Butcher's Tears Pivo Festival

A couple of times a year, Butcher's Tears is home to a beer festival. There's the Franconian Anstich Festival, featuring gravity-served Lager. And the Pivo Festival, with Czech Lager. I really enjoy both.

Now the Berlin Beer Festival is no more, I get very few opportunities to drink good Czech Lager. Fuck all, really. Which is pretty annoying. I'd much rather get stuck into half litres of good drinking beer than piss around with thimbles of sludge.

It's also a day out for the family. Though Alexei took a bit of persuading. He kept insisting he had studying to do. Where is his sense of priorities? Obviously, drinking Czech beer takes preference. Especially as he wasn't paying for it.

I went for amber or dark beers. Dolores and the kids for the pale ones. The selection of both was pretty good. I made sure that I got some of the Fleku 13º, having missed out last year. It's still as good as ever. Though the Cernokostolecky 13º was its equal. The Vinoharadske amber 13º was another cracker.

No detailed report, as I've a nice lump of pork to roast. I will leave you with some photos. As you'll see, it got pretty damn crowded.

Czech beer sales by type

As I've often said, I love numbers. All types of lovely crunchy numbers. Like granola, but more useful and better tasting.

That Polish trade journal is serving me really well. It's thrown up some dead handy stuff. In fact, some of it answers a question I asked myself recently. Did Czechs drink mostly 10º Plato beer between the wars? I guessed that they did but had no hard data. Well now I do.

A preference for lower-gravity Lagers in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic goes back a long way. I'm not quite sure why, as that isn't the case in any of the countries around them. Even when Bohemia and Moravia were in the same country as Austria, the beer drunk in the former was weaker than that drunk in the latter. The liking for weaker beer than on average isn't the result of wartime restrictions, as it does in the UK.

The Polish article divides  Czech beer into three types: piwo wyszynkowe, piwo składowe and piwo specjalne. Assuming that these are based on Czech classification, I'm pretty sure that they're výcepní pivo, ležák and specialní pivo. (Also after asking for help on Twitter.) Výcepní being 10º Plato and below, ležák 11º-12º Plato and specialní 10º Plato and above.

Czech beer sales by type in June 1935 & 1936
type	1935		1936		decline in %
	hl	%	hl	%
výčepní pivo	740,181	78.88%	628,570	79.29%	15.1
ležák	192,349	20.50%	159,974	20.18%	16.8
special beer	5,800	0.62%	4,244	0.54%	26.8
total	938,330		792,788		15.5
Source:
Przegląd Piwowarsko-Słodowniczy: organ Związku Piwowarów w Polsce 1936 wrzesień R.2 Nr3, page 65.

And, obviously, I've got some modern (fairly modern) numbers to compare them to.

Czech Beer production by beer type
beer type	2004	2005
výcepní	61.30%	59.80%
ležák	34.40%	35.80%
specialní		1.05%
non-alcoholic beer	1.10%	1.25%
Source:
Český svaz pivovarů a sladoven.

Back between the wars and even greater percentage of the beer consumed was 10º Plato. It's a shame to see its popularity has fallen so much. I'm guessing that 12º has closed in even more in the last 16 years.

A film about the Velkepopovice brewery in the 1920s

This is one of the most detailed films I've seen about brewing from this sort of period. Absolute gold.



Some really cool stuff in there. Especially the bit about adding 4% Kräusen to the "kvasnicové pivo" (yeast beer). then showing exactly how the Kräusen was added to the cask before it was filled. Then saying that the beer had to rest in the pub for 10 days before serving.

Add to that showing how they pitched the lagering vessels and you've got some great stuff.

Bottled Foreign Lager after WW II

What could be more Christmasy than imported Lager just after WW II? Just about anything, I suppose. But here goes, anyway.

In 1947, supplies of foreign Lager reappeared, initially principally from Denmark and Holland.  Those from Germany would take longer to arrive, for the simple reason that in the parts of West Germany occupied by the British and Americans commercially brewing wasn’t allowed for several years.

