Dutch Lager Styles 1870 - 1960 (part two)

Early Lager styles
It’s easy to assume, looking back from the present, that Pilsener was an immediate success. It wasn’t, because, initially at least, it wasn’t the type of Lager brewed.  In the 1860’s, few Pale Lagers were brewed outside Bohemia.

The styles of Lager first brewed outside Germany were inspired by the two pioneers who revolutionised central European brewing: Dreher of Schwechat just outside Vienna and Sedlmayr of Spaten in Munich. The two undertook a long study trip in the 1830’s, mostly to Britain, at the time at the forefront of brewing technology. What they learned allowed them to modernise their breweries and, in the case of Dreher, become the largest brewery on the continent.

Their friendship also brought bottom-fermentation to Vienna. Sedlmayr provided Dreher with yeast after his attempts to brew an English-style Pale Ale in Schewchat had failed. His amber Lager was a huge hit all across Europe, even in the UK. In the 1860’s Dreher’s Lagerbier was being shipped all over the continent and rivalled Bass and Allsopp for international fame.

Which is how Heineken noticed it.  In 1869 there was an international exhibition held in the Paleis for Volksvlijt, not far from Heineken’s new brewery on the Stadhouders kade. Heineken sold beer at the exhibition, but the public were far more interested in what Dreher was selling*. Heineken took note.


Central European Lager styles
Now for a little context. Central Europe was home to many styles if Lager in the second half of the 19th century, some of which no longer exist.

In Bavaria, the styles were, in ascending order of strength:

Winterbier or Schenkbier
Sommerbier or Lagerbier
Export
Märzen
Bock
Doppelbock or Salvator

All of these beers were dark in colour.

Munich beers in 1866
Here are a few analyses of Munich beers in 1866:

Munich Beers in 1866
Brewer	Beer	Style	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Hofbräuhaus	Bock	Bock	1024.7	1073.7	6.36	66.49%
Salvatorbräu	Salvator	Bock	1033.3	1076.9	5.61	56.67%
Spatenbräu	Bock	Bock	1026.8	1077.2	6.54	65.28%
Hofbräuhaus	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1014.1	1051.5	4.85	72.62%
Löwenbräu	Winterbier	Winterbier	1017	1046.1	3.75	63.08%
Source:
"Handbuch der chemischen technologie" by Otto Dammer, Rudolf Kaiser, 1896, pages 696-697

Note the generally poor level of attenuation.

Austrian Lager styles
Austrian Lagers came in similar strength bands to those in Bavaria: Winterbier, Sommerbier ,
Export, Märzen and Bock. Though the colours were quite different to in Bavaria. In Bohemia the majority of Lager were pale in colour, while in Vienna amber was the preferred colour. Though increasingly in Vienna and Austria paler types of Lager became popular towards the end of the century.

Dreher beers in the 1870's
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	Acidity	FG	OG	Colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1870	Schwechat	Pilsener	Pilsener	0.17	1016.7	1051.3	6	4.48	66.33%
1870	Schwechat	??	Lager		1017.4	1055	10.5	4.87	68.36%
1870	Schwechat	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	0.13	1017.6	1053.5	6.3	4.65	65.96%
1870	Schwechat	Märzen	Märzen	0.14	1016.9	1054.7	7.1	4.9	67.95%
1870	Schwechat	Export	Export	0.13	1017.4	1052.6	6	4.56	65.80%
1870	Schwechat	Lagerbier	Lager		1017.6	1052.6		4.53	66.54%
1876	Schwechat	Export	Export	0.13	1018.7	1052.7		4.4	63.22%
1876	Schwechat	Bock	Bock		1016.6	1068.7		7.23	74.70%
Sources:
"Theory and Practice of the Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer" Julius E. Thausing, Anton Schwartz and A.H. Bauer, Philadelphia 1882, pages 748-751
Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830

* "Korte Geschiedenis der Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij N.V. 1873 - 1948", by H. A. Korthals, 1948, page 29.

American beer styles of the 1930’s – colour

As promised, I’m wringing the final drops of moisture out of the wet tea towel that is the Wahls’ "Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint". This time we’re looking at beer colour.

