Frisch or Jungbier (part two)

More from Braumeister Grenell on Frisch or Jungbier.

You'll be glad to hear that I could be arsed to convert all the temperatures to celsius. You wouldn't believe how much work it is to translate stuff like this. Even running it through a machine traslater. It still requires loads of fiddling with. The crap you get in the machine translation. "Verzuckerungspause" was translated as 'sacrificial pause". Weird, eh?

We're kicking off with a couple more mashing schemes:

"II. - Mash in in the copper at 30° R. [37.5º C.] and ca. 3 hl. water per Zentner [50 kg] Malt; leave to rest for 1 hour, then raise the temperature slowly (in 80 minutes) to 42° [52.5º C] and from there slowly (with covered fire and partly closed flues) in 40 minutes to 50-52° R. [62.5º - 65º C.] - Meanwhile leave enough hot water in the mash and lautertun, so that it just covers the false bottom. And then let down 1/3 of the mash out of the copper; this brings the mash to 52°R. [65º C.] - The rest (2/3) in the kettle is now quickly brought to the boil, boiling for half an hour and mashing out at 60-61° R. [75º - 75.25º C.]

III. For pure "barley" beer of 7-8% balling or "double barley beer" of 10.5-11%. Thick mash (1-2 hl of 32° R [40º C.] water per Dobbelzentner [100 kg] of malt). It is then underlet with water at 64º R. [80º C.], so that it reaches 50-52° R. [62.5º - 65º C.] after a half-hour, the temperature rising by almost 1° per minute. This dissolves the diastase, as well as nitrogen-containing components, which exert a favorable influence on the foam stability of the beer.

Saccharification at 50-52° R. [62.5º - 65º C.] which causes the formation of much maltose; after a 1.5 hour rest, the wort is pumped into the kettle, sparging the mash with water at 62° R [77.5 C.], and letting the stirrer to continue working for an hour and a half; after a successful saccharification, the wort is pumped off, etc.

If you want to make a low-fermenting, dextrin-rich wort and more tasty beer, after mashing in raise the temperature 1º per minute to 57-58.5° R. [71.25º - 73.125º C.]; the "free maltose" is greatly reduced by this procedure, but the quantity of malto-dextrins is increased and consequently the beer is more tasty!

IV. (In summer). As in the case of II., only at 52-54° R. [65º - 67.5º C.] there is a saccharification rest (1/2 hour) and the mash is not brought to the boil; the temperature is raised to 61-62° R. [75.25º - 76.5º C.], leave the mash in the covered and well isolated lauter tun, keep at the same temperture for a 1 hour rest and then draw off the wort."

"Die Fabrikation obergäriger Biere in Praxis und Theorie" by Braumeister Grenell, 1907, pages 62 - 63. (My translation.)

It's clear that decoction mashing wasn't just limited to the south of Germany, nor was it limited to bottom-fermenting beers.

Method II has a step mash with rests at 37.5º C, 52.5º C and 65ºC. With a decoction at the end bringing the mash up to the mash out temperature of 75º C. Quite a complex mashing procedure for a low-gravity beer.

I was fascinated to see that in method III they raise the wort to the sacrificial, sorry saccharification, temperature with an underlet. That's oh so English. note that there's no dedcoction (the mash isn't boiled) in either method III or IV.

This seems to be describing combined grist mashing, that is making a different beer from each wort:

"The small brewer now usually works so that he obtains 3 kinds of beer from the same mash.

He carries out some sort of brewing process, and as soon as the first wort in the copper reaches 10-11% Balling, he boils this wort with hops and adds 10% dextrose to "sweet beer" just before emptying the kettle. - now as much wort as the amount of Malzbier required, is pumped into the cooler, and, after being removed from the cooler, is pitched with yeast, and coloured with Coleur. Now he pumps onto the part of the wort remaining in the kettle enough hot water that the resulting wort now attains 6-7% balling.

From this lighter beer, is now made:

A. Coloured with Couleur, Braunbier;
B. Specially treated, Berlin Weisse. (See under Weisse and Berliner Weisse)."

"Die Fabrikation obergäriger Biere in Praxis und Theorie" by Braumeister Grenell, 1907, page 63. (My translation.)

It's odd to see Berliner Weisse mentioned again. I wouldn't have called that a Jungbier as it needed to secondary condition to acquire its finished character.

Brewing everything from pale-coloured malts and then using caramel to get the desired colour is very much like British practice at the time. Other than for Porter and Stout, obviously.