One thing is very obvious when looking at the Lagers imported after WW II: many foreign breweries were making beers specifically for the UK market. How do we know that? Because of the low gravity. No continental brewery, other than in Czechoslovakia, brewed Lagers under 1040º.

You can see here how the post-war style of Lager is starting to coalesce: a pale beer with a gravity in the low-1030ºs. This is the type of beer that became the nation’s favourite in the 1980s. Though by the 1970s, most Lager, even things like Carlsberg and Heineken, were being brewed locally.

More surprising are the German Bocks, which must have been hideously expensive, being both very strong and imported. There can’t have been a huge market in the UK for such beers.

The two Pilsner Urquell beers are clearly the 12º and the 10º. Quite odd to see the latter being exported, though I suppose it fitted in better with UK strength expectations.

A lot of Lager was still being sold in bottled form immediately after the war. But as the 1950s progressed, draught Lager would become increasingly more common. By the early 1960s, draught Lager was the norm rather than the exception.

Bottled Foreign Lager after WW II
Year	Brewer	country	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1951	Artois	Belgium	Stella Lager	Lager	1052.4	1011.1	5.38	78.82%	10.5
1950	Ekla (Brussels)	Belgium	Lager	Lager	1037.5	1009.6	3.62	74.40%	10
1950	Lamot	Belgium	Lux Lager	Lager	1048.9	1009	5.20	81.60%	7
1950	Lamot	Belgium	Lager	Lager	1037.4	1010.2	3.53	72.73%	6
1950	Pilsner Urquell	Czechoslovakia	Lager	Lager	1049	1013.5	4.61	72.45%	10.5
1950	Pilsner Urquell	Czechoslovakia	Lager	Lager	1038.9	1010.3	3.71	73.52%	11
1947	Carlsberg	Denmark	Pilsner	Lager	1035.6	1008.5	3.52	76.12%	13.5
1950	Carlsberg	Denmark	Lager	Lager	1031.8	1010.9	2.70	65.72%	13
1947	Tuborg	Denmark	Pilsner	Lager	1036.6	1009.1	3.57	75.14%	11.5
1950	Tuborg	Denmark	Lager	Lager	1032.9	1006.1	3.48	81.46%	11.5
1952	Holsten	Germany	Bock (Light)	Bock	1067.8	1020.4	6.16	69.91%	28
1952	Holsten	Germany	Bock (Dark)	Bock	1045.2	1010.5	4.51	76.77%	59
1950	Lowenbrau	Germany	Atomator	Bock	1076.6	1025.7	6.60	66.45%	85
1950	Lowenbrau	Germany	Pale Bock Beer	Bock	1067.9	1013.9	7.06	79.53%	7.5
1950	Spatenbrau	Germany	Doppel Spaten	Bock	1076.7	1029.6	6.09	61.41%	80
1950	Tucher	Germany	Tucher Pils Lager	Lager	1055.1	1014.4	5.29	73.87%	15
1950	Amstel	Holland	Lager	Lager	1033.6	1008.1	3.31	75.89%	15.5
1950	Breda	Holland	Lager (light)	Lager	1036.9	1007.8	3.78	78.86%	13.5
1947	Z.H.B.	Holland	Lager	Lager	1032.4	1008.2	3.14	71.91%	11.5
1950	Z.H.B.	Holland	Lager	Lager	1033.7	1008.4	3.28	75.07%	12
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

1929 Bohemian Lagerbier

A little divergence here from my usual UK fare. A foreign recipe. And a Lager one at that.

As you can probably guess by the lack of brewery name, this recipe isn't taken from a brewing record. Instead it's one I've assembled from information found in technical brewing publications. I can't remember which one off the top of my head. But I'm pretty sure it was in German.

This is the type of beer usually associated with the Czech Republic: a Pale Lager of around 5% ABV.

I could also call this by its Czech name, Světlý Ležák, though that is rather harder for most to pronounce. It literally translates as Pale Lagerbier.

