Wednesday 4 October 2017

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.

1 comment:

CJD said...

Glad to see weissbier making an appearance on the blog and looking forward to the weizenbock numbers! I imagine the increase in attenuation is because of improved yeast handling rather than changes in mashing or grain modification?