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.

Berliner Weissbier - DDR style

This description of how to brew Berliner Weisse comes from "Leitfaden für den Brauer und Mälzer" by Rudolf Dickscheit, published in Leipzig in 1953, pages 161 to 163.

Much is very similar to the description in "Die Herstellung Obergährige Biere" published 50 years earlier.

In the DDR Berliner Weissbier is the most important top-fermenting beer, not just for the home market but also for export.

As already stated, Berliner Weissbier is a lactic acid beer. As a result of its high CO2 and lactic acid content it has a good thirst-quenching effect.

The method of production is mostly brewery-specific, which means to say that each firm has its own experience in production, which is handed on from generation to generation. The proportion of wheat to barley can vary greatly, from 1:1 to 4:1. Weissbier is only lightly hopped; it's generally brewed to an original gravity of between 8 and 9º; but sometimes to 12º and more. The mashing scheme is the infusion method.

The wort mostly wasn't boiled, but recently that has been done in order to avoid infection.

The mashing scheme can look like this:

Einmaischen 50º C 10 minutes
warm slowly to 69º C
Saccharification rest 69º C 30 minutes
draw off a third of the mash and boil with hops
Auf- und Abmaischen 76º C
Rest 76º C 30 minutes

After the rest in the Lauterbottich the wort is abgeläuteret and usually boiled for 15 to 30 minutes to strerilise it. Afterwards the wort is drawn off and left in the cool ship for 20 minutes. It's cooled to20-22º C and immediately pitched with yeast. About 0.5 of dickbreiige yeast is used per hectolitre of wort.

Also in this method pitching in a pitching tun is preferred.

To have a guarantee the the yeast begins working immediately after pitching, it's mostly pitched into a barrel with Vorderwürze. At the warm temperatures which are normal for top fermentation, it starts to work quickly. Only when it is fully working are the tuns pitched with this wort-yeast mixture.

The primary fermentation of Berliner Weissbier is conducted at around 18º to 20º C. About two to eight hours after pitching a thick head appears on the surface of the wort. To be able to harvest clean yeast, this head must be removed. This process starts about 6 hours after piching and continues until a clean, fatty-shining yeast layer appears.The harvesting of top-fermenting yeast occurs on the surface of the young beer. As soon as the clean yeast layer appears, harvesting begins and continues until no more yeast is produced.

The beer must be cooled during primary fermentation, but care must be taken not to scare off the yeast. Top-fermenting yeast is sensitive to large drops in temperature and once stopped through great cooling, only restarts working very slowly.

After 30 to 48 hours, depending on the temperature, the primary fermentation is complete. During primary fermentation as much extract as possible is fermented, that is every attempt is made to achieve the highest possible degree of attenuation.

As soon as primary fermentation is complete, the young beer is mixed with about 15% Kräusen and immediately filled into bottles or barrels.

Weissbier filled into transport barrels is delivered to Niederlagen and pubs to be filled into bottles.

Bier filled into bottles in the brewery is lagered there.

Lagering of Weissbier takes place at a cellar temperature of 15º C. If the cellar temperature is lower than 15º C, then secondary conditioning progresses too slowly, as does clarification. When the wort has been sterilised in the brewhouse, then lagering can be conducted at 20º C. The risk of infection isn't as great as with an unsterilised wort.

Weissbier yeast is a mixture, living in symbiosis, of top-fermenting beer yeast and lactic acid bacteria, which multiply greatly during the fermentation process, so that the proportion is about 1:1. The bacteria die during storage also relatively more quickly. The ratio of yeast to lactic acid bacteria changes then to around 4:1. Weissbier yeast cannot be watered or washed because the lactic acid bacteria can be too easily washed away.

The lactic acid bacteria in Berliner Weissbier yeast is not a single strain, but many strains which coexist.

Berliner Weissbier contains about 2 to 3% alcohol and 0.25% lactic acid. The lactic acid content can, however, vary greatly. The colder the primary fermentation, the worse the lactic acid bacteria develop and the less lactic acid in the beer.

As already mentioned, it was attempted to produce a Berliner Weissbier yeast in which top-fermenting beer yeast and delbrücki bacteria were brought together. However, this yeast-lactic acid bacteria mixture did not produce the characteristic Berliner Weissbier aroma. It is also very difficult to accustiom the two types of organism to a symbiosis.

