Gloria Monday

Gloria Monday's van isn't well. That's what I've heard. Is the writing on the wall for Pils? Will it plummet into obscurity in the next decade? The pint beside the old bloke sat in a corner with his dog - is this the future of Pils?

Everything I've learned about beer evolution and the fickle nature of public taste screams the answer "Yes!!!". I've been scouring the statistics for years, searching for the slightest sign of a slip. In Pils sales, I mean. I might have spotted the very beginning. Is it real, hope or expectation? A few more years should tell us for sure.

Of course, in many countries Pils has nowhere to go but down. Places like Holland where it hit a peak of a 98% market share. Last time I looked, it had slumped to just 95%. In Germany, too, sales of Pils have fallen. But what will replace it as the world's favourite beer?

Here are some of my suggestions. Not particularly rational or probable, as you'll see. But when have minor considerations like that stopped me?

- Dark Mild
- Broyhan
- Porter
- Berliner Weisse
- Keut
- session-strength IPA
- Oud Bruin (the Dutch lager version)
- Dunkles Export
- English-style wheat beer
- amber Lagerbier

Do you have any better ideas?

I blame the young

Change. When you get to my age, most change becomes scary. Or terrifying. New stuff keeps appearing. Things like mobile phones and Double IPA. Stuff you never asked for, but arrived on your doorstep anyway.

Every generation rejects the taste of its parents. In music, clothes, wallpaper, politics, food and, of course, beer and pubs. Everything has its fashion and every fashion has its day. Who of my generation could ever have imagined the early 70's becoming hip again?

The young, for the most, adore the thrill of the new. It's not really their fault. They don't know any better. That's why I bear with the younger members of the blogging community when they bang on about stylish bars and shiny-new, US-style beers. Or slag off dull, old-men's pubs without music or young lovelies. Give them another 20 years and they'll be wondering why youngsters call their favourite pubs boring, their favourite drinks old-fashioned and their beer festivals unappealing.

Reading a 1972 Daily Mirror article on beer got me thinking about much of this. I remembered the feel, smell and taste of drinking in the 70's. Would I want to go back to it? Probably not. Admitttedly, pubs, in general, were far more pleasant. Apart from the smoking, obviously. The beer, overall, was better, too. As long as you liked ordinary Bitter and Mild. And didn't mind if you could only find two sorts of each in your hometown. You'd also have to forget about ever drinking anything as exotic as a Belgian beer. Apart from Stella.

I do miss simple, ordinary pubs. Places with a Public Bar and a Lounge, metered electric pumps and outdoor bogs. But they aren't coming back. They've disappeared along with socialism, tin baths and fish and chips wrapped in newspaper. What have we got instead? The internet and more breweries than at any time since WW II. Swings and roundabouts. I've heard some of the young 'uns also like those.

Decoction mashing in Munich

More from "Schule der Bierbrauerei" by Conrad Schneider, 1875, page 300-301. This time it's Altbayern's turn. Will the fun never end?

Let's get straight on with the description.

This method is mostly common in Altbayern. In Munich the following method is employed. The ground malt is tipped into the mash tun, which already contains cold water. And, while being regulalrly stirred, is left to stand for 3 or 3 hours. Meanwhile, the rest of the mash water is brought to the boil. This is introdusced into the mash tun from below. When all the water is in the tun, the temperature should be 31-37º C. Then the first Dickmaisch is transferred to the kettle and boiled. As soon as the grains begin to rise due to the vigorous boil, enough Dickmaische is returned to the mash tun, whilst mashing all the time, to raise the temperature to 47-51º C. The second Dickmaische is then transferred to the kettle and quickly brought to the boil and boiled for 45-60 minutes. When moved back to the mash tun, the temperature rises to 60-62º C. After standing for 15 minutes, most of the Lautermaische is transferred to the kettle and boiled for 15 minutes. When returned to the mash tun, the temperature of 72-75º C is reached.