The mashing scheme, a triple decoction, is pretty damn complicated. I doubt I could be arsed to go through the process myself. Very time consuming. I’m not going to get involved in any argument about whether there’s any point to decoction mashing with modern malts. I’ll leave that to the experts.

The key to this type of beer is good quality, very pale, two-row barley and good Czech hops. Not complicated, is it? Followed by three months lagering at about 1º C. Should produce a lovely drinking beer (as opposed to a stare at and sip beer).

1929 Bohemian Lagerbier
pilsner malt 2 row	10.75 lb	100.00%
Saaz 120 mins	1.00 oz
Saaz 90 mins	1.00 oz
Saaz 45 mins	2.00 oz
OG	1048
FG	1012
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	52
SRM	3
Mash triple decoction
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	41º F
Yeast	WLP800 Pilsner Lager

This and about three dozen other Lager recipes, can be found in my book Let's Brew!


http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/lets-brew/paperback/product-23289812.html

Böhmisches Doppelbier

Right. So we’ve already seen Světlý Ležák and Výčepní Pivo. Now we’re onto what is nowadays called Speciální Pivo in the modern Czech Republic.

Braník, my favourite of the Prague breweries, used to brew a cracking 14º Světlé. Which sometime in the later 1980’s was downgraded to 13º. A shame. Of course, nothing like as bad as when they totally shut the brewery. If you wanted to pigeonhole this in an “official” style, I suppose Helles Märzen would do at a pinch. Though Czech Speciální Pivo tends to hoppier than German Märzen.

Let’s crack on with the paraphrasing

Böhmisches Doppelbier is also pale, 14 to 14.5º Balling, highly carbonated beer with good head retention.

It’s brewed from well modified, highly dried pilsener malt. The colour of the beer is pale golden. The malt is prepared in the pilsener way, which is similar to the Dortmund method but is dried at a temperature 5º C higher.

The mashing scheme is a double thick mash where the temperature rises quickly from  50 to 65º C. Mashing in is at 35º C and the temperature rises, either through adding boiling water or fire, depending on whether you prefer to mash in thick or thin, to 50, 65 and 70º C at which last temperature saccharification takes place. Then the first thick mash is boiled for 10 minutes and raises the temperature of the total mash to 56º C when mixed back in. With the second thick mash, which boils for 15 minutes, mash out at 75º is achieved. The whole mash is then left to rest for 35 to 40 minutes and then the wort is run off. In order to create a fine flavour only mellow malt is used which means it lies loose in the tun with only being stirred twice.

The sparge water need to be hot enough so that when the wort is run off it is between 70 and 75º C, so must be not less than 75º C, but not more than 80º C, as this could lead to problems with clarity. Boiling only starts when the first sparge has already been run off. The wort is boiled for 2 hours and the hopping rate is 1.33 pounds of hops per 50 kg of malt. Preferably Saaz hops are used on account of their mild flavour and good aroma. The hop additions are performed like this: the first third are added as the copper is being filled, the other two thirds are blanched with hot water at 80º C and are added to the copper, along with the water, 45 minutes before the end of the boil. When the steam has died down, so 5 minutes before the wort is run off, 8% of the hops are added to the hot wort for the benefit of the aroma.

The yeast is pitched at 5º C and the fermentation temperature shouldn’t rise above 7.5º C. The apparent attenuation (14.5 to 6.5º Balling at time of transfer to lagering vessels) is 55%. The lagering vessels are left unbunged for two weeks then the bunging apparatus is put on. Lagering time is two months.
Source: Olberg, Johannes (1927) Bömisches Doppelbier in Moderne Braumethoden, pp 59-61, A. Hartleben, Wien & Leipzig.

From the description, it sounds as if the malt used for these beers is a bit darker than standard lager malt. Which is interesting.

The mashing description is a bit confusing. The first three temperatures of 50, 65 and 70º C  are just for the first thick mash. Not sure why this only has a double decoction when the weaker versions get a triple decoction.

