Gose recipe

These old German recipes are so much fun, I'm posting another today. For one of my old favourites: Gose.

OK, I realise it isn't technically an extinct style. But it fits in nicely with the Kotbusser and Broyhan, so here it is.

"Brewing Gose according to Hermbstädt

This is what they call a Weißbier similar to Broyhahn, which is particularly well-brewed in Goslar and which gets its name from a river of the same name, from whose water Gose is brewed in Goslar.

For a brew of 2000 Berlin quarts [2,290 litres] is required:

1) 12 Berlin bushels (960 pounds) [480 kg] pale wheat malt.

2) 10 Berlin bushels (600 pounds) [300 kg] pale barley malt.

3) 5 pounds [2.5 kg] of the best hops.

The grist is doughed in with 2400 Berlin quarts [2,748 litres] of water at 36° R. [45º C], well worked out and then left to rest for an hour in a covered vessel. The second infusion takes place with the same amount of boiling hot water, being well mashed for 1 hour before the mash is to rest for one hour in a covered vessel. The wort is gently boiled until it has reduced to 2000 Quarts [2,290 litres], strained through straw, mixed with the hop extract and cooled in the coolship down to 14° R. [17.5º C].

The cooled, hopped wort is put into the fermentation vessel with 10 quarts [11.5 litres] of yeast, and when finally the resulting head of yeast has collapsed, the yeast on the top is removed, the fermented wort drawn into the storage barrels in the cellar, and like Broyhahn allowed to ferment out, during which the barrels must be well bunged. The hops are infused twice, the first time with 50 quarts [57 litres], the second time with 40 quarts [46 litres] of water, and finally squeezed. To use the spent grains for Kovent, they are immersed 1000 quarts of boiling hot water, the wort so obtained is boiled for half an hour with the pressed hops and finally pitched with 4 quarts of yeast.
"Grundsaetze der Bierbrauerei nach den neuesten technisch-chemischen
Entdeckungen" by Christian Heinrich Schmidt, 1853, pages 447-448.

I make that about a third of a pound of hops per imperial barrel. So pretty lightly hopped. No surprise there. Though they do seem to have forgotten about the salt and coriander. Bit odd, that.

Kotbusser Bier recipe

Another recipe for an extinct German beer style. Not such a well-known one this time. Kotbusser. I assume it originally came from the city of Cottbus.

I can only remember hearing of the beer in one context: as a recommended source of yeast for Berliner Weisse. The recipe is fairly intriguing. What with its mix of grains and the weird way the hops are processed. You take a look:

"Brewing Kotbusser Bier according to Hermbstädt

This beer is very similar to Broyhahn, but is not solely from barley malt, rather prepared from a mixture of barley and wheat malt, along with an additions of hops. The method used to brew the above beer is not known, however, Hr. geheimer Medicinatrath Hermbstädt insists that, through experiments, he has succeeded in producing a beer that could be set alongside a true Kotbusser. For a brew of 2000 Berlin quarts [2,290 litres], the following materials are required.

1) 25 Berliner bushels (1500 pounds [750 kg]) pale barley malt.

2) 20 Berl. bushels (800 pounds [400 kg]) pale wheat malt.

3) 5 bushels (200 pounds [100 kg]) oats.

4) 6 pounds [3 kg] of the best hops.

5) 20 pounds [10 kg] honey.

6) 20 pounds [10 kg] raw sugar.

After the malts have been ground and mixed well, they are doughed in with 3000 Berl. Quarts [3,435 litres]of water at 36 ° R [45º C]. and well worked through, so that every part is completely permeated by water. For the second infusion, take the same quantity of boiling water, mash well for a full hour long, and give the mash a half hours' rest in a covered mash tun and before drawing off the wort, which is then evaporated down by a gentle boil to 2000 quarts [2,290 litres]. After the honey and raw sugar have been dissolved in the wort, it is passed through straw, the hop extract is added and it is cooled in the coolship down to l4 ° R [17.5º C]..

For the purpose of the fermentation it is put into a fermenting vessel with 10 quarts [11.45 litres] of yeast and when the yeast has reached its highest level, it is removed and the fermented wort taken off the sediment of yeast and transferred to the barrels stored in the cellar. When the ejection of yeast from them slows, the casks are bunged. After 24 days, the beer is usually drinkable.

The hops are subjected to two extractions in the Hopfenblase [literally hop bladder], the first time with 40 [46 litres], the second time with 25 quarts [29 litres] of water and each time for 80-10 hours. The residue from the second extraction is pressed out. The spent grains are immersed again in 1000 Berlin quarts [1,145 litres] of boiling hot water and the recovered wort is boiled with the pressed-out hops for half an hour, again passed through the spent grains, cooled, pitched with 3 quarts [3.4 litres] of yeast and made into Kovent."

