Thursday 18 September 2014

North German Lagerbiers 1879 - 1893

This time we'll be looking at the Lagerbiers of three North German ports: Hamburg, Bremen and Kiel. I wonder what we'll find?

I'll start with a word of warning: for the Hamburg samples both the OG and FG are calculated. In the published analysis there was only extract (real FG Balling) and ABW. I know from plugging in other numbers that the measured extract often doesn't 100% match the one calculated from OG and FG. Which is my way of saying that there's room for a fair degree of error.

Quickly glancing at the Hamburg set, they look pretty much like the Lagerbiers from other German regions, with OG averaging 1053.6 or 13.28º Plato. That's a bit more than Hannover region and a bit less than Westphalia. I think we're seeing a definite trend here. When I've finished going through all the analyses, I'll calculate averages for the whole of Germany. I reckon OG will come out 1053-1054.

Hamburg Lagerbiers 1880 - 1893
Year Brewer Town Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV attenuation Lactic acid %
1893 Joh. Höbold Hamburg? Doppel-Malz Lagerbier Lagerbier 1045.5 1017.6 11.35 3.60 61.32% 0.351
1893 Joh. Höbold Hamburg? Doppel-Malz Lagerbier Lagerbier 1046.2 1015.3 11.52 4.00 66.88%
1893 Joh. Höbold Hamburg? Doppel-Malz Lagerbier Lagerbier 1047.8 1016.5 11.90 4.05 65.48% 0.401
1893 Richard Behn Ottensen Lagerbier Dunkel Dunkles 1048.8 1010.0 12.14 5.05 79.51%
1893 Holsten Brauerei Hamburg Altona Lagerbier Lagerbier 1049.0 1008.8 12.19 5.24 82.04%
1893 Richard Behn Ottensen Lagerbier Hell Helles 1049.5 1007.8 12.31 5.44 84.24% 0.314
1893 Germania Brauerei Hamburg Wansbeck Helles Lagerbier Lagerbier 1049.9 1012.9 12.40 4.80 74.15% 0.250
1893 Joh. Höbold Hamburg? Malz-Export Lagerbier Lagerbier 1050.2 1020.0 12.47 3.90 60.16%
1893 Uelzener Brauerei Hamburg Uelzen Exportbier Export 1050.2 1017.3 12.47 4.25 65.54% 0.270
1893 Kaiserblume Hamburg? Lagerbier Lagerbier 1050.7 1011.5 12.59 5.10 77.32% 0.135
1893 Brauerei Hammonia Hamburg Lagerbier Lagerbier 1051.0 1017.7 12.65 4.30 65.26% 0.180
1893 Löwen-Brauerei Hamburg Kaiser-Tafelbier Tafelbier 1051.7 1016.9 12.83 4.50 67.31% 0.293
1893 Einbecker Export-Lagerbier-Brauerei Einbeck Lagerbier Lagerbier 1051.8 1013.3 12.85 5.00 74.32% 0.150
1893 Frisia Brauerei Hamburg? Exportbier Export 1052.0 1013.5 12.90 5.00 74.04%
1893 Germania Brauerei Hamburg Wansbeck Exportbier Export 1052.5 1014.7 13.02 4.90 72.00%
1893 Brauerei Hammonia Hamburg Pilsener Pilsener 1052.8 1020.3 13.09 4.20 61.55%
1880 Leitmeritz Brauerei Elbschloss Hamburg Lagerbier Lagerbier 1053.0 1011.7 13.13 5.38 77.92%
1893 Brauerei Bahrenfeld Lagerbier Lagerbier 1053.1 1017.8 13.16 4.56 66.48% 0.272
1893 Hansa-Brauerei Hamburg Lagerbier Lagerbier 1053.3 1014.0 13.20 5.10 73.73% 0.270
1893 Brauerei Ditmarsia Heide Lagerbier Lagerbier 1054.0 1014.4 13.37 5.15 73.33%
1893 Elbschloss-Brauerei Hamburg Lagerbier Lagerbier 1054.2 1018.6 13.42 4.60 65.68% 0.300
1893 Einbecker Export-Lagerbier-Brauerei Einbeck Lagerbier Lagerbier 1054.6 1016.8 13.51 4.90 69.23% 0.110
1893 Marienthaler Gesellschaft Marienthal Helles Exportbier Export 1055.0 1016.4 13.59 5.00 70.15% 0.175
1893 Brauerei Hammonia Hamburg Lagerbier Lagerbier 1055.3 1021.5 13.67 4.36 61.12% 0.198
1893 Hansa-Brauerei Hamburg Export Lagerbier Export 1056.0 1016.7 13.84 5.10 70.18% 0.212
1893 Löwen-Brauerei Hamburg Pilsener Pilsener 1056.1 1015.9 13.85 5.21 71.63% 0.405
1893 Kronen u.  Hamburg? Krystall-Lagerbier Lagerbier 1057.1 1012.6 14.10 5.80 77.93%
1893 Kaiserblume Hamburg? Lagerbier Lagerbier 1058.0 1011.9 14.31 6.01 79.48% 0.200
1880 Von Uelzen Hamburg Uelzen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1058.7 1013.4 14.47 5.90 77.17%
1893 Löwen-Brauerei Hamburg Prälatenbräu ??? 1058.7 1016.4 14.47 5.50 72.06% 0.315
1893 Marienthaler Gesellschaft Marienthal Lagerbier Lagerbier 1059.8 1018.5 14.72 5.35 69.04% 0.198
1893 Brauerei Hammonia Hamburg Klosterbräu ??? 1059.8 1023.4 14.73 4.70 60.87% 0.300
1880 Von Uelzen Hamburg Uelzen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1063.0 1014.6 15.47 6.31 76.83%
1880 Holsten Brauerei Hamburg Altona Lagerbier Lagerbier 1064.6 1009.5 15.84 7.23 85.29%
Average