The amoount of Dickmaische which needs to be boiled varies greatly. The size of the mash tun also plays a role, because of how it cools down. This is an example for approximately 1000 kg of malt.

4700 l of cold water are put into the mash tun. A further 2150 l are heated in the kettle, of which 1600 l are put into the tun. Temperature 35-37º C. 2550 l are removed from the mash tun for the first Dickmaische and brought to the boil in the kettle. After boiling for 45 minutes, enough Dickmaische is returned to the mash tun to raise the temperature to 47-50º C. For the second Dickmaische, 2600 l is boiled for 60 minutes in the kettle. During this time, the underback is half filled with Lautermaische. As soon as the second Dickmaische has been returned to the mash tun and a temperature of 60-62º C achieved, the Lautermaische in the underback, topped up with the same amount from the mash tun, is transferred to the kettle and boiled. In total, 6000 l are put into the kettle and boiled for 15 minutes. When returned to the mash tun, the temperature is 72-74º C. Brewers put great stock in hitting precise temperatures in the mash tun. For example, the rise in temperature of the mash from 33.75º C at Einteigen to 53.75, 64 and 74-75º C in the Dreher brewery in Schwechat next to Vienna has been copied by many breweries, who believe it to be the secret of the Vienna brewery's success.

I'm pleased to finally see a mention of an Austrian brewery. Very few details of Austrian brewing of this period have come my way. I've just ordered an Austrian brewing manual published in 1914. Hopefully that will help fill some of the many gaps in my knowledge.

My Weekend

What did you do over the weekend? Nice of you to ask. Loads of things. Went into town with Lexie to buy an X-wing Fighter. Read some Barclay Perkins logs. Barbecued in the rain. Made Star Wars 14 film with Lucas and the kids. Bribed Lexie to start cataloguing my books. Drank some St. Bernardus Abt out of a Chimay glass. Fell asleep in front of Tatort. Normal stuff.

At the end of one archive session I photographed a whole load of Barclay Perkins logs from WW II. I didn't look at them properly at the time. That was about a year ago. I finally got around to them this weekend.

The book that covers 1939 and 1940 has some wonderfully matter-of-fact entries relating to the war. "September 28th 1939. 1st war budget. Increase of 1d per pint on beer and increased tax on sugar." "September 16th 1940. Bomb through porter side." "September 29th 1940. Bomb through ale side."

When war broke out, Barclay Perkins were brewing three Milds:

A 1030.84
X 1034.77
XX 1042.7

By 1942, gravity cuts had squeezed them together:

A 1027.3
X 1028.7
XX 1031.4

You wonder why they bothered brewing three beers with only a couple of gravity points between them.

I'll tell you something strange. I can't find any entries in the Whitbread or Truman Gravity Books that match these gravities. Even though I have ones for the same period as the log entries.
Here's an example. I have log entries for A, X and XX from January and September 1939. They're both the same as the first set of gravities above. Yet the Gravity Book entries for January, February, March and May are all 1038. That's way off the gravities of any of the Milds, as brewed. About exactly half way between X and XX.

Any suggestions for an explanation?

Porter and Stout gravities 1805-2005

Sounds impressive, doesn't it, 200 years of data? I have a greater spread of years for Stout than for any other sort of beer.

These are the average gravities, based on the entries in my mega-gravity table.

First Porter:

1805-1899 1057.5 (29 samples)
1901-1917 1053.8 (6 samples)
1919-1929 1037.8 (38 samples)
1930-1939 1035.8 (8 samples)
2002-2005 1046.7 (22 samples)


Now Stout:

1805-1899 1077.8 (39 samples)
1901-1917 1074.5 (14 samples)
1919-1929 1055.5 (144 samples)
1930-1939 1046.9 (321 samples)
1940-1949 1042 (63 samples)
1950-1959 1043.3 (248 samples)
1960-1968 1046.8 (23 samples)
2002-2005 1047.8 (40 samples)

There's a simple explanation for the hole in the Porter figues. No Porter was brewed in Britain for several decades.

