Let's Brew - 1873 Ny Carlsberg DBS

Is it a coincidence that Carlsberg’s Stout has the same name as William Younger’s? I don’t think so. Given that Carl Jacobsen had served a brewing apprenticeship there.

Other than the Munich base malt, the grist has a very London look about it, with the combination of brown and black malt. And not just a little brown malt, but rather a lot of it. Between them, the roasted malts account for almost 25% of the grist. Easily enough to have a significant impact on the flavour of the finished beer.

British influence can be seen in the hopping, too. Both in the rate – which is far higher than in their other beers – and in the type of hops. As there are some simply described as “EK”. Which I’ve assumed are something Goldings-like.

Was this lagered? I really don’t know. There is a possibility that, rather than being cold lagered, it was aged at cellar temperature. Either could have happened. 

1873 Ny Carlsberg DBS
Munich malt 10L	13.75 lb	77.46%
brown malt	3.00 lb	16.90%
black malt	1.00 lb	5.63%
Saaz 150 mins	4.00 oz
Saaz 60 mins	4.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	4.00 oz
OG	1072
FG	1024
ABV	6.35
Apparent attenuation	66.67%
IBU	120
SRM	40
Mash double decoction
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	45º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1895 Ny Carlsberg Lagerøl Export

I've started with Lagers, so why should I stop? Another 19th-century Carlsberg beer.

Carlsberg were very nice about letting me photograph their archived brewing records. And didn't make me sign any NDAs. Unlike some brewers.

The export version of Lagerøl is a slightly odd beast. What exactly is it?  You couldn’t call it an Export, because it’s too strong and dark. Dunkles Export, then? Too strong. It’s just about Bock strength. So you could, perhaps, consider it a Dunkles Bockbier.

Export? A classier beer, you would expect. Yet the grist is a third barley flour. The rest, Munich malt. The former is the reason that the colour is paler than that of standard Lagerøl.

The hopping is a bit heavier at the equivalent of 2.5 lb per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Quite a lot more than in the domestic version. Still way short of a UK export beer, which would have four or five times as many hops.

Those hops were, which makes this a bit more interesting, a combination of Saaz and East Kent hops. I’ve assumed the latter were something Goldings-like.

1895 Ny Carlsberg Lagerol Export
Munich malt 20L	11.50 lb	69.70%
barley flour	5.00 lb	30.30%
Saaz 150 mins	0.75 oz
Saaz 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1064
FG	1028
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	56.25%
IBU	24
SRM	17
Mash double decoction
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	44º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

I’d give a beer of this gravity four months of lagering.

These are the decoction mash details:

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

 

Let's Brew - 1895 Ny Carlsberg Lagerøl

It's always nice to publish some Lager recipes for a change. So I'm sticking with Carlsberg.

A massive percentage of the brewery’s output at this point was in the form of Lagerøl. Listed as “B” in the brewing record, which I’m guessing stands for Bayerskt: Bavarian. Because this is an attempt at a Bavarian-style Dark Lager.

The recipe is even simpler than for the Pilsner. Just base malt – in this case, Munich – and Hallertau hops. I’m going to struggle to spin much out of that. But that’s not going to stop me trying.

Note the pretty crappy rate of attenuation of under 70%. Low rates of attenuation were typical of 19th-century Lagers. It’s rare to come across anything that gets as high as the 75% which was fairly standard in the UK.

The hopping rate is very low compared to UK beers. It’s only about the equivalent of 1.75 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. Even the most lightly hopped Milds usually had at least 4 lbs per quarter.

As a Lager, this would, obviously, need some lagering. Three to three and half months you’d need for a beer of this gravity. Though I’m not sure the original got that.
 

1895 Ny Carlsberg Lagerøl
Munich malt 20L	13.75 lb	100.00%
Hallertau 180 mins	0.50 oz
Hallertau 60 mins	0.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1057
FG	1018
ABV	5.16
Apparent attenuation	68.42%
IBU	18
SRM	19
Mash double decoction
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	51º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

These are the decoction mash details:

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1895 Ny Carlsberg Pilsner

A bit of a change of pace here. As we cross the North Sea to Denmark for a  recipe.For a beer which is still around today.

