Swedish beers 1868-1892

I bet you haven't been able to sleep, have you, waiting for the next installment on late 19th century Swedish brewing? Today's your lucky day.

Wiener Bryggeriet
First we'll take a look at Wiener Bryggeriet of Skockholm in the period 1868-1882. In 1868, output was 65% Svensköl and 33% Bayerskt öl. By the next year Svensköl had dropped to just 7.5% and Bayerskt öl risen to 90%. In 1882, it was 2% Svensköl and 96% Bayerskt öl. The brewery also produced four other beer types: Svagdricka, Iskällerdricka, Skänköl and Farsköl. Together, these never accounted for more than 2% of total production. In 1868 the brewery experimented with Kulmbacher and Viener style beer, but never put them into production. Brewing of Pilsner on a very small scale began in 1881.

Their Bayerskt öl had an OG varying between 15.3º and 18º Balling, with a final gravity of 7 to 9º Balling, though was sometimes as low as 5º Balling. The finished beer was approximately 5.5% ABW (6.9% ABV) and was lagered for 2 to 3 months.

Their Svensköl had an OG of 12º Balling, was dark, top-fermenting, brewed using an infusion mash and stored for 2 to 3 weeks before sale.

Their Iskällerdricka was a bottom-fermenting beer with an OG of 9º Balling. It was only brewed 2 to 5 times a year.

Until 1875 their Svagdricka was top-fermented using and infusion mash. After that date, a decoction mash and a bottom-fermenting yeast were used. It was only brewed 3 to 8 times a year.

Hopping rates:
Bayerskt öl - 600 g hops per 100 kg malt
Pilsner - 1 kg hops per 100 kg malt
Svensköl - 700-850 g hops per 100 kg malt
Svagdricka - 600 g hops per 100 kg malt

Hops from Bavaria and Brunswick were used for the Bayerskt öl, Swedish hops for the Svensköl and Svagdricka.

(Source: "Grönwalls bryggeri, Nürnbergs bryggeri och Wienerbryggeri" by Samuel E. Bring, pages 252 - 260)


Swedish beer strengths in 1892
Analyses of beer from different breweries, performed in 1892.

Beer type - average OG - max OG - min OG
Porter 18.5º - 23º - 14.8º
Bayerst öl 13.9º - 18.4º - 10.5º
Pilsner-öl 11.9º - 14.3º - 7.4º
Iskallerdricka 8.5º - 11.4º - 5.3º
Svensk-öl 12.3º - 18.4º - 6.7º
Svadricka:
early 6.3º - 8.8º - 4.2º
later 5º - 7.4º - 3º

As you can see, there was considerable variation between different samples.

(Source: "Svenska Bryggareföreningen 75 år", by Bertil Nordenfelt)