1053.6 1015.2 13.28 4.98 71.45% 0.252
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Again, there are examples at the top and bottom end that look like they belong elsewhere. The bottom three - all under 12º Plato - look more like Schenkbier. At the top are a couple that look like Bock. You may have heard of the brewery behind the strongest of the set: Holsten. Now isn't that handy. The Holsten website list the OG in Plato. Which means I can put together a little table of their beers.

Holsten beers in 2014
Year Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV attenuation bitterness (EBU)
2014 Pilsener Pilsener 1044.9 1008.0 11.20 4.80 82.17% 28
2014 Edel Helles 1044.9 1007.3 11.20 4.90 83.73% 23
2014 Export Export 1047.4 1007.5 11.80 5.20 84.17% 27
2014 Extra Herb Pilsener 1044.9 1006.5 11.20 5.00 85.51% 40
2014 Stark  Bockbier, Dunkel 1066.2 1012.7 16.20 7.00 80.88% 16
Source:
Holsten website http://www.holsten-pilsener.de/biere.html

That's interesting. The rate of attenuation has hardly increased. But that's only because the Holsten had untypically high rates of attenuation. The strongest 19th-century Lagerbier even has a higher degree of attenuation that the nearest equivalent modern beer, Stark.

Einbecker Brauhaus also list the OG, so I can treat you to another table:

Einbecker Brauhaus beers in 2014
Year Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV attenuation
2014 Brauherren Pils Pilsener 1045.7 1008.1 11.40 4.90 82.27%
2014 Dunkel Dunkles 1046.1 1008.5 11.50 4.90 81.57%
2014 Weihnachtsbier Festbier 1050.7 1010.1 12.60 5.30 80.19%
2014 Ur-Bock Dunkel Bockbier, Dunkel 1066.2 1016.3 16.20 6.50 75.36%
2014 Ur-Bock Hell Bockbier, Hell 1066.2 1016.3 16.20 6.50 75.36%
2014 Mai-Ur-Bock Bockbier, Hell 1066.2 1016.3 16.20 6.50 75.36%
2014 Winter-Bock Bockbier, Bernstein 1074.9 1017.5 18.20 7.50 76.63%
2014 Premium Pilsener Pilsener 1044.9 1008.0 11.20 4.80 82.17%
2014 Landbier Spezial Landbier 1047.4 1007.5 11.80 5.20 84.17%
Source:
Einbecker website http://www.einbecker.de/product-range

In this case the modern attenuation is much higher, as you would expect.

Once again, the average lactic acid content, at 0.252%, looks very high.

On to Bremen. What a weird set these are. For a start, half of them are dark. Though I'm not sure exactly what colour "Hellbraun" (pale brown) is. Only the Piksener and the beer below it really seem to Lagerbier strength. most of the examples aren't just in Bock country, they've strayed well up the Doppelbock mountain. I fail top see how these can be described as Lagerbier.