I’m not totally sure what the hop tea technique of adding hops achieves. I’m sure that there must be some point to it. Is it to isomerise the hops without boiling them? The very late addition of 8% of the hops for aroma does make sense. It also sounds very modern.

55% attenuation is pretty poor, but that’s before lagering. I assume during that process it would rise to over 60%.

Böhmisches Bier

Isn’t this exciting? A look in detail at Czechoslovakian beer in the first few years of the country’s existence.

The chapter begin with a couple of paragraphs on malting. The gist being that you need good pale malt. The way you made it was to start with thin-husked, low protein barley. The malt was dried with hot air, starting at 35-38º C, rising slowly to 60º C. The drying process was slow and lasted at least 24 hours.

Fascinating stuff, but probably not what you’re most interested in. So I’ll quickly move onto the brewing method. Which I paraphrase here:

Per 100 kg of malt 260-270 litres of water are used for mashing and 200 for sparging. Meaning it was a thin mash.

Mashing in is at 35º C. Part of the mash is transferred to the kettle and raised to 65º C for saccharification then brought to the boil in the kettle and boiled for 15 minutes. When this is added back to the main mash the temperature is raised to 52º C.

A second thick mash is boiled in the kettle for 10 minutes and when returned to the main mash the combined temperature should be 65º C.

Now the lauter mash is boiled in the kettle for 15 minutes which when added back to the main mash raises the temperature to mash out at 75º C. The wort is run off after a rest of 35 to 40 minutes.

Sparge water should be at 75º C or a temperature such that when the wort is drawn off it’s at most 70-75º C. If the water is hotter it can dissolve starch from the grains and this can a haze, albeit slight.

The hopping rate is 2 pounds per 50 kg of malt. A quarter of the hops are added as soon as the copper is filling, another quarter after 30 minutes boiling and the last half 45 minutes before the end of the boil. Boiling lasts 2 hours.

To obtain the right aroma and mild hop flavour, only the best Bohemian hops are used and just before the boil ends 1 or 2 pounds of hops are added.

The yeast is pitched at 5º C and fermentation is conducted in a way that ensures it lasts at least 10 days. The pitching rate is 5 litres per 1,000 litres of wort. The OG is 12º Balling and the beer is transferred to lagering vessels at a gravity of 5º Balling.

Schankbiers are brewed to a gravity of 10-10.5º Balling, are equally heavily hopped and are handled like Lagerbier except only lagered for two months. The beers are only left with the bungs open for 2 weeks but then are left under the bunging apparatus for a long time.
Source: Olberg, Johannes (1927) Bömisches Bier in Moderne Braumethoden, pp 59-61, A. Hartleben, Wien & Leipzig.

That’s a very usefully detailed description of how to brew a pale Bohemian Lager. Or rather pale Bohemian Lagerbier and pale Bohemian Schankbier. The Czechs have long been fond of relative weak Lagers, with 10º Plato beers (around 4% ABV) being the most popular.

Olberg forgets to mention how long the Lagerbier was , er, lagered. Probably 3 months.

The hopping rate isn’t crazy at around 6 lbs per quarter of malt. But it’s a lot compared to most 20th-century Lagers. Even Pilsners, a supposedly hop-accented style, were mostly very lightly hopped in comparison to British beers.

As there are three wort boils, I guess the mashing scheme is a triple decoction. Though it isn’t made that clear in the text, the first two decoctions are thick mash, i.e. containing lots of grains and the final one thin mash, i.e. mostly liquid. It’s a pretty classic triple decoction method.

German Pilsner

I tumbled over this lode-bearing rock when looking for something for Adrian Tierney-Jones. For some reason he thought I might be the sort of person who owned a bound edition of the 1933 Berwers' Journal. Of course I do.

I was really pleased to be able pick up good run of years between the wars from an Institute of Brewing and Distilling auction. Brewing journals are as good as non-existent in the normal second hand book market.

