American beer styles of the 1930’s – Muenchener

You have to feel sorry for the Munich style of Dark Lager. It was, along with Dreher’s Vienna Lager,  the first bottom-fermenter to colonise Europe. Yet soon fell out of favour and was supplanted by paler types.

The style hung on through the first half of the 20th century but gradually disappeared from most countries after WW II. Even in its Munich heartland it had to play second fiddle to Helles after the war.

“Muenchener Type Beer
We recommend in order to supply the higher alcoholic variety the Munich type beer be brewed. The Muenchener beers are higher in alcoholic content than the Pilsener and to correctly brew this type of beer a greater amount of materials per barrel are necessary. For the strong flavor quality introduced with the increased materials as well as that inherent in the alcohol produced in the fermentation of this grain mash a coverage quality stronger than that of the hops is necessary.

To correctly brew this type of beer therefore a very high percentage of malt is necessary. This type of malt should be dried at high temperatures by the maltster in its manufacture. Such a procedure gives this malt considerable caramel flavor, better known to the brewing trade as a malty flavor. To be correctly brewed the Munich type of beer should have a taste which predominates in malt.
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 170 - 171.

That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? It should be brewed from mostly malt and should taste, er, malty. It’s implying that dark Munich malt should be used as the base, rather than using a small amount of highly-coloured malt on top of a pils malt base. I wonder how true that was in the 1930’s? Even in Germany a pils malt base was common for dark beers. Why else does Sinamar exist?

Here are some more details:

“As above stated a brew of this type having 4-4.5% alcohol by weight cannot be brewed to its perfection with a high percentage of brewing adjuncts having a very neutral flavor. Furthermore, the hop quality of this type of beer should be subdued by the employment of not more than .55 pounds or slightly more than 0.5 lb. hops per barrel if the wort can be removed from the hops in less than one-half hour's time. This Muenchener type beer should be made from worts of approximately 14% original extract.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 171.

That’s 5 to 5.3% ABV. Which doesn’t sound particularly high strength nowadays. But you need to remember the poor degree of attenuation prevalent. A modern Bavarian Märzen of a similar gravity is usually around 6% ABV. Half a pound of hops per barrel is pretty light hopping. But only a little less than in the lower-gravity Pilsener types we’ve already looked at.

Here’s something else I don’t really understand:

“This high alcoholic beer with a predominating malt flavor should receive considerable boiling period in the kettle. It contains a high percentage of malt which requires considerable boiling to stabilize. The longer boiling period furthermore adds an additional malty flavor produced from caramelization in the kettle. (See analysis on Muenchener Type Beer.)”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 171.

I’ve never heard before that malt-accented beers needed to be boiled for longer. I can see you might want to get more colour through a long boil, but malty flavour?

Here’s the nice table of details on this type of beer:

MUENCHENER TYPE BEER
Reported by Wahl Institute, April 27, 1936
This beer is composed of the following substances, reported in percentages or pounds per hundred:
Alcohol (by weight)	4.53
Real extract (dry substance)	4.75
Carbonic acid.	0.59
Water	90.13
	100
The real extract (4.75) is made up of the following substances:
	In Percentage	In Percentage
	of the beer	of the extract
Acid (Lactic)	0.117	2.46
Acid salts	0.081	1.71
Protein	0.613	12.91
Ash	0.19	3.3
Sugar (reducing)	1.243	26.17
Dextrins	2.506	53.45
	4.75	100
The following are important brewing figures:
Specific gravity of beer	1.011
Original balling of wort	13.81
Apparent extract of beer (balling)	2.85
Real attenuation	9.06
Fermentable sugar in the wort	10.3
Apparent attenuation	10.96
Alcohol (by volume)	5.66
Percent of extract fermented	65.6
Percent of extract unfermented	34.4
Percent of sugars in original wort	74.6
Percent of non-sugars in original wort	25.4
pH value	4.7
Total acidity	0.198
Carbonic acid by volumes	3
Amylo dextrins	none
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 176.

Surprisingly, the percentage of sugars in the wort is higher than for the Pilseners – 69% for Mild Pilsener and 72.6% for Strong Pilsener.

