A load more Lagerbiers from the North

I'm a bit reluctant to say "North Germany" because many of these beers are from places no longer in Germany. They were at the time, though.

One of the columns in my enormous spreadsheet of beer details is country. For place that have switched nationality over the last century or so, my choice is always likely to be arbitrary. More based on my convenience rather than being a political statement. So breweries in Prague and Pilsen I class as Czech, ones in Vienna and Graz as Austrian. It can't possibly be perfect. Where's the right country to assign to Königsberg? Russia? I don't think so.

But I'm wandering off again. As you can see, these are odds and sods or anonymous. Not the best sets ever. You'll probably be delighted to hear that his will be the Lagerbiers done. I've only just started extracting the Exports so there may be a small pause in this series. You know me, I'll get to it eventually.

As I'll eventually get to discussing these beers. Beginning with those from Königsberg, formerly capital of East Prussia, now part of Russia. I wonder if there's a brewery there today?  All five beers from Königsberg are towards the top end of the scale. Interesting to see an Autumn beer - Herbstbier - for the first time. It looks like a Bock to me. With that crap degree of attenuation it resembles a Munich Bock of the period

Random Northeast German Lagerbiers 1880 - 1897
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %	CO2 %
1880	Wickholder	Königsberg	März-Bräu	Märzen	1054.6	1019.0	13.51	4.60	65.20%		0.230
1880	Ponarther	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1056.3	1025.0	13.91	4.03	55.60%		0.250
1880	Woriener	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1056.5	1017.2	13.96	5.10	69.56%		0.180
1880	Schönbuchser	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1062.0	1018.8	15.23	5.60	69.65%		0.190
1880	Schönbuchser	Königsberg	Herbstbier	Herbstbier	1065.4	1026.5	16.01	5.01	59.45%		0.240
	Average				1058.9	1021.3	14.52	4.87	63.89%		0.218
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Königstadt	Lagerbier Hell	Helles	1056.0	1015.7	13.84	5.24	71.96%	0.141	0.346
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Königstadt	Lagerbier Dunkel	Dunkles	1061.9	1023.8	15.22	4.93	61.55%	0.148	0.323
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Friedrichshain	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	1065.8	1024.6	16.12	5.33	62.61%		0.295
	Average				1061.2	1021.4	15.06	5.16	65.38%	0.145	0.321
1894	Unknown	Breslau	Lagerbier?	Lagerbier	1045.7	1010.0	11.40	4.64	78.12%		0.247
1897	Unknown	Breslau	Lagerbier?	Lagerbier	1048.7	1014.6	12.10	4.41	69.99%	0.161	0.322
	Average				1047.2	1012.3	11.75	4.53	74.05%	0.161	0.285
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Talking of Munich Bockbier, there are a whole load of Salvator analyses coming up. Lots from Zacherl, but also other breweries.

Where was I? Königsberg beers. Pretty poor attenuation overall. They must have had a lot of body, these beers. No lactic acid number, so I've no idea how acidic they were. The Märzen actually looks much like a modern version, apart from the crappy attenuation.

Next three random beers from Berlin. Note the big difference between the attenuation of the Helles and the Dunkles. You quite often see that today, too, that Dunkles has a lower degree of attenuation. I suppose because drinkers expect more body. The acidity is, as with just about every other set, quite high. You'll see something very odd when we get to Berliner Weisse. But I won't spoil that now. The CO2 level is the highest we've seen. Does that mean they liked their beer fizzier in Berlin? Too small a sample to really say. Though Berliner Weisse, a very highly-carbonated style, was popular in the city.

Now for the Erfurt beers. Did I mention that I spent my wedding night in Erfurt? The next day we lost Eddie when he was distracted by a group of Russian soldiers. The Erfurt beer was really good. Angerbräu Pils was one of my favourite DDR beers. Lovely stuff, especially on draught, Really nice and hoppy.