Pilsner was far from being king at Carlsberg in the 19th century. By was the most brews were of Lagerol, which was obviously the big seller. As in much of Europe, the first Lagers brewed in Denmark were in the darker Munich style. When Pilsner was introduced, it was an exclusive drink, aimed at the better off.  Much like IPA in the UK.

This is a very different beer from the current iteration. With a much fight gravity and a much worse degree of attenuation. Which leaves it around the same strength, but with, obviously, way more body. Though the light hopping probably leaves it wit ha similar level of bitterness.

The grist is slightly more complex than you might imagine, with a little Munich malt in addition to the pilsner malt. Giving it a touch more colour. Though it’s still pretty damn pale.

All Saaz hops, with is a nice authentic touch. And which, I’m sure, given the finished beer a delicate hop character.

A couple of months lagering Should get this into a nice state. 

1895 Ny Carlsberg Pilsner
pilsner malt	11.50 lb	97.21%
Munich malt 20L	0.33 lb	2.79%
Saaz 90 mins	0.75 oz
Saaz 60 mins	0.50 oz
Saaz 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1052
FG	1019
ABV	4.37
Apparent attenuation	63.46%
IBU	18
SRM	4
Mash double decoction
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	48º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

These are the decoction mash details:

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

 

Ny Carlsberg grists in 1928-1929

As promised, here are Carlsberg's grists from the 1920s. Which turn out to be more interesting than you might expect.

No shock that the Pilsners were mostly brewed from pilsner malt. Along with some maize. It is a surprise, however, to de "Farve malt" in the two weaker ones. It means "colour malt" and, based on its usage in Porter, seems to be something like black malt. Obviously, it's purpose is to darken the colour a little.

Moving on to the dark Lagers, we hit the first major problem in interpretation. What exactly was lager malt? I'm inclined to go for something like pale Munich malt. It can't just be another name for pilsner malt as the two types are kept very distinct in the records. The small quantity of caramel malt wouldn't account for the seemingly much darker colour.

Note that none of the dark beers contained maize.

The there's the next tricky ingredient: something called "Kulör" in the logs. 18 and 25 litres, respectively for 424 hl of Lager and 377 hl of Export. Clearly it's some sort of liquid caramel, but how dark was it? I could only guess.

Biggest surprise is that the Porter had 20% brown malt. That's so old school. Even in the UK almost no-one used it any more in Stout, except in London.

Ny Carlsberg grists in 1928-1929
Year	Beer	Style	Pilsner malt	Lager malt	caramel malt	brown malt	Farve malt	maize
1929	Ny Pilsner	Pilsner	84.24%				0.70%	15.06%
1928	Pilsner	Pilsner	79.74%				0.16%	20.10%
1928	Lagerol I	Lager		98.08%	1.92%
1929	Gammel Carlsberg Exp	Export		97.94%	2.06%
1928	Exp. Pilsner	Pilsner	70.00%					30.00%
1928	Porter	Porter	70.61%			21.41%	7.99%
Source: Carlsberg brewing record held at the brewery, document number Serie 000000299 000056839.

Ny Carlsberg beers in 1928-1929

I've been too diligent in collecting brewing records. That's how I excuse myself for the mountain of unprocessed ones. Including a hillock of Carlsberg logs. Our perhaps I'm just a lazy git? I'll let you decide.

Ever since I built up a backlog, I give priority to transcribing records which are relevant to a current project. That ruled out anything that wasn't in the time slot 1938 to 1948. After a lifetime and a half of toil, I finally finished off William Younger. I suspect most of it a waste of time. Dead handy for my birthday recipe thing, though. Lots and lots of different dates.

Wandering a bit off the path there. It was years back (May 2015, according to the photos) when I visited the Carlsberg archives. I photographed 20 brewing books from Ny Carlsberg, spanning 1867 to 1934. Quite a lot of stuff. Which would take years to fully process.