"Grundsaetze der Bierbrauerei nach den neuesten technisch-chemischen
Entdeckungen" by Christian Heinrich Schmidt, 1853, pages 446-447.

One small point. I'm not sure if the pounds are metric or Prussian. Prussia swapped officially to the kilogram in 1855. Not that it makes a great deal of difference, as they were very similar in size. 1 Prussian pound = 467.711 grams. And, just for reference, 1 Prussian quart = 1.14503 litres.

The proportion of the grains was 60% barley, 32% wheat and 8% oats. I got the OG to around 1090 with my calculation, which seems very high. (The only analysis I have of a Kotbusser gives an OG of 1026.)  The hopping rate is very low. The brew was about 14 imperial barrels.Six pounds of hops gives a hopping rate of just 0.43 lbs to the barrel. Not sure what effect the small amount of honey and sugar would have. It seems way too little to me to be worth the trouble.

There are more recipes in this book. Perhaps they will follow. If I can be bothered to translate them.

Weird old beer styles

Collecting strange, extinct beer styles is one of my hobbies. Probably not to everyone's (or even anyone else's) taste, but I thought I would share a few with you. I have to write about something now I'm done with Franconia.


Merseburger Bier

Merseburger, a very famous, good-tasting and healthy brown beer, called Heidecker, which is widely exported. It has a somewhat burnt taste because, during its preparation, the malt, laid on hair drying cloths raised to shoe height, is not turned until it is dry enough, and the ovens have curved heaters, so heat, together with smoke, goes through side openings through the malt. Its bitterness strengthen the stomach, and aids digestion; its excitement of the intestines maintains the opening of the body; and since it also accelerates the flow of blood, it helps the passing of urine and perspiration very noticeably.

Source:
Oekonomische Encyklopädie (1773) von J. G. Krünitz, p 5, 30.

Notes:
Merseburg is in Sachsen-Anhalt, just south of Halle. My wife Dolores went to university there. Lovely town, with a huge chemical works to the North and an even huger chemical works to the South. I've been there once, in 1986. All I can remember about it is a statue of Lenin in his famous taxi-hailing pose.




Geithayner

Geithayner beer. The manner in which this is brewed is almost the same as in other cities, since both use 1 bushel barley, and a little more, and have the malt thoroughly prepared, to brew one Viertel [quarter, a liquid quantity]. Except that for their Lagerbier, which is brewed in March, they use Bohemian hops. After that, however, it differs completely from others. Because, as soon as the beer has been brewed, they carry it, still warm, from the brewhouse to their houses, and pour it into cooling barrels, whose height is 3 spans [1 span = approx 15 cm], but which are somewhat greater in width, into which scarcely 1 tun, or a little more, can fit. When it has stood, depending on the air temperature, 15, 20, sometimes even 24 hours, they test if it has cooled enough by dipping in their fingers, since they then pour it lukewarm together into two large barrels which are somewhat broader at the bottom than at the top, and hold about 5 quarters [Viertel] when full; however they pour only 4 quarters of beer into each, so that almost a third of the vessel remains empty during fermentation. After it has stood like this for a couple of days, it begins to ferment by itself (i.e. spontaneously), so that it throws up a froth (which they call Krausen) of 1/2 elle [half cubit, or approx. 31 cm] high or more. During this fermentation it is wonderfully drinkable, and particularly strong, so that one cannot manage much of it, when they drink and sell it at this stage. After the passing of 11 to 14, occasionally even more, days, depending on the weather, the foam collapses, and becomes brownish, blackish, and the beer flat. Then they take bundles of birch twigs, whip the beer, as one beats egg whites, for 1 to 2 hours, or perhaps less; then it is absolutely flat; whereupon they fill it immediately into quarters or tuns, which they take sealed to mountain cellars, and lay down to lager. It is now left lying until they make it drinkable by opening it up, and they don´t have to do anything else, except to diligently wipe and keep the barrels clean. If it is now to become drinkable, the following method is to be observed. Eight days before, break open the barrel, and fill it twice daily from the top with pure spring water, and wipe it down to keep it clean, after 4, 6 or 8 days it begins to discharge foam through the bung hole; nevertheless they continue to top it for a few more days, so that a Wasserkanne, or even more, of water is filled into some quarters [Viertel]. Then it is an excellent drink. However, if it does not begin to froth over by itself after 6 or 8 days, then they mix a little wheat flour in spring water, and add in it; then it soon begins to foam. And in this way they keep their beer fresh, pure and good until Michaelis.


Source:
Oekonomische Encyklopädie (1773) von J. G. Krünitz, p 5, 23.

Notes:
Geithain (as the name is now spelled) is in Saxony, about halfway between Leipzig and Chemnitz.


You can probably guess from their crappiness that the translations are mine.