German Export Dunkles 1878 - 1900

I’ve got a stack of analyses extracted from “Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel” that I’ve never done anything with. Time to put that right.

I’ve always had a soft spot for a Dunkles, myself. Or Lager Dark Mild as I like to call it. Though. Sadly, it’s been in decline for decades. In Munich, where it was the most popular style until WW II, it’s no longer universally available. It’s deeply unfashionable, just like Mild. Though there are pockets of popularity in Franconia.

But Dunkles wasn’t just Dunkles. Forgetting Bock and Doppelbock for the moment, it came in two major types: Dunkles Lagerbier and Export Dunkles. The difference between the two being their strength. Lagerbier being 11-13º Plato and Export being 13-15º Plato. Or so. There was no style police at the time, so these numbers are approximate.

The 39 samples have an average OG of 1058.2º, or 14.39º Plato. Which is about what I would expect. But there are a few outliers, notably the examples from Kulmbach which have a gravity more in line with a Bockbier. I’d expect that, as the Dark Lagers from Kulmbach were well known for being strong.

The degree of attenuation varies considerably, too. The average of 67% is about what I would expect. I’ve noticed that the attenuation of 19th-century Lagers was often quite poor. I’m more surprised by the ones over 75% than by the ones under 60%.

I'm shocked by how high the acidity of  most examples is. I'd expect a Lager to be well below 0.1%.

You’ll probably recognise some of the names as several of the still extant Munich breweries are included, like Spaten and Löwenbräu. I’d love to know what these beers tasted like. Probably right down my street: big, chewy, malty beers.

German Export Dunkles 1878 - 1900
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Lactic acid %
1878	Puszta	Kulmbach	Export Dunkel	1053.2	1018.2	4.53	65.79%	0.13
1878	Unknown	Nürnberg	Export braun	1055.4	1018.0	4.84	67.48%
1878	Unknown	Nürnberg	Export braun	1063.4	1021.0	5.50	66.88%
1884	Aktien-Export-Brauhaus	Kulmbach	dunkeles Export	1067.6	1025.9	5.39	61.69%	0.18
1884	Henninger	Erlangen	dunkeles Export	1058.8	1014.5	5.76	75.34%	0.148
1884	Carl Niklass	Erlangen	dunkeles Export	1063.3	1020.0	5.61	68.40%	0.127
1884	Kubra	Kyffhäuser	dunkeles Export	1050.8	1014.4	4.73	71.65%	0.135
1884	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Export	1061.9	1024.0	4.90	61.23%	0.153
1884	Spaten	Munich	dunkeles Export	1049.7	1022.0	3.56	55.69%	0.099
1891	National-Aktien-Brauerei	Braunschweig	"Münchener" Export	1056.5	1017.8	5.01	68.50%
1891	National-Aktien-Brauerei	Braunschweig	"Kulmbacher" Export	1061.0	1020.2	5.29	66.89%
1891	Aktien-Brauerei Streitberg	Streitberg	"Löwenbier"	1064.2	1013.5	6.63	78.97%
1891	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	1065.7	1027.9	4.88	57.53%	0.137
1891	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	1067.6	1023.0	5.78	65.98%	0.142
1891	Bergische Brauerei-Gesellschaft	Elberfeld	Münchener Exportbier	1053.6	1011.0	5.55	79.48%	0.126
1891	Gambrinusbräu, Böhmisches Brauhaus	Berlin	Münchener Exportbier	1052.5	1020.3	4.16	61.33%	0.117
1891	Munkebräu Exp.-Br.	Flensburg	Münchener Exportbier	1052.4	1017.6	4.50	66.41%	0.151
1891	Exp.-Br. Bamberg	Bamberg	Münchener Exportbier	1057.2	1016.8	5.23	70.63%	0.173
1891	Gaardener Exp.-Br.	Gaarden bei Kiel	Prälatenbräu	1053.9	1011.9	5.46	77.90%	0.12
1891	Hansa-Br. Gesellschaft	Hamburg	Münchener Exportbier	1053.6	1015	5.01	72.01%	0.129
1891	Andr. Müller, Exp.-Br.	Bremen	Münchener Exportbier	1054.8	1010.3	5.80	81.20%	0.144
1891	W. Remmer	Bremen	Münchener Exportbier	1061.3	1016.3	5.85	73.41%	0.145
1891	Pschorrbräu	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1056.3	1018.9	4.84	66.43%
1891	Löwenbräu	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1056.5	1023.4	4.26	58.58%
1891	Leistbräu (Franziskaner)	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1057.6	1023	4.46	60.07%
1891	Hackerbräu	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1057.5	1020.1	4.84	65.04%
1891	Bürgerbräu	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1057.6	1024.1	4.31	58.16%
1891	Metzgerbräu	Munich	Münchener Exportbier	1057.1	1019.7	4.84	65.50%
1892	Prschorrbräu	Munich	dunkeles Export	1058.6	1020.3	4.95	65.33%	0.162
1893	Spaten	Munich	Spatenbräu	1055.3	1015.3	5.20	72.33%
1893	Spaten	Munich	Exportbier	1056.2	1013.9	5.50	75.27%
1893	Aktien-Export-Brauerei	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	1076.9	1025.8	6.63	66.45%
1893	Weihenstephan	Freising	Exportbier	1056.2	1024.7	4.05	56.05%
1893	Henninger	Erlangen	Exportbier	1060.9	1022.6	4.95	62.89%	0.281
1894	Spaten	Munich	Exportbier	1060.3	1020.1	5.21	66.67%	0.180
1898	Unknown	Munich	Export	1055.0	1019	4.66	65.45%
1898	Unknown	Munich	Export	1058.1	1019.3	5.03	66.78%
1898	Unknown	Nürnberg	Export	1053.5	1016.9	4.74	68.41%
1900	Spaten	Munich	Exportbier	1058.1	1020	4.93	65.58%	0.160
	Average			1058.2	1019.1	5.06	67.16%	0.149
Source:
König, J (1903), Bier in Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pp 1101 - 1156, Julius Springer, Berlin.