But I'm rambling. The article in question is about the use of the word Pilsner to describe German beer. Before the Czechs (or Bohemian-Austrians as they were back then) knew it, brewers all over Europe were calling their beers Pilsner. They never really had a chance of regaining control of the term. Especially when they were still part of a larger empire. I've noticed that breweries in what is now Austria were some of the first to be guilty of this.

"PILSNER" BEER.
The German Law Courts have had before them the suit of the brewers of Pilsen, who sought to have German brewers forbidden the use of the designation "Pilsner." The Reich Supreme Court first ruled in 1912 that German brewers were entitled to market beer brewed elsewhere than in Pilsen, Bohemia, but in the Pilsner manner under such names as "Radeberger Pilsner."

Since then the issue has been complicated by the fact that Pilsen is no longer an Austrian but a Czechoslovak town. All ingenious argument of the German breweries was that, as the Czech Government insists on the use of the Czech name for all towns within its territory, "Pilsner" beer could in future only be brewed in Germany. The Reich Supreme Court has confirmed recent judgments of Hamburg and Cologne courts based on its own 1912 ruling, and reversed the judgment of a Berlin court which had ruled that German breweries might only sell beer under such names as "Gottesberger Pilsner"  if the two words were printed in type of equal size and were followed by the words "Beer in the Pilsner manner."
"Brewers' Journal 1933', page 87.

How odd that they should have picked Radeberger Pilsner as their example, a beer that a couple of decades later was a flag-ship beer of the DDR. (I never cared for it much myself. There were much better Pilsners in Thüringen.) Though it was one of the first German breweries to really concentrate on the style.

I'm trying to think of a case where a brewery won this sort of action, clawing back exclusive use of what had become the general name of a type of beer. I can only think of one example: Zacherl (later Paulaner) with Salvator.

It's clever the way they tried to use Czech nationalism - using the Czech names for towns - against the brewers from Pilsen. Of coursew, a few years later, there would be far worse conficts between the two countries than the name of a type of beer.

Bohemian Lagers of the 1880's and 1890's (part two)

Here's the rest of those Bohemian beers I didn't have time and space for last time. Honestly, there's so much material, I'll be busy for months, if not years.


Maybe I'd have made my life simpler had I included the Pale Lagerbiers with the Pilsensers. Then again, maybe not, because, although some of the averages are very close a couple aren't. Meaning I can draw some conclusions about the differences between the two. I was going to say attenaution, then I noticed that outliers - the Prälat Flaschenbier and Touristenbier, that I'm not even sure were Lagerbiers - was dragging the average down. Take them out and attenuation is 74%.

Oh. I notice I've also included a couple that are Pilseners. What the hell, I can't be bothered to fiddle with the tables any more today.

Bohemian Pale Lagerbiers 1886 - 1894
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1895	Bürgerliches Brauhausin den Kgl. Weinbergen, Prague	Helles Lagerbier	Helles	draught	1044.4	1011.2	11.09	4.31	74.77%	0.103
1886	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1047.3	1012.7	11.78	4.49	73.15%
1898	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1047.3	1012.6	11.78	4.50	73.36%	0.103
1891	Wittingauer (Třeboň)	Weisses Lagerbier	Helles	bottled	1048.5	1012.7	12.07	4.65	73.81%	0.099
1895	Aktien-Brauerei Eger	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	draught	1048.5	1012.0	12.07	4.74	75.26%	0.078
1890	Wittingauer (Třeboň)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Lagerbier	bottled	1048.5	1012.4	12.07	4.69	74.43%	0.160
1894	Kalthausen	Pasteurisirtes Touristenbier	Lagerbier	draught	1051.8	1025.4	12.85	3.39	50.97%	0.146
1890	Kreuzherrn (Krizovnicka)	Prälat Flaschenbier served in Prague	Lagerbier	bottled	1057.0	1020.1	14.07	4.78	64.74%	0.290
	Average				1049.2	1014.9	12.22	4.44	70.06%	0.140
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

The level of acidity is much lower than for Pilsenser and again taking out those two beers, averages to just over 0.1%. I'd have expected the Pilseners to have been cleaner.