There's a good reason I'm looking at them now.  I'm writing a talk on interwar European Lager. Carlsberg is a great example. Getting to use my research here as well makes it a win-win. For me, at any rate. Probably depends on how number-obsessed you are.

One word of warning: the FGs are a guess. I've a couple of analyses of Carlsberg's beers from around this time and they're around 75% apparent, so that's what I've gone with here. It could have been lower for the two dark beers and the porter.

As far as I can make out, Carlsberg brewed six different beers: three Pilsners, a Lagerbier, an Export and a Porter. Not a massive range. If these were German beers, I'd call the middle two Dunkles Lagerbier and Dunkles Export.

The standard Pilsner, which was by far the most-brewed of Carlsberg's range, is weaker than you would expect: under 11º Plato. Checking back through older logs, I saw that it was 12.9º in 1895, 12.6º in 1901, but only 10.9º in 1910. It wasn't WW I, as I suspected, that pushed the gravity down. 

Export Pilsner is simply the same strength as the 1895 standard Pilsner. Looks like Carlsberg lowered the strength of the beer domestically and kept on brewing the old version for export.

Ny Pilsner (New Pilsner) looks like it's fitting into some sort of price class:

"The beers with less than 2.25 per cent alcohol show an even greater increase. The new Pilsener for instance increasing from Kr. 7.5 to 24.25 ore per bottle (about 0.75d. to 2.5d.) and from Kr. 16 to Kr. 60 per hectolitre in cask (or 26s. 3d. to 98s. 6d. per barrel)."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 27, Issue 1, January 1921, pages 26 - 27.

This confirms that Ny Pilsner was a tax category:

Average Original Gravities of Danish Beers 1914 - 1920
Year ending September 30th	1915	1916	1917	1916	1919	1920
Lager beer	1052	1051	1048	1045
Pilsener beer	1044	1044	1041.5	1032	1038	1038
Stout, tax class I	1076	1076	1072
Stout, tax class II	1068	1068	1065	1058	1055	1056
Munich beer	1056	1056	1055
Export beer	1052	1050	1049.5
New Pilsener, tax class II	1032	1032	1032	1030	1031	1031
Source: Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 27, Issue 1, January 1921, page 27.

You may have noticed the eccentric colour scale used by Carlsberg. The higher the number, the paler the colour. How mad is that?

Lagerol and Export are both dark, but how dark? I'd guess 12-15 SRM. When we get to the recipe next time, I'll explain exactly why I'm guessing that.

By far the most heavily hopped of the beers, in terms of hops per 100 kg of malt, is Ny Pilsner. Probably to cover up how watery it was. Amongst the other beers, Export Pilsner is a little heavier on the hops. As the strongest beer by quite a way, it's no surprise that Porter has by far the most hops per hectolitre.

In general, the darker beers were boiled longer, the exception being Export Pilsner.

Ny Carlsberg beers in 1928-1929
Year	Beer	Style	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Attenua-tion	kg hops/ 100 kg	hops kg/hl	boil time (hours)	colour
1929	Ny Pilsner	Pilsner	6.5	1.6	2.56	75.87%	2.63	0.19	1.75	19
1928	Pilsner	Pilsner	10.6	2.6	4.27	76.24%	1.26	0.18	1.75	19
1928	Lagerol I	Lager	10.6	2.6	4.27	76.24%	1.25	0.18	2	5.5
1929	Gammel Carlsberg Exp	Export	12.8	3.2	5.18	75.94%	1.28	0.21	2	5
1928	Exp. Pilsner	Pilsner	12.9	3.2	5.24	76.13%	1.58	0.28	2.25	20
1928	Porter	Porter	18.9	4.7	7.89	76.48%	1.41	0.41	2.5
Source:
Carlsberg brewing record held at the brewery, document number Serie 000000299 000056839.

 

Another weird technical post

Simply intended to show - for the purpose of an argument on Martyn Cornell's blog about Baltic Porter - that Ny Carlsberg initially top-fermented their Porter.

This record in the Carlsberg archive excited me as soon as I was presented with it. As I immediately recognised it as a William Younger brewing book. 