Care must be taken during the production of Berliner Weissbier to prevent an acetic acid bacteria infection. Acetic acid bacteria produce an unpleasant tasting, scratchy sourness. The quality of the beer is through this considerably damaged.

Another unpleasant effect as a result of the infection is ropiness which appears because the beer becomes as viscous as oil on account of of the slimy shell around the bacteria, caused by pediococcus viscosus. Because Berliner Weissbier is usually stored relatively long, this characteristic disappears agaian. The slime dissolves or is broken down by enzymes. However, if it appears in summer, when Weissbier after a relatively shorter storage is packaged, then the cost price is considerably higher, because it's necessary to wait with packaging until the ropiness has disappeared.

Old hands assert that Berliner Weissbier acquires, after it has gone through ropiness, a pleasant, wine-fruity flavour.

In Berlin Berliner Weissbier is also partially stored in tanks. Unlike by bottle-conditioning, the Jungbier does not have 15% but 20 to 25% kräusen added. The tanks are under 2 atmospheres of pressure.

The level of sourness must be continally monitored. Practical brewers measure the amount of sourness by taste alone; in "Stups-Weißen", as Weissbier stored in tanks is called, it is 0.30 to 0.35%. When the lactic acid bacteria have created enough sourness, the tank is cooled to 0º C.

Should you want to give Weissbier an unlimited shelflife, the protein must be removed. Deglutan is usually used for this purpose.

For tank-stored beer, filling is performed using a high-pressure filler. Despite this, the eber must be cold to prevent CO2 coming out of solution and to prevent the beer from becoming wild.

Pasteurisation is out of the question for Berliner Weissbier as pasteurisation gives it a flavour that makes it unenjoyable.

Berliner Weissbier breweries in the 1890’s

Not written about Berliner Weisse for ages. And this wasn’t really planned.  I didn’t wake up this morning and think “Let’s look into Berliner Weisse”. (Actually, it was “I must  search for ‘keg beer’ in the newspaper archive.)

Strange, the way I stumble through research. And how I come to look in certain books.

This all started with Twitter. A tweet about a Berlin brewery I recognised. The former Schultheiss Weissbier brewery in Prenzlauer Berg. Which is what I tweeted back. Only to be told only Lager had ever been brewed there.

I was pretty sure I was right, if only because I can remember it being open. Where to look? A web search got me to the German Wiikipedia and one of my own web pages. Luckily I’ve an excellent book on Berliner Weisse, published by the VLB. "Die Berliner Weisse", by Gerolf Annemüller, Hans-J. Manger and Peter Lietz, published in 2008.

I needed to check whether it had been the Weißbierbrauerei E. Willner. One of the handy tables at the back of the book confirmed it was the brewery on Berlinerstrasse. I scanned the page to post on Twitter. Then thought that I may as well scan all the tables. Much easier to find stuff when it’s in an electronic form.

Here’s the first table:

Membership list of Vereins der Berliner Weißbierbrauereien E.V.
Nr	Firm	Boss	Address		These breweries still existed
				Street	1906	1914	year of closure
1	J. C. A. Richter & Co. Weißbierbrauerei	Alfred Richter	Hier C. 34	Rosenthalerstr. 51	X	X	ca. 1920
2	Berliner Weißbier Brauerei Akt. Ges. vorm. Carl Landre	Dir. Otto Ullrich	Hier. N. 37	Straßburgerstr. 6/8.	X	X	1927 merged with Breithaupt
3	C. Breithaupt Weißbierbrauerei	C. Breithaupt	Hier. N.O. 18.	Pallisadenstr. 97.	X	X	1927, s. Nr. 2
4	Berliner Export Weißbierbrauerei C. & 0. Fischer	O. Fischer	Rixdorf *) Hier. S.O. 26	Prinz Handjerystr. 78/79 Waldemarstr. 74	X	—	1912
5	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Jul. Boehm	Max Rauch	Hier. C. 25	Prenzlauerstr. 16.	—	—	ca. 1906
6	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Friedrichstadt Jul. Borsdorf	Julius Borsdorf	Hier. N.O. 43.	Neue Königstr. 32.	—	—	1896
7	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Ed. Gebhardt A. G.	Dir. Bernh. Gebhardt	Hier. N. 20.	Prinzen Allee 79/80.	X	—	1913 merged with Groterjan
8	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei und Malzfabrik Albert Bier	Alb. Paegeiow	Hier. C. 2.	Stralauerstr. 3/6.	X	—	ca. 1910
9	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei E. Willner	Gust. Pradel	Pankow	Berlinerstr. 80/82.	X	X	ca. 1990/91
10	Gabriel & Jaeger Weißbierbrauerei	F. W. Gabriel	Hier. N. 54.	Zehdenickerstr. 9 / Choriner Str.	X	~	1913 (an KindlAG)
11	Hartmann's Brauerei	Wwe. Hartmann	Reinickendorf	Scharnweberstr. 101/2.	X	X	ca. 1914
12	Berliner Weißbierbrauerei Carl Richter	Carl Richter	Hier. N. 39.	Dalldorferstr. 23.	X	X	1964 (an KindlAG)
13	Weißbierbrauerei vorm. H. A. Bolle AG.	Dir. Hugo Riedel	Hier. N. 24.	Friedrichstr. 128.	X	X	1932
14	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Fiedler & Billep	Otto Billep	Schoeneberg	Sedanstr. 73/75.	X	-	1912
15	Bert. Bierbrauerei Act. Ges. vorm. F. W. Hilsebein	Dir. Max Wem berger	Hier. O. 17.	Koppenstr. 61/69.	X	-	1911, brewing operations to Carl Landré, after that maltster
16	A. Landre Weißbierbrauerei	Emil Kaufmann	Hier. C. 2.	Stralauerstr. 36/37.	X	X	1917 to Carl landré
17	S. D. Moewes WeJßbierbrauerei	R. Materne	Hier. C. 2.	Hoher Steinweg 6/7.	X	-	1912
18	Vereinigte Berliner Weißbier-Brauereien G.m.b.H.	Dir. Paul Zoeppritz	Weißensee	Brauhausstr 2/5.	X	X	ca. 1914
19	Rud. Frömchen Weißbierbrauerei	Rud. Frömchen	Hier. N. 20.	Wiesenstr. 43	X	-	ca. 1910; 1931 reopened; until 1948
20	Christ. Stauch WeJßbierbrauerei	Christian Stauch	Hier. N. 39.	Wildenowstr. 4.	X	X	ca. 1920
21	Berliner Weißbierbrauerei Act. Ges. (vorm. Gericke)	Dir. Arno Freyknecht	Hier. N. 28.	Rheinsbergerstr. 43/45.	X	-	1911
22	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei Max Füllgrabe	Max Füllgrabe	Hier. N. 20.	Stettinerstr. 20.	X	X	1920
23	Alb. Laue WeJßbierbrauerei	Prok. A. Laue	Hier. O. 27.	Andreasstr. 8.	X	X	1923
24	Rud. Braun WeJßbierbrauerei	Rudolf Braun	Charl. 1.	Berlinerstr. 74. (Lützowstr. ???)	X	X	ca. 1920
25	Berl. Weißbierbrauerei W. Bönnhoff	W. Bönnhoff	Hier. N. 39.	Schulzendorferstr. 3/3a.	X	-	ca. 1906
Spelling as in the original
The bosses of the numbers 1 through 3 are marked as Board of Directors.
*) The address Rixdorf, Prince Handjerystr. was obviously added later.
Source:
"Die Berliner Weisse", by Gerolf Annemüller, Hans-J. Manger and Peter Lietz, 2008, page 319.

Bit thin just that, isn’t it?

I know. Another table. Now there’s an outrageous claim by another beer writer about hundreds of Weissbier breweries in Berlin. Here are some real numbers:

Number of Weissbier breweries in Berlin (in brackets limited companies)
1844	12	1872	17	1895	34 (4)	1916	23 (2)
1849	13	1875	17 (3)	1899	49 (4)	1918	11 (2)
1855	12	1877	19 (3)	1905	51 (4)	1920	9 (2)
1860	13	1880	25 (3)	1909	39 (5)	1924	12 (3)
1865	13	1885	35 (4)	1912	38 (4)	1928	14 (2)
1870	16	1890	40 (4)	1914	25 (2)	1933	14 (2)
						1940	10 (1)
Source:
"Die Berliner Weisse", by Gerolf Annemüller, Hans-J. Manger and Peter Lietz, 2008, page 319.

Not quite 700, are there?

There will be more from the book, arsing allowing.

Berliner Weisse (part four)

We're now up to the late 19th century.