The degree of attenuation is higher, too – 79%. It was 72% for Mild Pilsener and 77% for Strong Pilsener. Fascinating stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree.

It’s brilliant. This is going to keep me going for ages. Plenty more beers styles to come. Half and Half is particularly exciting.

American bottom-fermenting styles of the 1930's (part one)

Did I mention that "Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint” was my birthday present from Dolores? Obviously, I told her what I wanted. She’d no more randomly buy a beer book for me than I would buy clothes for her.

It’s a fascinating book, which has been reprinted by Beer Books. And I’m very grateful they did because it’s full of handy stuff. Though it does appear to be a bit out of sync with the times. The information applies really to the pre-Prohibition, not the late 1930’s. That doesn’t make it any less useful.

Especially his quick rundown of beer styles. We’re starting with the bottom fermenters. This is the overview:

“Beers Classified. According to the system of fermentation employed, beers may be classified as follows:

1. Bottom Fermentation
Bohemian Lager Beer	Pilsener, Michelob
American Pale Beer	Bohemian Type
Austrian Lager Beer	Wiener, Dreher
American Vienna Beer	Vienna type
German Lager Beer	Muenchener
American Munich Beer	Munich type
German Würzburger	Würzburger
American Wüurzburger	Würzburger type
German Nürnberger	Nürnberger
American Nürnberger	Nürnberger type
German Bock	Hamburger
American Bock	Hamburger type
German Dortmunder	Dortmunder
American Dortmunder	Dortmunder type
California Steam Beer	San Francisco

"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 150.

As you can see, American Lager styles are all closely based on European examples, save for California Stream Beer. Some are what you would expect: Pilsener, Dortmunder, Muenchener. I’m a bit surprised to see Nürnberger and Würzburger in there. And that Bock is specified as a Hamburg style. I think they really mean Einbeck, but I still find it odd. By the 20th century Bock was much more associated with Bavaria.

Notice also how Pilsener and Michelob are listed as generic types of Bohemian Lager. Sounds very BJCP, doesn’t it, Bohemian Lager? Though I’m pretty sure by this point that Anheuser-Busch had trademarked Michelob.

Here’s some more details , starting with a BJCP-ey declaration:

“Quality, Character, Properties, Types and Composition of Beers
Before selecting and weighing the materials in order to start brewing operations, the brewer should clearly understand the requirements the finished product is to meet and every operation he carries out should be understood with a knowledge of the influence it may have in shaping the character of the beer desired. A beer has quality if it possesses recognized merit and meets the requirements of the trade. A beer has character if its properties conform to those of a recognized standard or type. Typical beers may differ widely as to their distinctive properties. We may distinguish for instance:

The Bavarian type of lager beer, with a light brown to dark brown or amber color, malt flavor and a mild smooth taste as the main features, with the aroma and bitter taste of hops but little pronounced, usually lively and sparkling, alcoholic content about 3.75 to 4.5 per cent by weight, from worts of about 14 per cent original extract, usually called Muenchener type; typical of Bavarian beers are the Muenchener. Nürnberger, Würzburger. Kulmbacher is a Bavarian beer brewed with considerable body and as dark as English stout.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 151.

Nothing too odd there, other than the gravity, which looks a bit high. I know – why don’t I check?

These are the handful of analyses I have of Munich Dark Lagers from the 1930’s:

Munich Dunkles in the 1930's
Year	Brewer	Acidity	OG	FG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation	OG Plato	ABW
1930	average of 4 samples		1055.2	1018.6	3.5	4.69	65.15%	13.66	3.75
1930	strongest sample		1056.9	1020.4	3.9	4.72	62.92%	14.05	3.77
1930	weakest sample		1053.6	1016.4	3	4.82	68.27%	13.27	3.85
1935	Löwenbräu, Munich	0.05	1055	1020.8		4.42	62.18%	13.60	3.53
Sources:
"Van Brouwerij tot Bierglas" by F. Kurris, Doetinchem, 1948, pages 26-27
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

It looks to me as if 14º Plato is a little high, but not as much as I’d thought. Looks like around 13.5º Plato was more on the mark. The ABW given also seems a little too high – all the samples in the table are at the bottom end of the range.