It's bizarre that there is currently almost no difference in the gravity of Porter and Stoyut. This could possibly be caused by a blurring of the distinction between the two types.

If your mind works better with pictures than numbers, here's the same information (plus Pale Ale and Mild) in a nice visual format.


May I point out the changing relative strengths over time? The only constant, is that Stout has always been the strongest. Mild, Bitter and Porter have swapped around the other positions. Few today would realise that Mild was once stronger than Bitter.

See. I am using this information it's taken so much effort to assemble.

Plato proud

I'm so proud. After only two hours of frantic scribbling, I've managed to change my OG to Plato conversion into Plato to OG. You wouldn't believe that I had an A-level in maths, the trouble it took me.

This is the OG to Plato formula I started with:

=(-0,003829+WORTEL((0,003829*0,003829)-4*0,00001572*(1-(L205/1000))))/(2*0,00001572)

Eventually I managed to derive this Plato to OG formula from it.

=2000-(((0,003829*0,003829)-(((2*P205*0,00001572)+0,003829)*((2*P205*0,00001572)+0,003829)))/(4*0,00001572))+1)

Don't ask me why the 2000- is at the start of it. I added that so that the right number came out at the end. If you're wondering what the L205 and P205 are, they are the cell numbers of respectively the OG in specific gravity and Plato. I'm using the formula in a spreadsheet, you see.

Rather naively, after leaving school I never expected to have to manipulate complex arithmetic formulae again. Then along came brewing. Converting between Plato and OG and vice versa is a pain. As is calculating alcohol content from OG and FG. At least I only have to do this once. Embedded in the spreadsheet, the calculation occurs automatically. I pity any poor bastard who has to do this by hand.

Why was I doing this? For my mega-gravity table. I've just been incorporating some analyses (is this the correct plural form of analysis? I keep using it) from German sources, where all the gravities are in Plato. Well, Balling, really. I'm aware that it isn't a 100% identical to Plato, but I've already spent several hours playing around with Plato conversions. It'll have to do.

5,360. There's another number for you. How many entries I now have in my mega-gravity table. Now I've added the continental ones.

Unused

Not everything I write makes it into the blog. About a quarter of the posts I write remain unused. This one will almost certainly join the "don't bother" pile. Which means that you won't read it and will remain unaware of my profligacy. Unless I've already mentioned it.

You know how elderly relatives tell you the same tale over and over again? I fear I'm, about to start doing the same. More than 12 months into this blogging lark and I'm forgetting what I've already posted. Remember, the thing to do when I repeat myself is to nod your head and feign interest. On no account remind me of my forgetfulness. Just think of me as the uncle who always slips you a few bob whenever we meet. You don't want to ruin everything by pointing out I'm a boring, repetitive prat. Not if you want any more half-crowns.

I've forgotten where I was. Not to worry, on to my next point. On no account comment when I duplicate an earlier post accidentally. No-one likes to be reminded of their failing mental faculties. I certainly don't. Just ignore it and hope that I don't repeat the mistake too often.

Most of what I don't use is just rambling bollocks. Or repetitive. Or both. But please don't point out either. It might upset me so much I forget to take my pills. And we wouldn't want that, would we?

Barclay Perkins X Ale. Will I ever get it brewed? That reminds me. I must look up the log for the decoction version.

Pale Ale gravities 1839 - 2005

It's great fun playing with my mega-gravity table, now that I have some modern stuff in there. I've been looking at Pale Ale this time.

I've averaged the gravity of several hundred samples of Pale Ale. I realise that this doesn't give a true average gravity, but it does give an indication of general trends. I suppose I should also define what I mean by Pale Ale. All types of Bitter and Pale Ale. Splitting apart Bitter and Best Bitter just isn't feasible.

