Top-fermenting relics of the 1930s

We're back with good old Schönfeld again.  In this particularly handy section, he runs through which beers had or hadn't made it past WW I.

It includes a couple of surprises.

"In the meantime (from 1900 onwards) a new type of beer in the form of sugar-sweetened and pasteurized Malzbier (Karamelbier) had appeared, giving top fermentation a considerable boost, which has also recently involved the top-fermented, light bitter Lagerbier which was already brewed in the Rhineland.

Otherwise, the old local beers are mostly forgotten. Even famous beers. Such as Danziger Jopenbier, Einbecker beer. The widely spread Porter. Münsterländer Altbier, of which only remnants of inferior quality remain.

A few have managed to survive into the present day, such as Broihan (Hannover)*, which is brewed using wheat malt and has a sweet taste; the dark and weakly sweet brown beer brewed in the Kretschmerei in Breslau, Hamburger "Beer", Lichtenhainer beer and Gose, the wheat malt beer of Bavaria, especially the Berliner Weissbier, and to a lesser extent the non-sour Weissbier of northern Germany. Grätzer beer has saved itself - as a miserable leftover. Rhenish top fermentation, however, has survived the times in improved condition.

* Brown beer with a schnapps (caraway) has been a well-known popular drink in Hamburg as in Hanover under the name "Lüttge Lage"."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, page 132.

I'd assumed that Broyhan dies out a decade or two earlier. But, no, it was still limping on in the 1930s.

It's weird that he lists Porter in the lost beers. As there were still plenty of breweries making it in the 1930s. At least one in Berlin, where Schönfeld was based. Not sure which beers he means by non-sour wheat beers. Possibly things like Bremer Weissbier. About which I know bugger all, other than having seen the odd label.

Lüttge Lage is a weird survivor. It's a type of low ABV Altbier which is still produced in Hanover.

Schönfeld finishes this section with a quick look at top-fermentation elsewhere in Europe:

"In other countries too, top fermentation was pushed away more and more. However, there are still a number of breweries in Holland and France which produce light LAgerbier in a top-fermenting manner to a not inconsiderable extent. In Belgium, top fermentation still remains in the production of old sour beers.

A very special exception is England. Only top fermentation is known here. Hundreds of years ago, English beers had a well-founded reputation. They were all strong beers with great durability and characteristic taste and fragrance. They have  remained so to this day. Bottom fermentation was unable to gain a foothold. National characteristics and habits have allowed the old method of preparation to hold on."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, pages 132 - 133.

 Of course, there was far more than sour brown beers being top-fermented in Belgium before WW II. And there was bottom-fermenting beer produced in the UK. Just not very much of it.

History of North German top-fermenting styles

It took a couple of hours, but I scanned and OCR'd the last third of  Schönfeld's "Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung". The bit about top-fermenting beer styles.

It kicks off with a little history of North German styles.

"Brewing grew more and more into an art. Everyone who knew how to make a good beer kept the knowledge as a strict secret, on which reputation and economic success depended. Recipes were brewed, which one should never let fall into the hands of others. Thus a secretiveness developed, which led to the fact that in each community, each town one or more special types of beer were produced, which differed in their quality among the numerous others, which also differed from each other."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, page 125.

It's a shame that he doesn't give a date for when this happened. Sometime in the Middle Ages, presumably. Something similar happened in England, where brewing changed from a domestic to commercial activity. At least partially. Large quatities of beer were still being brewed domestically in the first half of the 19th century.

"The reputation of the individual types of beer penetrated far into the country and beyond the national border. Märkische breweries were proud to export beer and particularly heavily hopped beer to England in large quantities in the 11th and 12th centuries. Cologne's hopped beer was no less famous and was widely sold in England. Certain cities in Bavaria had a reputation for brewing a light beer, which was on par with English ale, which was particularly preferred by women. Hamburg enjoyed the reputation of producing excellent wheat beer, which was widely shipped even to England. The beers from Bremen, Rostock, Wismar and Lübeck earned their reputation. Güstrow's Kniesenack had also become famous. The Eimbeck beer, the heavy Danzig Jopenbier, the Braunschweiger Mumme are well known. Even porters were brewed, for example in Halberstadt, Alt-Haldensleben, Stettin. Grätz understood early on how to brew a special smoky, bitter beer from wheat malt, just as Grätzer beer still occupies a special position among top-fermented beers."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, page 125.

Märkische breweries were in the region around Berlin. I can't say I'd heard of them exporting hopped beer to England in the 11th and 12th centuries. I thought hopped beer only arrived a couple of centuries later.

With the mention of Porter we seem to have jumped ahead a few centuries. Porter was still brewed by considerable numbers of breweries when the book was written, though mostly in what would later become the DDR.