Erfurt Lagerbiers 1879
Year	Brewer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %	CO2 %
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1045.9	1010.6	11.45	4.59	76.91%	0.16	0.25
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1047.0	1016.5	11.71	3.94	64.89%	0.15	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1047.5	1014.1	11.83	4.33	70.32%	0.15	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1048.7	1013.9	12.12	4.51	71.46%	0.09	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1048.7	1015.0	12.12	4.36	69.20%	0.15	0.21
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1049.1	1011.5	12.21	4.89	76.58%	0.12	0.27
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1050.6	1016.4	12.57	4.43	67.59%	0.06	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1050.8	1017.6	12.61	4.30	65.35%	0.10	0.18
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.0	1019.0	12.66	4.14	62.75%	0.11
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.3	1015.3	12.73	4.66	70.18%	0.11	0.25
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.7	1021.2	12.83	3.94	58.99%	0.09	0.10
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1052.0	1013.7	12.90	4.98	73.65%	0.13	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1054.1	1015.6	13.39	5.00	71.16%	0.06	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1054.2	1013.3	13.40	5.31	75.44%		0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.2	1016.7	13.65	4.99	69.75%	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.4	1016.3	13.70	5.08	70.58%	0.11	0.10
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.5	1016.3	13.72	5.09	70.63%	0.10	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1057.5	1018.7	14.19	5.03	67.48%	0.09	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1063.7	1015.1	15.63	6.34	76.30%
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1067.6	1022.8	16.53	5.80	66.27%	0.09	0.08
	Average		1052.9	1016.0	13.10	4.78	69.77%	0.11	0.18
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Right, Erfurt Lagerbiers. There's a fair spread of gravities but, once again, the average comes out to about 1053. Attenuation, at just under 70%, is a bit worse than most other sets. Though for once, at 0.11%, the lactic acid content is almost reasonable. Interesting how much lower the CO2 content is compared to the Berlin samples.

As a special treat, here are some modern beers from Erfurt - including Angerbräu Pils:

Walhaus-Bräu, Erfurt beers in 2014
Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Waldhaus-Bräu	Helles?	1048.6	1010.2	12.1	5.00	79.03%
Stock-Dunkel	Dunkles	1049.1	1009.9	12.2	5.10	79.82%
Märzenbier	Märzen	1056.7	1015.9	14	5.30	71.95%
Weizen	Weizen	1050.3	1011.9	12.5	5.00	76.35%
Maibock	Maibock	1069.2	1020.7	16.9	6.30	70.09%
Rotbier	Rotbier	1049.1	1013.6	12.2	4.60	72.28%
Rauchbier	Rauchbier	1050.3	1011.9	12.5	5.00	76.35%
EM-Festbier	Helles	1048.2	1009.8	12	5.00	79.67%
Oktoberbock	Bock	1067.5	1017.6	16.5	6.50	73.98%
Doppelbock	Doppelbock	1076.2	1018.8	18.5	7.50	75.33%
Weihnachtsbier	Festbier	1058.8	1016.5	14.5	5.50	72.04%
Rauchbierbock	Bock Rauch	1067.9	1019.5	16.6	6.30	71.35%
Rauchweizendoppelbock	Doppelbock Rauchweizen	1079.3	1025.5	19.2	7.00	67.91%
Waldhaus WM-Bier	Festbier	1055.4	1015.4	13.7	5.20	72.30%
	Average					74.17%
Source:
Waldhaus website
http://www.waldhaus-erfurt.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=50

Braugold, Erfurt beers in 2014
Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Braugold Festbier	Festbier	1052.01	1007.6	12.9	5.80	85.39%
Braugold Spezial	Spezial	1046.95	1009.3	11.7	4.90	80.19%
Braugold 1888	Helles	1050.32	1011.1	12.5	5.10	77.94%
Braugold Hell	Helles	1046.11	1009.2	11.5	4.80	80.05%
Braugold Bock	Bock	1068.33	1018.4	16.7	6.50	73.07%
Erfurter Angerbräu Premium Pils	Pilsener	1050.32	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.33%
Riebeck Premium Pilsener	Pilsener	1046.53	1008.9	11.6	4.90	80.87%
Braugold Porter	Porter	1048.21	1017.3	12	4.00	64.22%
	Average					77.63%
Source:
Braugold website
http://www.braugold.de/produkte.html

The degree of attenuation is far higher, with the exception of the Waldhaus Märzen and the Braugold Porter.

As I said, there will probably be a gap before the next set. I'll maybe fill in with stuff from an 1960 article of Danish and German brewing.