Berliner Weisse retained its popularity in, managing to keep the new-fangled Bavarian beer - Lager as we would call it - at bay, at least for a while. It was consumed in specialist pubs, called "Weissbier Ausschank". These were mostly hidden away on quiet side streets and frequented almost exclusively by regulars.

Here’s a description of such an Ausschanke by a British journalist:

“Before every one stood a gigantic tumbler, containing a liquid, pale and clear as Rhine wine, and surmounted by a huge crown of froth. This was the famous "weiss". The liquor being ordered and duly brought, we observed that the quart bottle filled not more than one-third of the large glass, the voluminous bead of froth not only occupying the remaining space but foaming over the sides. Hence the necessity for such capacious tumblers, which a novice is only able to raise to his lips by the aid of both hands. Not so however, the experienced weissbier-drinker, who by long practice has acquired the knack of balancing, as it were, the bottom of the glass on his outstretched little finger, while he grasps the side with the remaining fingers and thumb of the same hand. A preliminary nip of kummel (aniseed) is considered de rigueur, and, this disposed of, the Berliner will drink his four quarts of "kuhle blonde" as weissbier is poetically termed by its admirers - as readily as his native sand sucks in a summer shower;”
Aberdeen Journal - Wednesday 26 February 1879, page 8.

The glasses in which Weissbier was served were indeed enormous, looking more like a small fish tank than a drinking vessel.

Unlike today, Berliner Weisse came in a variety of strengths. In addition to the usual Schankbier – 8-10º Plato, 3-3.5% - there were also ones at Vollbier (12º Plato, 5% ABV), Märzen (14º Plato, 5.5% ABV) or Starkbier strength (16º Plato, 6.5% ABV).

One last surprise, according to Schönfeld, a brewing scientist based in Berlin and who spent his career studying the style in great detail, until 1860 Berliner Weisse was brewed with smoked malt.

You can see from this table that there was a considerable variation in strength in the second half of the 19th century:

Berliner Weisse 1850 - 1908
Year	Brewer	country	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenua-tion
1850	Unknown, Berlin	Germany	0.85	1032.5	1015.9	2.13	50.12%
1850	Unknown, Berlin	Germany		1037.8	1022.3	1.98	40.00%
1887	Berliner Actien Brauerei	Germany	0.363	1022.6	1019.3	1.18	14.21%
1890	Berliner	Germany		1051.05	1013	4.89	73.95%
1895	Berliner Export Brauerei	Germany		1043.5	1009.8	4.40	76.65%
1895	Berliner G	Germany		1039.9	1011.4	3.64	70.60%
1895	Unknown, Berlin	Germany		1040.9	1007.1	4.41	81.97%
1898	Unknown, Berlin	Germany		1038.2	1011	3.52	71.20%
1908	Herman F. Wilms	USA				1.56	0.00%
Sources:
“Archive der Pharmacie”, 1855, pages 216-217
Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830
Handwörterbuch der reinen und angewandten Chemie by Justus Liebig, Johann Christian Poggendorff, Friedrich Wöhler, 1858, page 1038
"Handbuch der chemischen technologie" by Otto Dammer, Rudolf Kaiser, 1896, pages 696-697
Brockhaus' konversations-lexikon, Band 2 by F.A. Brockhaus, 1898 http://books.google.de/books?id=oZ5PAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA999&dq=bierdruckapparat+konversationslexikon#PPA1000,M1
"Pure products" published by The Scientific Station for Pure Products, 1909, page 212

There have been some pretty wild assertions about hundreds of Weissbier breweries in Berlin in the early 19th century. I won’t name names, but the source of this story is a writer not renowned for historical accuracy. The reality was somewhat different, as this table shows: 

Number of Weissbier breweries in Berlin (in brackets limited companies)
1844	12	1872	17	1895	34 (4)	1916	23 (2)
1849	13	1875	17 (3)	1899	49 (4)	1918	11 (2)
1855	12	1877	19 (3)	1905	51 (4)	1920	9 (2)
1860	13	1880	25 (3)	1909	39 (5)	1924	12 (3)
1865	13	1885	35 (4)	1912	38 (4)	1928	14 (2)
1870	16	1890	40 (4)	1914	25 (2)	1933	14 (2)
						1940	10 (1)
Source:
"Die Berliner Weisse", by Gerolf Annemüller, Hans-J. Manger and Peter Lietz, 2008, page 319.

