Munich Helles vs. Dunkles in 1902 and 2014

As thromised, some more lovely numbers pertaining to Munich’s two most popular styles, Helles and Dunkles.

It’s going to be mostly numbers. The day is warm and my arse is lazy. Starting with a comparison of Dunkles and Helles in 1902:

Dunkles vs Helles in 1902
style	Acidity	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
Dunkles	0.18	13.52	1054.66	1019.14	4.55	65.01%	29.71
Helles	0.17	12.35	1049.68	1014.07	4.58	71.71%	9.21
difference	-0.01	-1.18	-4.98	-5.07	0.03	6.70%	-20.50

Despite having a gravity more than 1º Plato higher, Dunkles is on average a tiny bit weaker than Helles. And an awful lot darker. Nothing particularly unexpected there.

The pattern in 2014 is remarkably similar:

Dunkles vs Helles in 2014
style	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Dunkles	12.58	1050.64	1010.88	5.18	78.53%
Helles	11.62	1046.62	1007.65	5.08	83.58%
difference	-0.96	-4.02	-3.23	-0.10	5.05%

About a difference of 1º Plato in the OG, but a broadly similar ABV. That tells me that while the styles themselves may have changed, the relationship between the two has remained broadly similar.

Now let’s take a look at how Dunkles has changed over the years:

Dunkles 1902 vs 2014
style	Acidity	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
Dunkles 1902	0.18	13.52	1054.66	1019.14	4.55	65.01%	29.71
Dunkles 2014		12.58	1050.64	1010.88	5.18	78.53%
difference		-0.95	-4.03	-8.26	0.63	13.52%

The gravity has dropped by 1º Plato, but the ABV has increased by more than 0.5%. Obviously due to a huge increase in the rate of attenuation.

Finally, how Helles has changed:

Helles 1902 vs 2014
style	Acidity	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
Helles 1902	0.17	12.35	1049.68	1014.07	4.58	71.71%	9.21
Helles 2014		11.62	1046.62	1007.65	5.08	83.58%
difference		-0.73	-3.06	-6.42	0.50	11.87%

A slightly smaller drop in OG, but a similar increase in ABV.

That’s enough tables for now.