“Color, Clarity and Effervescence
The American public is disposed to judge beer according to visible properties like color, clarity and effervescence. Pale or extra pale beers may seem too dark to some. While dark beers are not generally flavored excepting probably in Bock beer season, that conforms with what we term the Lenten season, they are preferred by some connoisseurs who favor the Bavarian type of lager beer which differs from the light Pilsener generally served, in being of a less bitter type besides differences in color, clarity and effervescence. The color may not only be one of degrees of darkness but may suggest something faulty. It may appeal to the eye as reddish instead of purely dark. The latter characteristic comes naturally from the character of the malt in the process of kiln drying. Exceptionally high kiln dried malt is used in the manufacture of the celebrated Irish Stouts, like Guinness of Dublin. These beers are never reddish although they are very dark and sometimes almost black. This applies also to very dark lager beers, like the Kulmbacher.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 182 - 183.

I think there’s a misprint in there. Pretty sure that should read “dark beers are not generally favored .  . . “.

It’s pretty naïve believing colour in dark beer comes from highly-kilned malt. That’s not even totally true for Germany, where caramel or sinamar were/are used for colour.

Working out the colour of beer in the past is a really tricky. That’s why I’m always glad to see some numbers. Descriptions like “dark” or “brown” really don’t tell you much. So I’m delighted to see some hard figures here.

“Color by Tintometer Scale
Scientifically the color is determined by reference to a color scale established somewhat on the method adopted for the degree of color introduced in laboratory examination tests by the Lovibond Tintometer Method.

To indicate the niceties required by scientific methods and at the same time giving an idea of the differences in color of beer we give the following scale of variation in color from Pilsener to Kulmbacher.

Pilsener......... 0.5— 0.7 cc n/10 iodine solution*
Dortmunder...... 0.7— 1.5 cc "
Wiener.......... 2.0— 3.5 cc   " '
Muenchener...... 3-5— 5.0 cc "
Bock and Salvator. 5.0— 8.0 cc "
Kulmbacher...... 8.0—14.0 cc "
Irish Stout......12.00—18.0 cc "
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 183.

I’m surprised at how relatively pale Muenchener is. Only barely dark, by the look of it. While the bottom of the Vienna range looks yellow rather than amber or pale brown which you would expect. Whereas Kulmbacher, as billed, is near black.

It’s a shame that no American top-fermenting styles are listed. I’d love to know how dark Ales were back then. I suspect paler than British-brewed Ales.

“The color of the wort should be as near as possible that of the beer to be produced. It is described more minutely as light or dark Vienna and light or dark Bavarian. For Vienna beer it is not desirable to use color malt for deepening the color, which cannot be avoided, however, for Bavarian beers. The paler the color of the wort, the shorter should be the time of complete saccharification and the more sugar may and should the wort contain. The Lovibond tintometer is preferred for measuring color but when not available it is customary to determine the color of the wort by comparison with dilution of a tenth normal iodine solution.

* Amount in 100 cc of water.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 183 - 184.

So if you don’t use coloured malt in Vienna Lager how do you get the colour? Pretty sure the stuff about paler wort containing more sugar is total crap.

Pretty sure that’s it for this source. But not to worry. I’ll be starting on a Journal of the Institute of Brewing article next.

Nationally-distributed pre-Prohibition bottled beers

Yet more stuff from the Wahls’ book. This time I’m lifting no text, just a table.

But it’s a very important table. One that offers a glimpse into the world of American pre-Prohibition beers. It’s not just telling us about the physical nature of specific beers, it’s also saying what type of beers were popular and where they were brewed.

Now I knew that Milwaukee was a major brewing town. But I hadn’t quite realised how important it was nationally. 22 of the 35 beers in the table were brewed there. What’s even more interesting is that just one beer wasn’t brewed in the Mid-West – Salvator from Munich.

There’s not a single beer from the East Coast. Which is odd, as I know that as late as the 1930’s New York produced more beer than any other state, 17.5% of total production. Followed by another eastern state, Pennsylvania*. I infer from this that the beer brewed in the East was mostly consumed fairly locally. Not so odd as those were also the most populous states.

A disadvantage Eastern brewers had was that they brewed a large percentage of Ales, for which the demand decreased the further West you went. While the Mid-Western brewers were Lager all the way. I’m pretty sure than not a single beer in the table is an Ale.

A word about the styles in the table. I’ve added them, as the original table only had the beer name. They’re mostly my guess, though most I’ve simply classified as Lager.

Here’s the table. You may recognise a few names.