Berliner Weisse - the modern version

As a prologue to my epic series of Berliner Weisse posts, I'm going to cheat. Well, not exactly cheat, but use material provided by someone else. Stuff documenting modern (post -1960) Berliner Weisse.

It's been provided by Lachlan (thanks, man). My head is so firmly stuck up the past's arse , that I barely notice what's happening today.

From German Wheat Beer, by Eric Warner, 1992:

"At the Schultheiss brewery in Berlin, the wort is pitched and blended with three- to six-month-old beer. Once the fermentation is underway, the lactic acid bacteria rise to the surface and are harvested in traditional fashion along with the top-fermenting yeast. The yeast is repitched as quickly as possible, because the amount of lactic acid will rise within a few days to concentrations that will inhibit not only the the yeast, but the lactic acid bacteria themselves. Although the wort is relatively weak and normal fermentations temperatures are used, it takes about four days for the wort to attenuate to the desired degree because of the inhibiting effect the lactic acid has on the yeast. Unlike Hefe Weissbier, Berliner Weisse is not completely attenuated in the fermentatiton cellar; rather, it is attenuated to about 80 percent of its limit.

There is no set manner in which the conditioning of Berliner Weisse takes place, but all methods use a form of kraeusening to aid the maturation of the beer. The faster of these methods involves adding about 10 percent kraeusen to the young beer in a mixing tank just prior to bottling. After bottling, the beer is subjected to warm secondary fermentation at approximately 15 deg C before it is cooled to 8 to 10 deg C for the cold conditioning. Again, as is the case with other styles of Weissbier, the warm conditioning phase serves to jump-start the secondary fermentation and develop the CO2 in the beer. Berliner Weisse produced in this manner is ready for distribution after a total of about five weeks.

According to Michael Jackson in his World Guide to Beer, the Schultheiss brewery believes that this time frame is much too limiting to allow the beer to develop its full character. After the primary fermentation the beer spends three to 12 months in the conditioning cellar at the very warm temperatures of 15 to 25 deg C. These temperatures promote lactic acid fermentation, which results in an extremely low pH of 3.0 and an incredibly high apparent degree of attenuation of 98.4 percent. The beer is then kraeusened prior to bottling and, as if the lactic quality weren't enhanced enough, another dose of Lacto. delbrueckii is added to the primed Weisse. The Schultheiss Weisse is then stored in the bottle at temperatures of 18 to 25 deg C for four weeks before it is released for sale."

From "Inside Berlin's Own Beer by Dennis Davison, Zymurgy Vol. 19 No. 5 Winter 1996:

"Schultheiss has modified their process to expedite the process. Today (1996) the beer is boiled just enough to settle unwanted solids and a mixture of multistrain ale yeast and Lactobacillus Delbrueckii are used. Schultheiss adds a percentage of three- to six-month-old Berliner to the fermenter. The beer is fermented at 20 to 25 deg C for four days then aged in secondary from threee to six days at 15 to 25 deg C. The beer is then kraeusened and bottle condidtion for up to four weeks before release, but never pasteurised.

Berliner Kindl uses a nontraditional method. The initial wort is divided in half and each yeast is fermented separately, one with a standard ale yeast, Sacch. cerevisiae, the other with a homofermentative strain of Lacto. delbrueckii. These worts are fermented at 15 to 25 deg C for at least one week. The two batches are then blended in the secondary and aged for only a few months at 5 to 10 deg C. The beer is bottled with fresh kraeusen and allowed to carbonate. This method produces fewer esters compared to the traditional method, and less lactic intensity."

A comparison with early 20th century methods of Berliner Weisse production will be very revealing, I'm sure. I can't wait. Can you?

Berliner Weisse (part 93)

After my mammoth translation session last year, I thought I knew a thing or two about Berliner Weisse. Not everything by a long chalk, as it turns out.

I don't know how the VLB book "Die Berliner Weiße" slipped beneath my radar. It was published last year. I only spotted it last week, after seeing a review in the PINT magazine. A whole book, just about Berliner Weisse. Right down my Strasse.

I own several VLB publications, mostly yearbooks from 1900 to 1925. Full of fascinating facts, they are. If only they weren't printed in Gothic typeface. You can see an example here.