The next group are Dark Lagers:

Bohemian Dark Lagers 1890 - 1895
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1890	Br. "U Stajgru"	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1036.0	1011.3	9.06	3.20	68.61%	0.150
1890	Br. Zum blauen Hecht	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1043.3	1012.5	10.83	3.99	71.13%	0.260
1890	Brauerei "U Flecu"	schwarz Flaschenbier served in Prague	Dunkles	bottled	1046.3	1016.2	11.54	3.89	65.01%	0.180
1895	Bürgerliches Brauhaus in den Kgl. Weinbergen, Prague	Schwarzes Königsbier	Dunkles	draught	1052.1	1016.8	12.92	4.58	67.75%	0.097
	Average				1044.4	1014.2	11.09	3.91	68.13%	0.172
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Being honest, the only thing they really have in common is their colour. They look like two Schenkbiers one Lagerbier and one stronger beer.

I was delighted to spot U Fleků's beer in there. It's obviously not the same as the current beer, as that's 13º Plato. Now it doesn't say right out in the source that it's a bottom-fermented beer. But, it is in a table devoted to bottom-fermenters and top-fermenting beers have tables of their own.

Pretty crap attenuation and a high level of acidity are other features. The other averages are pretty meaningless as the beers are all of different gravities.

And finally what I'm calling stronger Lagers. Uninspired, I know. Speciální Pivo would be the modern Czech term.

Bohemian stronger Lagers 1888 - 1892
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1890	Wisotschauer	Bockbier served in Prague	Bock	bottled	1047.4	1016.7	11.81	3.96	64.77%	0.270
1891	Smichower	Granatbier	Export	bottled	1053.5	1021.0	13.24	4.19	60.71%	0.121
1891	Pracer	Granatbier	Export	bottled	1053.6	1019.0	13.27	4.48	64.55%	0.092
1892	Gödinger (Hodonín)	Märzenbier	Märzen	draught	1053.6	1026.3	13.27	3.50	50.93%	0.272
1888	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Bockbier	Bock	bottled	1054.8	1015.4	13.56	5.11	71.90%
1888	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Exportbier	Export	draught	1059.7	1014.6	14.70	5.88	75.54%
	Average				1053.8	1018.8	13.31	4.52	64.73%	0.189
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

I've rather arbitrarily attributed styles to some of these. Märzen and the one Export I'm fairly happy with. Granatbier is a guess. There are still quite a few beers called Granát in the Cezh Republic. Usually amber or dark and sometimes 13º or 14º Plato, others 11º or 12º Plato. I seem to remember seeing old adverts or labels for Granát as a stronger Exportni beer. Here you go. I knew I had it somewhere. It's an old enamel advert I spotted on the wall of a Prague pub.:

So, amber (or dark) stronger beer. Sometimes even called Export. They'd be called Speciální Pivo in the modern Czech Republic.

They look very much like the Märzenbier, except for the latter's shitty degree of attenuation. Don't assume the Märzen was amber. It could just as well have been pale. Or even dark.

Clearly Bock meant something different in Bohemia. Neither of those is anything like strong enough to count as a Bock in Austria or Germany. The weaker one looks like a low-end Lagerbier. The stronger one you could maybe call a Märzen.

Finally the Export. Decent gravity, decent attenuation, a fair bit of oomph in the finished product. The strongest beer of the set and doubtless my first choice.

Not sure what I'll do next. There's so much of this stuff. Maybe some of the North German stuff.

Bohemian Lagers of the 1880's and 1890's (part one)

I can't express my love for "Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel" in words. Perhaps I should write a song.

I've caught 350 new analyses in the last week or so. There are hundreds more. I've really improved my data set on Czech Lagers, much to my delight. I never dreamed that I'd be able to find so many details. I suppose I should really do something constructive with them. Which I guess this sort of is.

