hergestellt. Manche Malze erhalten einen Zuckerzusatz, der bis zu 20 Proz. der Schüttung beträgt . Die Gärung in Bottichen oder Fässern verschiedenster Größe dauert bei einer Temperatur von meist 15 bis 18° etwa zwei bis drei Tage; zur Nachgärung werden die Biere teils vom Bottich auf Transportgebinde gefüllt und nach kurzer Spundung ausgeschenkt, teils zunächst ungespundet in kleinen Fässern, in denen sie dann später zum Versand gelangen, der Nachgärung überlassen. Von allen diesen Bieren wird ein starkes Moussieren verlangt, der Vergärungsgrad ist meist niedrig. Viele dieser Biere erhalten den Zuckerzusatz erst kurz vor dem Abfüllen auf Flaschen, man erhöht ihre Haltbarkeit durch Pasteurisation bei 55 bis 60°.