A personal brewing book of of Carl Jacobsen, it kicks off with brewed in Edinburgh and Burton and concludes with ones back in Copenhagen.

In the second image you can see the yeast used for DBS, their Porter. It clearly says Evershed in the yeast column. The fermentation temperatures are also far higher than the brews with Carlsberg yeast.

UK Beer Imports during WW II

Before WW I, beer imports into the UK were at a very low level – just 50,000 barrels in 1910.   This figure shot up, however to 1.3 million barrels in 1924.   There was a very simple reason for this sudden massive increase: Irish independence. Over 95% of imports were a single beer, Guinness Extra Stout.

As you can see in the table below, little had changed by the time WW II kicked off.  Much as before the first war, imports from the rest of the world remained at a meagre 50,000 barrels or so. Judging by the main sources of these imports – Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – it’s safe to assume most of this was Lager.

All of the countries from which the UK imported any quantity of beer (other than the Republic of Ireland) were in Axis hands during the war. So it’s pretty obvious they wouldn’t be supplying any beer for the duration.

Sadly, I don’t have figures for the source of imports during the war years. However, I do have the numbers for total Irish exports. Adjusting these to strip out Foreign Extra Stout and using the OG of Guinness to convert standard barrels to bulk barrels, I can come up with a reasonable estimate of Irish imports. And it matches very closely to the total volume of imports. Not that that should be any great surprise.

The fall in imports from Ireland in 1943 and 1944 is as a result of a dispute between the Republic of Ireland and the UK. In late 1943, in order to force the UK government to export more grain to Ireland, the Irish government banned the export of beer. The UK caved in, fearing what would happen in Northern Ireland where the vast majority of beer sold was from the Republic. Almost all in the form of Guinness.

After the war, imports picked up pretty much where they had left off. The only exception being Germany, from which no beer was imported until 1953.  Lack of availability would have been one of the main reasons. In the immediate post-war years the occupying powers severely restricted brewing in Germany. The British, for example, only allowed brewing for UK troops stationed in Germany.

UK Beer imports 1936 - 1951
Country of Origin	1936	1937	1938	1950	1951
Irish Republic	1,380,343	1,256,212	836,624	1,031,159	1,025,902
Other British Countries	128	121	108	22	31
Total from British Countries	1,380,471	1,256,333	836,732	1,031,181	1,025,933
Denmark	17,867	22,560	25,459	17,686	23,058
Germany	16,953	18,669	18,813	-	-
Netherlands	8,824	9,143	8,708	2,685	3,492
Belgium	128	705	821	700	1,150
Czechoslovakia	3,806	3,882	3,810	915	903
Other Foreign Countries	241	180	278	224	1,703
Total from Foreign Countries	47,819	55,139	57,895	22,110	30,306
Total Bulk Barrels	1,428,290	1,311,472	894,627	1,053,291	1,056,239
Source:
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, page 60.

Guinness Extra Stout exports to the UK 1939 - 1943
Years ended 31st March	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943
Irish Exports: Standard barrels	770,562	789,864	767,209	905,165	691,275
FES Exports: Standard barrels	17,639	18,810	17,630	9,847	13,864
Exports Extra Stout	752,923	771,054	749,579	895,318	677,411
Extra Stout OG	1055	1053	1048	1047	1046
Irish Exports: bulk barrels	752,923	800,150	858,893	1,047,712	809,947
UK imports	838,269	822,678	789,787	1,047,374	837,788
Sources:
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, page 60.
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, pages 107 - 110.

Guinness Extra Stout exports to the UK 1944 - 1947
Years ended 31st March	1944	1945	1946	1947
Irish Exports: Standard barrels	483,031	661,674	802,122	676,485
FES Exports: Standard barrels	22,660	19,939	15,338	29,974
Exports Extra Stout	460,371	641,735	786,784	646,511
Extra Stout OG	1046	1046	1046	1042
Irish Exports: bulk barrels	550,444	767,292	940,720	846,621
UK imports	572,389	765,602	929,028	860,161
Sources:
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, page 60.
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, pages 107 - 110.

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.