The 58 beers in this set I've somewhat arbitrarily lumped together in 5 groups: Schenkbier, Helles Lagerbier, Dunkles, Pilsener and stronger Lagers. It's arbitrary because the Pilseners are also Pale Lagerbiers and some of the Schenkbiers are Pilseners. But I had to draw the lines somewhere. Feel free to rearrange everything in your head if you disagree with my categorisations.

All the place names were given in German and, where I've been able to work out the Czech name, I've put that in brackets

I'll begin with Schenkbier, because I've the most of them. Which is another confirmation that this was the most common type of beer in Bohemia. As it still is today. I suppose I could have used the modern Czech name of Výčepní Pivo, which is what these beers really are.

Bohemian Pale Schenkbiers 1888 - 1894
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1895	Aktien-Brauerei Eger (Cheb)	Abzugsbier	Schenkbier	draught	1031.2	1003.0	7.89	3.68	90.38%	0.089
1890	Petromitzer	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1037.7	1012.4	9.48	3.28	67.11%	0.270
1890	Nusler	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1037.9	1015.6	9.53	2.88	58.84%	0.170
1890	Popowitzer (Popovice)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1038.4	1010.9	9.65	3.56	71.61%	0.170
1890	Wisotschauer	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1039.0	1013.0	9.79	3.36	66.67%	0.150
1890	Raudnitz (Roudnice nad Labem)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1039.2	1010.6	9.84	3.71	72.96%	0.150
1890	Miliner(Milín)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1039.4	1010.5	9.89	3.75	73.35%	0.230
1890	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1039.6	1007.0	9.94	4.24	82.32%	0.170
1888	Alt-Pilsener	Schenkbier?	Schenkbier	draught	1039.7	1012.1	9.96	3.58	69.52%
1890	Konopischter (Konopiště)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1040.0	1017.8	10.03	2.86	55.50%	0.140
1890	Jinonitzer	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1040.3	1014.7	10.11	3.31	63.52%	0.120
1894	Unknown	Abzugsbier	Schenkbier	draught	1040.9	1012.0	10.25	3.75	70.66%	0.115
1890	Wrschowitzer (Vršovice)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1042.0	1018.2	10.51	3.06	56.67%	0.180
1895	Bürgerliches Brauhaus in den Kgl. Weinbergen, Prague	Helles gewönhl. Bier	Schenkbier	draught	1042.3	1011.6	10.59	3.98	72.58%	0.098
1890	Actien Brauhaus, Smichov	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1042.4	1016.4	10.61	3.35	61.32%	0.170
1891	Unknown, Pilsen	Pilsener Schenkbier	Schenkbier	bottled	1042.6	1014.8	10.66	3.59	65.26%	0.092
1891	Pracer	Schenkbier	Schenkbier	bottled	1042.9	1012.4	10.73	3.95	71.10%	0.131
1898	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Schankbier	Schenkbier	draught	1043.0	1011.5	10.76	4.09	73.26%	0.112
1890	Pracer	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1043.0	1012.7	10.76	3.93	70.47%	0.170
1894	Unknown	Abzugsbier	Schenkbier	draught	1043.2	1014.5	10.80	3.71	66.44%	0.108
1894	Unknown	Abzugsbier	Schenkbier	draught	1044.7	1016.6	11.16	3.63	62.86%	0.092
1890	Kreuzherrn (Krizovnicka)	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Schenkbier	bottled	1045.5	1020.3	11.35	3.25	55.38%	0.150
1892	Gödinger (Hodonín)	Schenkbier	Schenkbier	draught	1047.6	1018.0	11.85	3.83	62.18%	0.218
1892	Budweiser	Schenkbier	Schenkbier	draught	1047.7	1010.8	11.88	4.80	77.36%	0.258
	Average				1041.3	1013.2	10.33	3.63	68.22%	0.154
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

I was surprised by how low the gravities were for some of this class. Quite a few are below 1040º and one barely over 1030º. On the other hand, a couple at the top end have gravities more in line with a Lagerbier. Thought the majority are between 10º and 11º Plato. The average gravity is just a touch over 10º Plato, which is about what I'd expect.