Kulmbacher is a type of beer that really intrigues me. It appears to have been quite well-known internationally at the end of the 19th century, but which faded quickly. About all I've been able to glean about it was that it was very dark in colour and hoppier than the Munich style.

That’s enough fun for today. I’ll be annoying you for a few more days yet with this stuff.

Early Swedish lagers

Did I tell you a pile of Swedish brewery histories arrived last week? I'm sure I've already mentioned it somewhere. A bloke called Samuel E. Bring seems to have single-handedly tried to document Stockholm's brewing industry. I have three volumes (out of at least six, as one is numbered VI). They are providing fascinating insights into the early days of lager brewing in Sweden.

Bayerskt öl
The most popular style in Sweden in the period 1870 to 1920 was, by a street, Bayerskt öl. I had been assuming that this was a dark lager in the Munich style. As so often is the case, it's actually a little more complicated than that. According to the Svenska Bryggareföreningen's magazine of January 1887, there were many differences between the Swedish version and the original. Bayerskt öl:

1. had a higher OG
   
2. used lower quality hops so wasn't as bitter
   
3. was paler - between pale yellow and pale brown, whereaas the original was closer in colour to Porter
   
4. had a higher alcohol content because of the higher OG and because the paler malts used meant it was more highly attenuated
   
5. had a higher CO2 content because:
   1. it was served directly from the barrel and not bottled
   2. Swedes liked highly-carbonated drinks
   
   

You may (or more likely not) be interested to know that one Swedish brewery, Falkenberg, still brews a Bayerskt. It's pretty pale, and is only just about dark enough to count as amber.

In 1884, the Bayerskt öl of Nürnbergs Bryggeriet in Sweden had a gravity of 13.8° Balling and was 3.84% ABW (5.3% ABV). In the same period, Pripps Bayerskt öl was 16° Balling and 6.7% ABV. By way of comparison, Löwenbräu (Munich) Lagerbier in 1887 was only 4.25% ABV, despite having a gravity of 14.75° Balling.

Pilsner öl
The first Swedish Pilsner was brewed in 1877 by Hamburgerbryggeriet in Stockholm. Paler and much bitterer than the better selling Bayerskt öl, it immediately found a market, though quite a small one. For both Pripps and Nürnbergs Bryggeriet it only made up around 5% of output in the period 1880-1920. Though, unlike some other styles, its popularity was relatively stable.

The Pripps version was around 15° Balling and 6.4% ABV. Just as with Bayerskt, this is considerably stronger than the original. Even the export beers brewed in Pilsen were only 5.25% ABV.

Pilsnerdricka
In the 188o's Grönwallska Bryggeriet introduced a new style of pale lager, Pilsnerdricka. It was a realtively weak beer, intended to offer a cheaper alternative to Pilsner. Many breweries introduced their own versions under a variety of names (Nürnbergs Bryggeriet's was called Iskällerdricka - "Ice cellar drink").

These are the details of a few beers of this type:

S:t Eriks Bryggeriet 7.4° Balling 2.8% ABV
Nürnbergs Bryggeriet 10.8° Balling 4.5% ABV
F.R. Neumüllers Bryggeriet 8.6° Balling 3.2% ABV
Erlangens Filial 8.2° Balling 3.2% ABV
Münchens Bryggeriet 8.8° Balling 3.4% ABV

Pripps beers 1863-1923 (part two)

I've had such an overwhelming response to yesterday's post about Pripps that I've decided to expand upon it. "Yes, yes" I hear you say "tell us more about beer styles in late 19th century Sweden." OK then. If you insist.

Here are a few important dates:

• 1844 first bottom-fermenting beer (Munich-style dark lager) brewed by Åkershult in Stockholm
  
• 1846 first bottom-fermenting beer (Munich-style dark lager) brewed by Jacobsen (Carlsberg) in Copenhagen
  
• 1846 first bottom-fermenting beer (Munich-style dark lager) brewed by Schous in Kristiania (Norway)
  
• 1862 Pripps first brew bottom-fermenting beer (Munich-style dark lager)
  
• 1876 Pripps stop brewing Engelskt (English-style) beer
  
• 1877 first Pils in Sweden brewed by Hamburgerbryggeriet in Stockholm
  
• 1884 Pripps first brew Pils
  
• 1892 Pripps stop brewing Svenskt (Swedish-style) beer
  

You'll see that Sweden (and Denmark and Norway) were very early to start bottom-fermenting. Before most of northern Germany, in fact. The availability of natural ice, very important before the development of artificial refrigeration, must have helped. You may be surprised to see how long only dark lager was brewed. This pattern was repeated across Europe. Pale lagers, inspired by those of Pilsen, weren't really brewed outside Bohemia before 1880.


