First up is Weißbier. The Bavarian type. Do you want to hear something weird? I have next to no material on what is the commonest type of German top-fermenting beer. Weizen. Not quite sure why that is. Could be that my attention is always draw to the bizarre extinct styles.I was surprised by the assertion that it was brewed from 100% wheat. And that isinglass was added to the bottles. The second type, brewed from mostly barley, sounds rather like Dampfbier. Or a cross between Dampofbier and Kristall Weizen.
"For Weißbier (not to be confused with Berliner Weißbier), as it is brewed for example in Bavaria, only wheat malt is used; after primary fermentation about 10% sterile Vorderwürze and isinglass are added. This helps both the production of CO2 during bottle conditioning and the settling of the yeast. Another Weißbier is brewed from barley malt with at most a small amount of wheat malt, it is lagered at 5º to 7º with wood chips then filtered and bottled with little Krausen. From this beer a clear appearance and plenty of foam in the glass are demanded.
"Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie, Volume 4, Part 1", 1915, page 303. My translation.
Einfachbier. Now there's a good one. Beers with minimal quantities of alcohol and lots of sweetness. It's not quite extinct. Not that could tell you where to find one. I believe they are still top-fermented sometimes. That's probably so they can be loaded with sugar, which would be illegal in a bottom-fermenter. By current German law, Einfachbier must be below 7º Plato.
"The top-fermenting beers known as Einfachbier are usually dark in colour, their orginal gravity is mostly between 5º and 7º Balling. Sometimes they are made from malt with or without the addition of sugar, other times from the last runnings with sugar and Couleur or Farbmalz added. After primary fermentation in a tun or a barrel, these beers are either put into transport barrels, briefly bunged and then served or they are left undergo a secondary fermentation often lasting two or three weeks and after the addition of Krausen sent to be served, either from the barrel or bottle. Jung- or Frischbier are the lightly-fermented worts of Eifachbier which are mostly sold directly from the brewery by the liter, their small amount of yeast is usally added immediately before sale."
"Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie, Volume 4, Part 1", 1915, pages 303-304. My translation.
Süßbier tomorrow. Or the day after. Something like that. It all depends on how I quickly I get through Thomas Usher's WW I brewing records.
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6 comments:
Mühlen in Cologne made a genuine Malzbier with about 2% alcohol or something, not sure whether they still do. There are probably a few others.
I don't actually know how the mass market malt drinks like Vitamalz and Karamalz are made. They're labelled Malztrunk which must mean they're not legally beer.
These old Einfachbiere sound an awful lot like mild to me.
I hesistate to stray into technical areas but I'm sure I've read somewhere - in one of Michael Jackson's books maybe - that a 100%wheat beer wouldn't work as only barley malt contains the sugars that are capable of being converted into alcohol.
Matt, 100% wheat beers are possible. The reason they aren't usually made is a physical one. Wheat husks aren't as coarse as barley ones and consequently don't filter the mash as efficiently.
De Schans used to brew a 100% wheat beer.
Wheat malt has NO husk at all. Its easy to get around this by adding by husk material (rice hulls or whatever).
It's called Malzbier and has no alocohol; the label is misleading - it's not VEB.
Schultheiss and Berliner Kindel were the top two breweries in (West) Berlin.
It's kid's beer - sort of German version of Rootbeer
Schultheiss and Kindl both had breweries in East and West Berlin. I can remember it very well.
Malzbier and Einfachbier isn't the same thing.
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