Bavarian Weissbier

It’s odd how often I forget one type of German top-fermenting beer: Bavarian Weissbier. Especially as it’s by far the most popular sort.

Maybe it’s because it comes from the South, which I associate with Lager brewing. Whatever the reason, it is a little strange. Time to put that right.

Searching through my various spreadsheets, I see that I’ve a rather limited number of analyses of this type of wheat beer. I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised. This type Weissbier was quite obscure in the 19th century, produced by a small number of breweries in pretty small quantities. It’s only in the last 30 years of so that the style has been available throughout Germany.

It also used to be exclusively brewed by specialist outfits. Now a large percentage of Bavarian breweries, ones that originally only brewed bottom-fermenting beers. It’s simple economics. The market for Weissbier has been expanding and brewers don’t want to miss out. Weissbier’s share rose from less than 2% in 1981 to almost 8% in 2010. In the southern States, Baden Württemberg and Bavaria, the market share is more than double that.

German beer sales by type 1981 - 2010
Beer type	1981	1989	1994	2000	2003	2005	2008	2010
Pils	48.5	57.5	66	67.9	62	57.9	55.2	55.1
Export/Edel/Spezial	20.8	10.9	9.7	9	9.6	10.4	9.8	9.8
Weizen	1.4	4.9	4.8	5.7	7.1	7.9	8.3	7.9
Sources:
Brauwelt Brevier 2003
Deutscher Brauer-Bund, Bonn
Brauwelt nr. 46-47 (2006) page 1431

Here are the few analyses from the 19th century that I have:

Bavarian Weissbier 1866 - 1899
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Acidity
1866	Unknown	Munich	Weissbier	11.62	1046.6	1012.9	4.38	72.32%
1888	Röckl	Munich	Weissbier	12.38	1049.8	1014	4.65	71.89%	0.158
1888	Schneider	Munich	Weissbier	12.52	1050.4	1015.9	4.46	68.45%	0.171
1888	Schramm	Munich	Weissbier	12.99	1052.4	1016.2	4.69	69.08%	0.149
1899	Unknown	Munich	Weissbier	12.59	1050.7	1016.4	4.44	67.65%
	Average			12.42	1050.0	1015.1	4.52	69.88%	0.159
Source:
König, J (1903), Bier in Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pp 1101 - 1156, Julius Springer, Berlin.

What can we learn from that? The OGs are pretty low, as is the rate of attenuation. But how they compare to today? Let’s take a look:

Bavarian Hefeweizen in 2014
Brewer	Town	Beer	OG Plato	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Ammerndorfer Bier Dorn Bräu	Ammerndorf	Hefe Weisse	13.2	1053.3	1014	5.10	73.72%
Hermann Sigwart	Weißenburg	Kirchweihweizen	13.2	1053.3	1011.1	5.50	79.17%
Hermann Sigwart	Weißenburg	Weißenburger Weiße	12.9	1052.0	1012.8	5.10	75.39%
Göller	Zeil am Main	Steinhauer Weisse	12.8	1051.6	1010.2	5.40	80.32%
Püls-bräu	Stadtsteinach	Weismainer Weisse	12.8	1051.6	1011.6	5.20	77.51%
Brauerei Kanone Löhr	Schnaittach	Weizen (hell)	12.8	1051.6	1013.9	4.90	73.15%
Weihenstephan	Freising	Hefeweissbier Leicht	12.7	1051.2	1010.5	5.30	79.48%
Arnsteiner Brauerei	Seinsheim	Hefe-Weissbier	12.7	1051.2	1012.7	5.00	75.18%
Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	Hefeweissbier Leicht	12.7	1051.2	1010.5	5.30	79.48%
Kitzmann-Bräu	Erlangen	Weißbier	12.6	1050.7	1007.9	5.60	84.53%
Paulaner	Munich	Hefe-Weißbier Naturtrüb	12.5	1050.3	1008.2	5.50	83.70%
Hacker-Pschorr	Munich	Hefe Weisse	12.5	1050.3	1008.2	5.50	83.70%
Hacker-Pschorr	Munich	Sternweisse	12.5	1050.3	1008.2	5.50	83.70%
Klosterbrauerei Andechs	Andechs	Weissbier Hell	12.5	1050.3	1008.2	5.50	83.70%
Göller	Zeil am Main	Kaiser Heinrich Urweisse hell	12.5	1050.3	1010.4	5.20	79.43%
Distelhäuser	Tauberbischofsheim	Hefeweizen	12.5	1050.3	1008.9	5.40	82.31%
Brauhaus Leikeim	Altenkunstadt	Steinweisse	12.5	1050.3	1008.2	5.50	83.70%
Brauerei Reblitz	Bad Staffelstein	Nedensdorfer Hefeweizen	12.5	1050.3	1012.6	4.90	74.96%
Hermann Sigwart	Weißenburg	Hefe-Weizen	12.5	1050.3	1012.6	4.90	74.96%
Bürgerbräu Hersbruck	Hersbruck	Albweizen	12.5	1050.3	1011.1	5.10	77.94%
Brauerei Hofmann	Pahres	Weißbier	12.4	1049.9	1010	5.20	79.96%
Brauhaus Leikeim	Altenkunstadt	Helle Weiße	12.3	1049.5	1008.1	5.40	83.63%
Pyraser Landbrauerei	Thalmässing	Angerwirts Weizen	12.2	1049.1	1009.2	5.20	81.35%
Albertshöfer Sternbräu	Albertshofen	Weizenbier	12.1	1048.6	1010.2	5.00	79.03%
Privatbrauerei Kesselring	Marktsteft	Schlemmer Weißbier	12	1048.2	1007.6	5.30	84.24%
Braugasthof Grosch	Rödental	Grosch Weissbier	12	1048.2	1009.8	5.00	79.67%
Löwenbräu	Munich	Weisse	11.8	1047.4	1007.5	5.20	84.17%
Wolf	Zeil am Main	Land Weisse	11.6	1046.5	1008.2	5.00	82.38%
Zum Löwenbräu Flair Hotel	Adelsdorf	Aischgründer Karpfen-Weisse	12.9	1052.0	1011.3	5.30	78.27%
	Average		12.5	1050.3	1010.1	5.24	79.96%
Sources:
The relevant brewery websites

Now isn’t that interesting? The average OG is almost identical. You couldn’t say that about many styles when comparing the 19th century to today. But the big difference in the rate of attenuation means that modern versions 0.75% ABV stronger on average. That isn’t a surprise. One of the biggest changes in German beer is the increased rate of attenuation.

In many styles this has been accompanied by a drop in OG. If you look at Pils, the rate of attenuation has increased, but the ABV has remained the same. With the system in place in Germany, where the tax is calculated on the OG of the beer, there’s a financial incentive to keep the OG as low as you can. No surprise that that’s exactly what breweries have done.

Weizenbock next.