Anyway, here are the figures:

1839-1899 1058.55 (4 samples)
1901-1917 1058.9 (12 samples)
1926-1930 1046.7 (83 samples)
1930-1939 1046.7 (235 samples)
1940-1949 1037 (292 samples)
1950-1959 1038.8 (290 samples)
1960-1968 1040.7 (86 samples)
2002-2005 1041.7 (557 samples)

It's quite scary how the 1926-1930 and 1930-1939 came out exactly the same. It looks a reasonable enough average to me for the period. The figure of 1037 is significant, too. For many years during the 1940's that was the average gravity for all beer brewed demanded by the government.

If you compare the same Mild over the same period, you'll notice that its gravity fell significantly in the 1930's:

1839-1899 1068.6 (12 samples)
1901-1917 1050.3 (13 samples)
1920-1926 1041.9 (50 samples)
1933-1939 1036.2 (224 samples)
1940-1949 1030.2 (291 samples)
1950-1959 1032.4 (220 samples)
1960-1968 1032.5 (12 samples)
2002/2005 1037.8 (71 samples)

The difference between Bitter and Mild is now at its smallest since the 1920's.

As I said before, these aren't precise scientific figures. But they do still tell us something. I just have to work out exactly what that is.

What is highlighted, is my lack of data for 1970-2000. Ironic, as this it was in the 1970's that beer gravities first became generally available. Once I get some of those into my table, I should have a pretty good idea of the trends in beer gravities from 1920 until the present. Won't that be groovy?

More decoction mashing fun

Today were going to take a look a variation on decoction mashing, Lautermaisch. It's taken from "Schule der Bierbrauerei" by Conrad Schneider of 1875, pages 298-299.

It's a great book. I could only afford a copy because I bought an example with a broken spine. (What do I care if the book is perfect or not? It's only the information that I'm interested in. I'm not a collector. The broken spine has the advantage of making the book easier to lay flat on the scanner.)

Back to the book itself. It has one of the longest chapters on mashing I've seen, describing British, French, Dutch, Swedish and Belgian methods in addition the German ones you would expect.

Did I mention that I'd tried to get in touch with the Carslberg archivist? To ask some questions about Carlsberg's mashing techniques in the 19th century. Unfortunately she's on holiday at the moment.

The Lautermaish method has its home in the Bamberg area, but is also employed in Belgium and Holland.

The distiguishing feature of this method is that the rise in temperature in the mash tun is not achieved through the addition pure water (as in an infusion mash), but though heating tapped wort (Lautermaisch). This is partly cloudy, full of starch which boiling gelatinises. This hot Kleister wort is put back into the tun. Sometimes clear wort is also used to transfer heat this way.

The execution of this method varies widely.

The Bambergers work with cloudy Lautermaisch. The ground malt is put into the mash tun dry, lower in the middle and higher around the edges. Boiling water in the kettle is mixed with enough cold water to give it a temperature of 80º C. This water is let into the mash tun from below, through the underlet, so that the malt is lifted and swimms like a cake on the surface. It is left for 30 minutes to soak through. The tap is then opened, so that a cloudy broth (like buttermilk) pours out. This is put immediately into the kettle and brought to the boil. Finally a fairly clear wort flows out and this is put into the underback.

The Lautermaisch in the kettle, whose starch is gelatinised, gives off an aromatic smell and a scum forms, which is a sign of saccharification. Care has to be taken that it does not boil over, which Lautermaisch tends to do. It is left to boil for 75 minutes. After this part of the Lautermaisch is put back into the mash tun from below to gelatinise the starch deposits (Unterteig") that have formed there. The rest of the Lautermaisch is poured over the grains, mashed well and left to stand. The wort in the underback is put into the kettle to protect the bottom from burning.