Nationally-distributed pre-Prohibition bottled beers
Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	Acidity	FG	OG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Pabst	Milwaukee	Bock	Bock	0.22	1023.2	1058.0	14.31	4.25	58.70%
Paulaner	Munich	Salvator	Doppelbock	0.39	1033.5	1071.2	17.36	4.7	51.27%
Average				0.31	1028.3	1064.6	15.84	4.48	54.98%
Blatz	Milwaukee	Muenchener	Dunkles Export	0.19	1021.1	1055.9	13.81	4.39	60.97%
Miller	Milwaukee	Muenchener	Dunkles Export	0.19	1018.3	1053.1	13.16	4.41	64.36%
Pabst	Milwaukee	Bavarian	Dunkles Export	0.23	1027.7	1059.7	14.7	3.71	52.24%
Average				0.20	1022.4	1056.2	13.89	4.17	59.19%
Blatz	Milwaukee	Export	Export	0.189	1014.5	1050.0	12.42	4.52	69.89%
Schlitz	Milwaukee	Export	Export	0.18	1016.1	1049.4	12.29	4.35	66.31%
Hammond	Hammond, Indiana	Mühlhauser	Export	0.17	1015.1	1060.5	14.9	5.73	74.03%
Average				0.18	1015.2	1053.3	13.20	4.87	70.08%
Blatz	Milwaukee	Private Stock	Lager	0.19	1013.9	1050.8	12.62	4.71	71.71%
Cream City	Milwaukee	A. I. Cream	Lager	0.18	1014.0	1048.3	12.02	4.21	69.97%
Cream City	Milwaukee	Edelbräu	Lager	0.216	1016.3	1056.2	13.88	5.05	69.81%
Cream City	Milwaukee	Extra Stock	Lager	0.19	1013.9	1048.0	11.94	4.25	69.93%
Gettelman	Milwaukee	Pride	Lager	0.15	1011.0	1043.1	10.77	4.13	73.72%
Gettelman	Milwaukee	Best	Lager	0.2	1013.2	1046.7	11.65	4.3	70.90%
Gettelman	Milwaukee	Natural	Lager	0.18	1012.4	1047.7	11.87	4.52	73.13%
Miller	Milwaukee	Buffet	Lager	0.18	1015.1	1053.3	13.21	4.83	70.55%
Pabst	Milwaukee	Red, white & blue	Lager	0.16	1015.1	1047.0	11.72	3.43	66.81%
Pabst	Milwaukee	Doppelbräu	Lager	0.27	1025.0	1056.2	13.89	3.71	54.21%
Schlitz	Milwaukee	Pale	Lager	0.18	1016.0	1046.9	11.69	3.93	64.76%
Grand Rapids	Grand Rapids	Silver Foam	Lager	0.15	1013.2	1049.9	12.4	4.5	72.66%
Hammond	Hammond, Indiana	Malt Extract	Lager	0.18	1018.9	1054.6	13.51	4.41	64.17%
Heilemann	La Crosse	Old Style Lager	Lager	0.16	1010.8	1044.9	11.2	4.32	75.09%
McAvoy	Chicago	Club	Lager	0.16	1015.1	1049.6	12.33	4.36	68.45%
McAvoy	Chicago	Alma Mater	Lager	0.16	1015.0	1051.6	12.81	4.43	69.87%
Schoenhofen	Chicago	Edelweis	Lager	0.22	1014.9	1048.1	11.97	4.25	68.09%
Schoenhofen	Chicago	Select	Lager	0.21	1014.1	1046.7	11.63	4.16	68.70%
Tosetti	Chicago	Majestic	Lager	0.18	1018.7	1056.3	13.91	4.75	65.49%
Average				0.19	1015.1	1049.8	12.37	4.33	68.84%
Cream City	Milwaukee	Pilsner	Pilsner	0.17	1014.5	1048.0	11.94	4.16	68.84%
Independ. Milw.	Milwaukee	Pilsner	Pilsner	0.18	1013.9	1047.1	11.74	4.12	69.59%
Miller	Milwaukee	High Life	Pilsner	0.19	1018.3	1057.0	14.08	4.72	66.69%
Pabst	Milwaukee	Blue Ribbon	Pilsner	0.17	1016.5	1047.5	11.82	3.66	64.13%
Anheuser Busch	St. Louis	Budweiser	Pilsner	0.2	1014.1	1051.8	12.86	4.8	71.70%
Tosetti	Chicago	Bohemian	Pilsner	0.17	1012.8	1038.5	9.66	3.19	65.84%
Average				0.18	1015.0	1048.3	12.02	4.11	67.80%
Blatz	Milwaukee	Wiener	Vienna Lager	0.19	1013.9	1050.8	12.62	4.71	71.71%
Source:
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 168.