Bremen Lagerbiers 1879 - 1884
Year Brewer Town Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV attenuation Lactic acid % CO2 %
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier Hellbraun Dunkles 1035.5 1014.5 8.94 0.00 71.59%
1884 Hemelingen bei Bremen Bremen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1049.5 1012.1 12.31 2.71 59.15% 0.137 0.174
1884 Bremer Aktien-Brauerei Bremen Pilsener Pilsener 1050.3 1009.1 12.50 4.86 75.56% 0.145 0.168
1884 Bremer Aktien-Brauerei Bremen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1060.6 1016.2 14.91 5.38 81.91% 0.142 0.152
1884 Andr. Müller, Bremen Bremen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1064.4 1011.7 15.79 5.78 73.27% 0.040 0.260
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier braun Dunkles 1067.1 1012.0 16.42 6.89 81.83%
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier Hellbraun Dunkles 1067.1 1012.0 16.42 7.21 82.12%
1884 Andr. Müller, Bremen Bremen Lagerbier Lagerbier 1067.7 1013.8 16.56 7.21 82.12% 0.010 0.220
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier braun Dunkles 1070.0 1016.5 17.08 7.05 79.62%
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier braun Dunkles 1081.4 1014.0 19.67 6.98 76.43%
1879 Unknown Bremen Lagerbier Hellbraun Dunkles 1082.6 1016.0 19.94 6.98 76.43%
Average 1063.3 1013.4 15.50 5.55 76.36% 0.095 0.195
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

The rate of attenuation is shockingly high - over 80% for some beers with gravities over 16º Plato. And blow me, the level of lactic acid is actually just about acceptable , resting a little below 0.1%.

Finally the beers from Kiel. It's worth noting that at this point Kiel hadn't long been part of Germany. Schleswig-Holstein, the region it's in, was Danish until 1864.

Kiel Lagerbiers 1884 - 1893
Year Brewer Town Beer Style OG FG OG Plato ABV attenuation Lactic acid % CO2 %
1884 Schlüter & Co., Kiel Kiel Hell Helles 1050.0 1015.5 12.42 0.00 78.76% 0.111 0.169
1884 Kieler Aktein-Brauerei Kiel nach Wiener Art Vienna 1050.3 1015.3 12.50 4.48 69.00% 0.020 0.390
1893 Brauerei Holsatia, Kiel Kiel Lagerbier Lagerbier 1051.0 1016.3 12.66 4.54 69.58% 0.133
1884 Schlüter & Co.,  Kiel Dunkel Dunkles 1052.4 1013.8 12.99 4.54 69.58% 0.128 0.150
1884 Dreves & Co., Kiel Kiel Lagerbier Lagerbier 1063.2 1018.9 15.52 5.01 73.66% 0.020 0.310
Average 1053.4 1016.0 13.22 3.71 72.12% 0.070 0.230
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

There's a bit of everything in there: Helles, Dunkles and Vienna Lagers. And they all look like Lagerbiers, except for the strongest example. With that excluded the average gravity is 1050.9. I've not much else to say, other than that the average lactic acid content is the lowest we've seen so far: 0.07. Well done, Kiel!

I'm not too sure what normal CO2 levels are. I can say that the beers of Kiel were fizzier than those of Bremen. Is that good or bad?

What next? Königsberg and Erfurt. I  think. Might change my mind.

5 comments:

Jeff Renner said...

Images, please. Can't see the right edge of some of the tables. I won't be able to sleep until I can!

Gerrit (@geo21481) said...

Why are Uelzen, Heide, and Einbeck listed under Hamburg? Unlike the other localities, they were never incorporated into the city (and won't be, as they're quite a ways away still).

Ron Pattinson said...

Gerrit,

just as a way of grouping beers together. And because that's how the source grouped them.

Ron Pattinson said...

Jeff,

fixed. I was a bit rushed when I wrote it.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to guess this may not be possible, but is it possible to make educated guesses what some of these might taste like? If I've learned anything from reading your blog, it's that the characteristics of a style can change pretty significantly over time and a Helles circa 1890 may well taste significantly different from what's sold today.

Since it appears you don't have enough information from these records to know things like color and carbonation, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't much information on how these might differ from modern counterparts, but any kind of educated guesses on these German beers would certainly be interesting to read. (Maybe it's clear to some people, but I'll admit my knowledge of things like how malts and hops have changed over the past century is pretty limited).