"Also worthy of mentioning, amongst others, is Broyhan, a beer that was named after the brewer Breihan, Broyhan or Broihan from Hanover, who learned beer brewing in Hamburg, had returned to Hanover with the Hamburg recipe for white beer, and here (1526) began brewing Hamburg-style beer. It was very well received and soon became known as Breihan beer. The name Broyhan has been used as a collective name until very recently. In general, in contrast to the original Broyhan, which was very light in color and was only made from barley malt and without hops, it is used to denote a simple, top-fermented, slightly sweet, dark beer, often made from wheat and barley malt, for which, especially in the countryside there was a demand."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, pages 125 - 126.

That's very interesting about the change in Broyhan. I'd already noticed that old sources weren't very consistent in their descriptions of Broyhan. I'd always assumed that, as it was brewed for a long period of time and in many locations, that it must have varied quite a bit depending on where and when you were.

I'm no longer shocked by beers changing colour. I've seen it happen with other styles, for example Mild Ale. Though I've seen recipes where it was pale, brewed from a mix of barley and wheat malt, with some, if only a few, hops. I'm pretty sure the reality was a good deal more complicated than Schönfeld describes.

"Gosebier, Berliner Weißbier, Schweidnitzer Bier and Breslauer Schöps are also among the beers that enjoyed great preference. Significantly, it was not the beers of Bavaria, but the beers of northern Germany that enjoyed the great reputation as quality beers and because of their excellent properties were shipped far beyond the national borders. And all of them were beers, which were only fermented in a top-fermented way."
"Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 2nd edition, Verlag von Paul Parey, Berlin, 1938, page 126.

 It's often forgotten that Bavaria was a bit of a brewing backwater until the 19th century. Only with Sedlmayr at Apaten did the Bavarian industry become of any significance.

Danziger Jopenbier

Time for a personal favourite of mine, the crazy Danziger Jopenbier.

It’s unusual in several respects, for a German beer. For a start it’s spontaneously fermented, a technique that mostly died out in Germany a couple of centuries earlier. Then there’s the ridiculously high OG and equally ridiculously high FG. Not to mention the organism that performed the fermentation.

And on that latter point Olberg has made things much clearer. I’ve read descriptions of a slime forming on the top of the beer. Olberg’s explanation of what was doing the fermenting explains that observation.

Off with the paraphrase.

Jopenbier can be considered a type of hopped malt drink. The mashing method employed doesn’t really matter that much. So for reasons of economy a short mashing scheme is usually employed. Per 1500 kg malt 25 to 30 pounds of hops are used. The wort is left to cool in the cooler and then run into fermenting tuns, which hold between one and two barrels. The tuns are 1 to 2 metres tall and built much narrower than usual. The wort remains in the tuns until after about three weeks it begins to ferment all on its own as aa result of spores that have fallen into it. No great value is placed on cleanliness or cleaning in the fermentation cellar, only the cellar floor is kept clean. Though naturally the cellar is kept dry and well ventilated. If I’m not mistaken the spontaneous fermentation is caused by Penicilium glaubum though Saccharomyces Beylink is also present. The fermentation is very violent which is why the tuns are kept closed with the exception of a vent under which a vessel is placed to catch overflowing liquid. When fermentation is complete the tuns are uncovered and the beer left to rest until it is shipped. Before it is filled into the smallest transport casks it is passed through filter sacks. The alcohol content is 3.5% and the acidity (measured in acetic acid) is 0.95%.
Source: Olberg, Johannes (1927) Danziger Jopenbier in Moderne Braumethoden, pp 65-66, A. Hartleben, Wien & Leipzig.

The penicillin will explain the mould, I guess. Unfortunately a search for that particular type threw up nothing whatsoever. It’s probably something that has changed its scientific name over the years. The same with the Saccharomyces – a total blank. Please let me know if you have any idea what they might be.

Interesting that it was fermented in tall narrow vessels. And counterintuitive. Surely if you’re relying on shit dropping into the wort to ferment it you’d want as large a surface area as possible?

That level of acetic acid would result in a pretty sour beer. Though with that amount of residual sweetness, it was probably barely noticeable. That will be 3.5% ABW, by the way.

Here’s the only analysis of Danziger Jopenbier I have:

Danziger Jopenbier
Year	Brewer	OG	FG	ABW	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1906	Unknown	1230.43	1195	3.52	4.40	13.49%
Source:
"Jahresbericht über die Leistungen der chemischen Technologie (1907)", 1907, pages 352 - 353.

The FG is higher than the highest OG I’ve ever seen for a UK-brewed beer. Though the ABV is high enough for Jopenbier to count as an alcoholic drink, Doubt anyone could drink enough of the treacle to get pissed, mind.