Interesting, eh? A general point first. It looks to me as if some of the beers are the same, just with a different name. For example, there are three Cream City beers with almost identical gravities: A. I. Cream, Extra Stock and Pilsner.

The three Muenchener beers look very much like the Wahls’ description of the style: around 14º Balling and a low degree of attenuation.

At just over 13º Balling, the average for the Exports looks about right, but that doesn’t really match any of the three examples. Two are just over 12º Balling and the third almost 15º Balling. I don’t think that’s really telling us anything.

Most of the beers I’ve classified as Lager have gravities around 12º Balling, though there are some over 13º Balling. The average degree of attenuation, at just under 70%, is about what you’d expect. Though it looks quite poor by modern standards.

The Pilsners average out to almost exactly 12º Balling, though there are two real outliers, Miller High Life  and Tosetti Bohemian. The latter looks like a Czech vycepni pivo, with a gravity of just under 10º Balling.

I’m not sure that the single Vienna Lager tells us much, other than to confirm a pretty standard gravity.

I’m not totally finished mining the Wahls’ book. Still something on beer colour to go.




* Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 42, Issue 5, September-October 1936, pages 416.

American bottom-fermenting styles in the 1930’s (part two)

We’re back again with the Wahls’ book from the 1930’s and its handy description of American styles of the day.

You may have heard of this style of Pale Lager from Central Europe:

“The Bohemian type of lager beer with a light yellow to greenish yellow color with pronounced hop flavor and bitter taste; the malt flavor in this beer is not pronounced; it is usually lively and sparkling; alcoholic content is 3.0 to 3.5 per cent by weight, from worts of about 12 per cent original extract; typical of Bohemian beer is the Pilsener from the city of Pilsen (Plzen) in Bohemia, and also the much favored mild American extra pale beers.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 151.

It’s clear that Pilsener didn’t have the dominant position it later acquired. Though I’ll warn again that the information looks a bit dated to me and doesn’t necessarily reflect the true situation in the late 1930’s.

 I don’t have any analyses of US Pilseners from the 1930’s, but I do have a few German and Czech ones:

German and Czech Pilsener in the 1930's
Year	Brewer	country	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation	OG Plato	ABW
1930	Pilsner Urquell	Czech		1015.1	1049.8	0.69	4.46	68.71%	12.37	3.57
1935	Pilsner Urquell	Czech	0.05	1013.8	1049.4		4.62	72.06%	12.28	3.69
1930	average of 12 samples	Germany		1013.2	1051.5	0.65	4.93	73.34%	12.79	3.94
1930	strongest sample	Germany		1017.6	1054.8	0.81	4.29	66.67%	13.56	3.43
1930	weakest sample	Germany		1009.7	1049.6	0.59	5.10	79.58%	12.34	4.08
1935	Schultheiss Patzenhofer	Germany	0.05	1009	1049.8		5.32	81.93%	12.38	4.26
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.

An OG of around 12º Plato doesn’t seem far off the mark, but the ABW does. 3.5% to 4% would appear more accurate. The “much favoured” comment implies that very pale and mild Lagers were very popular in the USA. Which, despite the inroads of IPA, is still the case.

Now it’s the turn of one of the early favourites of the bottom-fermenting world, Vienna Lager:

“The Vienna type of lager beer has less pronounced character than either Muenchener or Pilsener types. In point of color, hop and malt aroma, smooth and bitter taste, it takes a place between these two types; alcoholic content of about 3.5 to 3.75 per cent by weight, from worts of about 13 per cent original extract, so named from Vienna (Wien); the most representative product coming from Klein-Schwechat — a suburb of Vienna where Anton Dreher introduced ice cooling of cellars in 1845.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 151 - 152.

Not having any analyses, I can’t comment as to the accuracy of the gravity and ABW quoted. Though it would be hard to generalise in any case because a brewery like Schwechat produced a range of styles with differing strengths.

“The Dortmunder type of lager beer with a very light color like Pilsener from long grown low kiln dried malt; a strong, very pronounced hop flavor; highly and completely attenuated; alcoholic content about 4 to 4.5 per cent by weight, from worts usually of 14.5 per cent original extract; it originated in Dortmund, near the Rhine in Westphalia.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 152.

