Bohemian Lagers of the 1880's and 1890's (part two)

Here's the rest of those Bohemian beers I didn't have time and space for last time. Honestly, there's so much material, I'll be busy for months, if not years.


Maybe I'd have made my life simpler had I included the Pale Lagerbiers with the Pilsensers. Then again, maybe not, because, although some of the averages are very close a couple aren't. Meaning I can draw some conclusions about the differences between the two. I was going to say attenaution, then I noticed that outliers - the Prälat Flaschenbier and Touristenbier, that I'm not even sure were Lagerbiers - was dragging the average down. Take them out and attenuation is 74%.

Oh. I notice I've also included a couple that are Pilseners. What the hell, I can't be bothered to fiddle with the tables any more today.

Bohemian Pale Lagerbiers 1886 - 1894
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1895	Bürgerliches Brauhausin den Kgl. Weinbergen, Prague	Helles Lagerbier	Helles	draught	1044.4	1011.2	11.09	4.31	74.77%	0.103
1886	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1047.3	1012.7	11.78	4.49	73.15%
1898	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1047.3	1012.6	11.78	4.50	73.36%	0.103
1891	Wittingauer (Třeboň)	Weisses Lagerbier	Helles	bottled	1048.5	1012.7	12.07	4.65	73.81%	0.099
1895	Aktien-Brauerei Eger	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1048.5	1012.0	12.07	4.74	75.26%	0.078
1890	Wittingauer (Třeboň)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Lagerbier	bottled	1048.5	1012.4	12.07	4.69	74.43%	0.160
1894	Kalthausen	Pasteurisirtes Touristenbier	Lagerbier	draught	1051.8	1025.4	12.85	3.39	50.97%	0.146
1890	Kreuzherrn (Krizovnicka)	Prälat Flaschenbier served in Prague	Lagerbier	bottled	1057.0	1020.1	14.07	4.78	64.74%	0.290
	Average				1049.2	1014.9	12.22	4.44	70.06%	0.140
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

The level of acidity is much lower than for Pilsenser and again taking out those two beers, averages to just over 0.1%. I'd have expected the Pilseners to have been cleaner.

The next group are Dark Lagers:

Bohemian Dark Lagers 1890 - 1895
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1890	Br. "U Stajgru"	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1036.0	1011.3	9.06	3.20	68.61%	0.150
1890	Br. Zum blauen Hecht	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1043.3	1012.5	10.83	3.99	71.13%	0.260
1890	Brauerei "U Flecu"	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1046.3	1016.2	11.54	3.89	65.01%	0.180
1895	Bürgerliches Brauhaus in den Kgl. Weinbergen, Prague	Schwarzes Königsbier	Dunkles	draught	1052.1	1016.8	12.92	4.58	67.75%	0.097
	Average				1044.4	1014.2	11.09	3.91	68.13%	0.172
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Being honest, the only thing they really have in common is their colour. They look like two Schenkbiers one Lagerbier and one stronger beer.

I was delighted to spot U Fleků's beer in there. It's obviously not the same as the current beer, as that's 13º Plato. Now it doesn't say right out in the source that it's a bottom-fermented beer. But, it is in a table devoted to bottom-fermenters and top-fermenting beers have tables of their own.

Pretty crap attenuation and a high level of acidity are other features. The other averages are pretty meaningless as the beers are all of different gravities.

And finally what I'm calling stronger Lagers. Uninspired, I know. Speciální Pivo would be the modern Czech term.

Bohemian stronger Lagers 1888 - 1892
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1890	Wisotschauer	Bockbier served in Prague	Bock	bottled	1047.4	1016.7	11.81	3.96	64.77%	0.270
1891	Smichower	Granatbier	Export	bottled	1053.5	1021.0	13.24	4.19	60.71%	0.121
1891	Pracer	Granatbier	Export	bottled	1053.6	1019.0	13.27	4.48	64.55%	0.092
1892	Gödinger (Hodonín)	Märzenbier	Märzen	draught	1053.6	1026.3	13.27	3.50	50.93%	0.272
1888	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Bockbier	Bock	bottled	1054.8	1015.4	13.56	5.11	71.90%
1888	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Exportbier	Export	draught	1059.7	1014.6	14.70	5.88	75.54%
	Average				1053.8	1018.8	13.31	4.52	64.73%	0.189
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

I've rather arbitrarily attributed styles to some of these. Märzen and the one Export I'm fairly happy with. Granatbier is a guess. There are still quite a few beers called Granát in the Cezh Republic. Usually amber or dark and sometimes 13º or 14º Plato, others 11º or 12º Plato. I seem to remember seeing old adverts or labels for Granát as a stronger Exportni beer. Here you go. I knew I had it somewhere. It's an old enamel advert I spotted on the wall of a Prague pub.:

So, amber (or dark) stronger beer. Sometimes even called Export. They'd be called Speciální Pivo in the modern Czech Republic.

They look very much like the Märzenbier, except for the latter's shitty degree of attenuation. Don't assume the Märzen was amber. It could just as well have been pale. Or even dark.

Clearly Bock meant something different in Bohemia. Neither of those is anything like strong enough to count as a Bock in Austria or Germany. The weaker one looks like a low-end Lagerbier. The stronger one you could maybe call a Märzen.

Finally the Export. Decent gravity, decent attenuation, a fair bit of oomph in the finished product. The strongest beer of the set and doubtless my first choice.

Not sure what I'll do next. There's so much of this stuff. Maybe some of the North German stuff.