Where was I? Berliner Weisse, that was it. I thought I knew pretty well how it was made, after all the technical descriptions I've translated. Well, it turns out there was something everyone missed until the second half of the 20th century. And which came as a great surprise to me. Want to know what it was?

It turns out there's more than just the mixed lactic acid bacteria/yeast culture involved in Berliner Weisse's fermentation. Something I thought wasn't found in German beer: Brettanomyces. Turns out that, on closer investigation, much of the distinctive aroma is formed by a long, slow secondary conditioning in the bottle by Brettanomyces. The reason no-one spotted it was because it wasn't deliberately added but just picked up somewhere in the brewery.

Red face time. I've told homebrewers on beer forums a couple of times that Brettanomyces is entirely inappropriate in a Berliner Weisse. Turns out it's actually essential. You live and learn, eh?


Source:
"Die Berliner Weiße" published by VLB Berlin, 2008, pages 85 - 88.

Berliner Weisse according to Grenell

I can never get enough of Berliner Weisse. It’s strange how this obscure style – it never made up more than a tiny percentage of the beer brewed in Germany – has had so much written about it. Easily the best documented of all German beer types.

The text below confirms some of the odder characteristics of Berliner Weisse. Namely that it was originally brewed using smoked wheat malt and that it was often watered down at bottling time. Also, that there was a Märzen-strength version.

I’ll let Grenell explain further.

“BERLINER WEISSE.
Original gravity: 12%, Märzen: 15-15% balling.
Berliner Weisse is a very refreshing, highly-carbonated, slightly sour drink, and is particularly enjoyed in the summer mixed with fruit juice.

As it is produced nowadays, it is quite different from the old version, as in the past a smoked wheat malt was used, the yeast changed after every third brew, and a new batch brought from Cottbus; furthermore, in the middle of the last century, Weissbier was usually sold as a young beer, shipped immediately to publicans, and further fermented by them, and then bottled with some barm, with a little water added, and therefore they were called Ganz- or Vollweisse [whole or full Weisse]. Heavily watered beer was delivered as Halbweisse [half Weisse] at a cheap price.

The brewing process is similar to Einfachbier. 3 parts of wheat malt and 1 part of barley malt or 2/3 of wheat malt and 1/3 barley malt are used. Both malts, on account of the different grain sizes, are milled separately, and the wheat malt, for a better yield,  is milled finer; additionally the malt is mostly assembled in bins the day before, and lightly sprinkled (with 1-2% of water) in order to make the husks crush more easily. However, the wheat malt itself is to be kept dry.

In the authentic brewing process the wort is not boiled, but is mashed in at 61-62° R. [76.25º - 77.5º C], pumped directly from a grant to the cooler, and left there for as short a time as possible, the best way to do this is to let it flow through the cooler and then over the chilling apparatus into a large pitching tun.

The hop charge of 375-500 gr. Per Zentner [50 kg] of malt is boiled for 5 minutes before mashing in the mash tun and then used with the brewing water to brew the mash, that is, cold water is added to bring the whole mash to 28° R [35º C] h and the quantity is calculated so as to produce 1 hectolitre of original wort per Zentner [50 kg] of malt. It is mashed at the above temperature with the rakes moving constantly.

The mash out temperature of 61-61° R. [76.25º - 76.25º C] is necessary, if one does not wish to run a great danger of infection; however, one should not go higher in order not to weaken the "diastase" too much and thus prevent saccharification. The lauter tun should, of course, be well insulated compound in order to prevent it cooling. Once the wort is in the pitching tun it should be immediately pitched yeast!”
"Die Fabrikation obergäriger Biere in Praxis und Theorie" by Braumeister Grenell, 1907, pages 68 - 70. (My translation.)

Not boiling the wort was typical of 20th-century Berliner Weisse production. Partly to keep the colour of the finished beer incredibly pale. You can see why that would form a risk of infection, hence the care taken to quickly cool and pitch the wort with yeast.

A ratio to two parts wheat malt to one of barley is the classic grist, but by no means fixed. There were even versions without any wheat at all sometimes in the 20th century. Which is a bit of a cheek. Though that was Kindl and their Berliner Weisse always was crap.

The current incarnation of Berliner Weisse at only Schankbier (8º Plato) strength is fairly recent. Stronger versions existed in the 20th century. Not sure when they disappeared, but the post-war DDR-brewed Märzen-Weisse was Märzen in name only, still being Schankbier strength.