Let’s see how that stacks up with some real examples:

German Dortmunder Export in the 1930's
Year	Brewer	OG	FG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation	OG Plato	ABV	ABW
1930	average of 14 samples	1054	1012.2	0.73	5.39	76.44%	13.37	5.39	4.31
1930	strongest sample	1057.16	1014.3	0.84	5.58	73.85%	14.11	5.58	4.47
1930	weakest sample	1051.21	1009.4	0.66	5.08	80.88%	12.71	5.08	4.06
Source:
"Van Brouwerij tot Bierglas" by F. Kurris, Doetinchem, 1948, pages 26-27

Once again, the gravity quoted is a bit too high – 13.5º Plato would seem more accurate – though the ABW is about spot on. The attenuation is pretty high, as the book says. Even higher than for Pilseners, which is surprising. Note the colour is pretty much the same as the Pilseners.

Now some other dark Bavarian styles:

“Nurnberger and Wurzburger beers are somewhat darker than Muenchener and slightly heavier brewed. Kulmbacher beer is very dark, almost black, and brewed to 16 per cent original extract with over 4.5 per cent alcohol by weight. Maerzen beer is brewed in November but comes out in March in the Lenten season.   Salvator beers are lighter in color than Muenchener but brewed as strong and stored for months.   Bock beer is somewhat stronger than Muenchener and comes out around Christmas and like Maerzen is given long storage. Its name is not derived from the horned Billy goat usually depicted on advertisement posters but from the brewery of Einbeck near Hamburg. The American lager beers are generally patterned after these typical German beers. The season for Bock beer in America is the month of March.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 152.

Great to have some more details of Kulmbacher. It sounds like a very dark Bock, based on that gravity.

I’m sure he’s wrong about Salvator. It definitely wasn’t a similar strength to ordinary Münchener and I doubt it was paler in colour, seeing as it had a similar grist but higher gravity. Why it’s not mentioned as being a kind of stronger Bock, I just don’t understand. And surely it was Salvator for Lent, not Märzen?

Finally, the USA’s own indigenous Lager style:

“California Steam Beer. This type of beer became popular in San Francisco. It is not a lager beer inasmuch as the brew is run directly from the fermenter into the trade packages (barrels). Krausen is then added to the beer in the trade package and the barrels are bunged and delivered to the taverns and placed on racks where fermentation is completed. At the time of kräusening isinglass is also added which aided in clarification during the short storage upon the tavern's racks. This beer is produced by bottom fermentation yeast and when drawn into the stein is very wild because of the high pressure developed in the barrel, the stein being nearly full with foam. This beer has been evidently brewed for this effect, the customers desiring this particular foamy character.”
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 152 - 153.

There are some handy details there. Racking directly from the fermenter into trade casks is definitely an unusual way to brew a bottom-fermenting beer. It sounds similar in some ways to the American “present use” Ales of the late 19th century which also had a lot of pressure in the trade cask. Kräusening and adding isinglass at the same time – it’s the sort of mix of British and German brewing practices you only really see in North America.

Next time it will be the turn of the top-fermenting styles.

Malt Liquors Sold in the UK - Vienna Beer

Isn't this exciting? Our first glimpse into the world of 19th-century malt liquors. And where better to start than that perennial favourite of mine, Vienna Lager. Yes, Mr. Dreher does get a mention.

I.—VIENNA BEER.

The chief peculiarity of this beer, like that of Bavaria and other parts of Germany, is due to the fermentation of the wort being conducted very slowly at a low temperature, and so that the yeast produced meanwhile falls to the bottom of the liquor instead of rising as froth to the surface. The beer brewed by this sedimentary fermentation keeps better than that made by the frothing fermentation at a higher temperature, and it bears contact with atmospheric air without turning sour, which is not the case with much of the beer brewed in this country for ordinary consumption. The difference between these two kinds of fermentation, is explained by Liebig as consisting in the greater facility which sedimentary fermentation affords for the oxidation and perfect separation of the soluble gluten of the wort by atmospheric air. In the frothing fermentation, this is, to a great extent, prevented by the thick layer of yeast formed on the surface of the liquor, and then the gluten, in its conversion into yeast, appears to abstract oxygen from the sugar, so that the proportion of this substance to gluten is reduced, and, after the fermentation is completed, some unaltered gluten remains, which, by a subsequent process, determines the conversion of alcohol into acetic acid. In sedimentary fermentation, on the contrary, there is little or no scum formed on the surface of the liquor, and air has free access to it, so that less or none of the gluten is left unconverted into yeast.