Hopping rates
On page 104 of "Pripps Bryggeri 1828-1928" there's information about hopping levels in the 1860's and 1870's. I want to share it with you. (I don't really. I want to make sure I don't lose the information and here seems a good place to put it. I've told you about my desk; any sheet of paper I put there soon gets swallowed up in the ocean of other crap.)

Svenskt öl 0.3 kg (later 0.6 kg) hops per 100 kg malt
Engelskt öl 0.8 - 0.9 kg hops per 100 kg malt
Bayerskt öl 1.8 kg hops per 100 kg malt

To provide a comparison, these are the hopping rates for Barclay Perkins ales in 1869:

X (the weakest Mild) 2 kg hops per 100 kg malt
XX 3.25 kg hops per 100 kg malt
XXX 3.75 kg hops per 100 kg malt
KK 4.5 kg hops per 100 kg malt

It makes you wonder exactly what the Pripps "English-style" beers were with such woefully low hopping rates. The Barclay Perkins Ales quoted are the most lightly-hopped they were making. Even the bottom of the range Mild was twice as heavily-hopped as the Swedish Engelskt öl.

If you're thinking "how can he compare the hopping rates beers that may be of different strengths?" I have an answer. Because the amount of hops is specified per 100 kg of grain and not per 100 litres of wort, the strength of the beer is irrelevant.



Here's a joke before I go. What do you call a man with a bird on his head? . . . . Duck.

I think that was it. I'm not very good at remembering jokes. Or making them up. There is a joke with duck as its punchline, I'm sure. Let me know if you can recall it.

Pripps beers 1863-1923

Introduction

The other day I searched Abebooks for "bryggeri". I'd never tried that one before. The results were very pleasing. I had dozens of hits and not all just for the same handfull of titles. (Why did someone have to write a book entitled "The Birds of Brewery Creek" and why are there so many copies of it for sale on the web? It really buggers up my searches.)

Pripps
Let's get back to my bryggeri search. I found quite a few brewery histories: "Münchens bryggeri 1855-1910", "Grönwalls bryggeri", "S:t Eriks bryggeri på Åsögatan" and the book that inspired today's post "Pripps Bryggeri 1828-1928". The first two arrived yesterday. I was so happy when I came home from work and saw them sitting on my desk. I say sitting on my desk. I should really say sitting on top of the pile of crap that's on my desk. Notes, books, magazines, clippings and god knows what else form a layer about a foot deep.

I have dozens of brewery histories. They are rather hit-and-miss in terms of useful (for me) information. If you're lucky, the author has used brewery documents as the major source and you get details of OG's and output. Other times all you get is gossip about the owners and reports of all their good works or public offices. What they rarely do is go into any detail on the types of beer brewed. It's very frustrating.

The Pripps book is an exception. OK, there's the usual guff about how Mr. Pripps was a farsighted businessman and how well his heirs built up the company. But there's a whole chapter dedicated to what beer they were churning out. There's even a series of graphs detailing the output of each of the different types. Interesting stuff. It demonstrates a development that I imagine was typical for Scandinavia:

• <1840: local styles (Svenskt ol) only
  
• 1840 - 1870: local styles plus English styles (Engelskt ol)
  
• 1860 - 1870: Munich-style lager (Bayerskt ol) appears and quickly drives out English styles
  
• 1870 -1900: Munich lager drives out local styles
  
• 1880 - 1920: Pilsner lager appears but remains very much a minority product (the split is about 90% Munich to 10% Pilsner)
  

Pripps were a little late starting to bottom ferment. Åkershult in Stockholm brewed the first Swedish Munich-style lager in 1844 and many other breweries soon followed their lead.

Below you can see how much they were producing of each beer type.