You'll note that a lot of the weaker examples are bottled beers. I find it a little that the weakest beers should be bottled.

In common with most 19th-century Lagers, the average rate of attenuation isn't great at 68%. In some examples it's a good bit worse than that, leaving the odd beer under 3% ABV. This really isn't how you usually imagine Lager of the 1800's.

Once again, the average acidity looks high. I'd expect a maximum of 0.1%. Compare this values with these ones from the 20th century:

20th-century Czech Lagers
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Attenuation	Acidity	colour
1935	Pilsner Urquell	Pilsner Urquell	Pils	bottled	1049.4	1013.8	12.28	4.62	72.06%	0.05
1961	Pilsner Urquell	Pilsner Urquell	Pils	bottled	1032.5	1010.9	8.21	2.70	66.46%	0.02	10
1950	Pilsner Urquell	Lager	Pils	bottled	1049	1013.5	12.19	4.61	72.45%	0.08	10.5 B
1950	Pilsner Urquell	Lager	Pils	bottled	1038.9	1010.3	9.77	3.71	73.52%	0.05	11 B
1957	Pilsner Urquell	Pilsner Urquell	Pils	bottled	1036.4	1010.1	9.16	3.41	72.25%	0.04	12
1957	Pilsner Urquell	Pilsener	Pils	bottled	1036.3	1010	9.14	3.41	72.45%	0.04	9
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

What next? How about Pilseners? Using modern Czech terminology, these would be called Světlý Ležák. Or Pale Lagerbier in German. I know. It's very inconsistent as I've also got a group Pale Lagerbiers.

Bohemian Pilseners 1888 - 1894
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %
1894	Mährisch-Neustädter (Uničov)	Lagerbier a la Pilsen	Pilsener	draught	1047.1	1011.1	11.74	4.68	76.43%	0.194
1890	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Flaschenbier served in Prague	Pilsener	bottled	1047.2	1015.8	11.76	4.06	66.53%	0.210
1886	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Pilsener	Pilsener	draught	1047.8	1015.4	11.89	4.19	67.75%
1897	Unknown Pilsen	Original-Pilsener	Pilsener	draught	1048.0	1014.3	11.95	4.36	70.21%	0.242
1890	Unknown Pilsen	Pilsener	Pilsener	draught	1048.1	1013.1	11.97	4.54	72.77%	0.186
1888	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Pilsener	Pilsener	draught	1048.5	1015.0	12.07	4.34	69.07%
1898	Unknown Pilsen	Pilsener (sold in Berlin)	Pilsener	draught	1048.5	1014.3	12.07	4.44	70.52%
1891	Actien Brauhaus, Pilsen	Pilsener (sold in Zürich)	Pilsener	draught	1048.9	1012.0	12.16	4.80	75.46%
1891	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Pilsener (sold in Zürich)	Pilsener	draught	1049.3	1014.6	12.26	4.50	70.39%
1892	Pilsener Export-Brauerei	Pilsener (sold in Bern)	Pilsener	draught	1052.2	1011.1	12.94	5.35	78.74%	0.120
1893	Bürgerliches Brauhaus, Pilsen	Pilsener	Pilsener	draught	1053.2	1013.2	13.18	5.20	75.19%	0.320
	Average				1049.0	1013.6	12.18	4.59	72.09%	0.212
Sources:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

You'll see I've got a few from Pilsen itself. Bürgerliches Brauhaus, I'm sure you realise, is Pilsner Urquell. In terms of gravity and ABV the average is scarily close to modern Pilsner Urquell. Interestingly, four of the 5 strongest examples had been exported abroad.

Attenuation is better than for the Schenkbiers, but still well below the level of modern Lagers. Once again the level of acidity is high, even higher than in Schenkbier.

There are going to be just too many tables if I do all of this in one go. You'll have to wait until next time for the Dark Lagers, strong Lagers and, er, Pale Lagers,