The storing or maturing of this kind of beer is another point to which great attention is paid ; and instead of being stored in enormous vats, as in this country, casks are used, which are placed in cellars, where a low and uniform temperature is maintained. The basaltic and other porous volcanic rocks, abounding in the Rhine district, afford great facilities for the construction of such cellars, and the rapid growth of the beer-brewing trade there is mainly owing to this circumstance. In Bavaria and the Austrian dominions, ice is largely employed for keeping the store-cellars at a low temperature.

Generally speaking, the beer drunk in Austria and Germany has less alcoholic strength than that consumed here. The strongest Kinds, such as those known in Bavaria by the names "Holy Father", "Salvator", and "Buck", rarely contain so much as 5 per cent, by weight of absolute alcohol. The store-beer, or lager bier, generally contains about 3.5 per cent., ranging from 4 to 2.8 per cent. ; and the ordinary beer for quick draught, schenk bier, corresponding in that respect to our porter, contains from 2.25 to 3.5 per cent, of alcohol. In the Austrian dominions, the beer is generally preferred rather weaker than in Bavaria ; but in Austria, the organisation of the breweries, and the system of conducting the business, have been developed in such a manner as to assimilate more to the vast establishments we have in this country.

Two kinds of Austrian beer are now being imported into England ; one is stated to be brewed by Dreher, at Schwechat, near Vienna ; the other, by the Brewery Company at Liesing, also near Vienna. An examination of these, as obtained at the several places where they are retailed, has given the following results.

	Dreher's Beer, bought at the Vienna Restaurant, 395, Strand	Liesing Beer bought at the Crown Coffee House, 41, Holborn
Specific gravity	1019.76	1019.11
Alcohol	4.43	4.45
Acetic acid	0.12	0.12
Extract	7.05	6.82
Original gravity	1062.27	1061.67

Both these samples of beer, when fresh drawn, were tolerably bright, and had a thick persistent foam on the surface. The taste, especially of Dreher's beer, is sweeter and more luscious than that of English beer, different, however, from that of Scotch ale ; and there is a peculiar flavour of barley. The hop flavour is distinct in both, and the bitterness more perceptible, a minute or so, after drinking. As will be seen from the above results of analysis, there is no very great difference between the two samples in regard to quality, so far as that can be determined on the principle already described; the proportions of malt used in brewing, as indicated by the original gravities, being for—

Dreher's beer 2.30 bushels per barrel of 36 gallons.
Liesing beer 2.28     ,,           „              ,,

Altogether, however, these samples of beer do not appear to be equal in character to the best beer met with in Vienna or Pesth, although the price of sixpence per pint is about three times as much as is charged there.
"British Medical Journal 1869, vol. 1", 1869, pages 83 - 84.

This was written just before the arrival of artificial refrigeration. A key event in the spread of bottom-fermentation. Until then it had only been practical in places with good cellars and supplies of natural ice. Like, er, Bavaria. Areas without these resources couldn't brew Lager until they had ice machines.

Continental Lager weaker than British beer. It's weird reading that. The change that reversed the situation was almost all on the British side. Except for Salvator, or Bock, which is now stronger than in the 19th century. Think about it, a Doppelbock that's less than 6.25% ABV. Standard Lagers have stayed about the same strength, 5%-ish.

The beers analysed, at around 15º Plato, look to be Märzens. The blanket statement that Austrians preferred their beer weaker than in Bavaria isn't universally correct. In Vienna, average strength was pretty high, with Märzen beer popular.

Old descriptions of beer flavour are often frustrating. Or frustratingly imprecise. "sweeter and more luscious" - what exactly does that mean? I suppose less well attenuated, for one. And it wasn't like Scotch Ale. There's one in the eye for those arguing that Scotch Ale was somehow Lager-like. The hop flavour is distinct? That's not telling us much either, other than that you could taste hops. Sweet, luscious and hoppy. No, i'm not really any the wiser.

Next it's the turn of Vienna Beer's big Lager rival: Bavarian Beer. I cn't wait.

The CO2 content of Porter

In response to a question about the CO2 content of 1890 Truman Export Stout, featured in yesterday's Let's Brew, here's yet another bloody table.

Have to rush. My curry is burning.