In Kulmbach they work with clear Lautermaisch. The ground malt is put into the mash tun and mixed with enough water at 50º C to wet evenly it through. It is then left to stand for an hour. Then enough boiling water is let into the tun through the underlet so that after a half hour mashing the temperature is 54 to 56º C. After the grains have settled, the clear wort is drawn off, put into the kettle and brought to the boil. After putting the Lautermaisch back into the tun the temperature is raised to 70-72º C. After 45 minutes mashing the mash is left to rest.

I was quite surpised to learn that they didn't use a classic Dickmaisch in Bamberg. But why should they use the same techniques as in Munich? Franconia had only become part of Bavaria 50 years earlier.

The book has many more pages on mashing. I'll be working my way through them next week.

Summer of Lager update

I'm delighted with my choice of Lager as a summer theme. It wasn't something I'd ever looked at in any great detail. I've already learnt so much.

Of course, I understood the concept of decoction mashing, but I hadn't realised how many variations there were. I've still only looked in three books and I'm already up to around a dozen methods. Should be perfect for driving people away at parties. "Don't you find decoction mashing fascinating. I certainly do. I read about this great single decoction method the other day . . . Where are you going? I've only just started."

There's so much to discover. I haven't really got past mashing yet. There's boiling, fermentation and lagering to come. Perhaps I should have called it Year of Lager.

I'm kicking myself for not having started before my last trip to Franconia. There are so many questions I would ask the brewers now. Mostly about their mashing schema. I wonder how many do a Dickmaische? Given the great variation in ingredients and fermentation methods, I would guess that their mashing systems are equally diverse.

Andy at BeerMania! has been trying to persuade me to go back to Franconia in July. Unfortunately, the kids are on holiday then. No chance of Dolores releasing me. Providing him with a list of prepared questions might be an idea.

"Gebrauchen Sie eine Dekoktionsverfahren?"

"Eine Einzel-, Doppel- oder Dreimaischverfahren?"

"Auf welche Temperatur maischen Sie ein?"

"Welche Rasten machen sie und für wie lange? Eine Eiweissrast? Eine Verzuckerungsrast?"

"Was ist die Temperatur der Gesamtmaische nach dem erste Kochen?"

"Was ist die Temperatur der Gesamtmaische nach dem zweite Kochen?"

"Was ist die Temperatur der Gesamtmaische nach dem dritte Kochen?"

"Für wie lange kochen Sie die Maische?"

"Kochen Sie die Dickmaische oder die Dünnmaische?"

"Was is die abmaisch Temperatur?"

I think that covers the most important points. If any of you happen to be in a German brewery in the near future, feel free to ask these questions for me. I've honestly no idea how they do these things nowadays.

Mild 1920 - 2005

Now I've got some modern beer details (thanks Ted and Mark) I can start comparing modern beers with those of 50 years ago. I've begun with Mild.

I've calculated the average OG of Milds from various periods:

1920-1926 1041.9
1933-1939 1036.2
1940-1951 1031.3
1952-1969 1032.5
2002/2005 1037.8

I was genuinely shocked to see that the average OG of Mild has increased significantly, a full 5 points, since 1969. I had expected it to have remained much the same.

Of course, this is an average of the OG's of different beers, not an average OG for all Mild sold. That would most likely be significantly lower for 2002/2005, as some of the biggest sellers - Tetley's, for example - have OG's in the low 1030's. It's clear that micros, in general, brew stronger Milds than the ones I drank in the 1970's and 1980's.

Do you think Mild will make it back to the heady 1040+ average of the 1920's? Or will it die out first?

Märzen

Zythophile has just posted on the shortcomings of Wikipedia beer articles. It shouldn't come as a great surprise. When so many books use only third-hand sources, what do you expect?

I used to actively contribute to wikipedia. For a while. Then I started getting my edits "corrected" by other contributors. Mostly they were using things like the BJCP guidelines and ratings sites as their sources. After a couple of quite nasty arguments, like Zythophile, I decided it was a complete waste of my time. If you look you can probably spot my contributions. There are still a couple sizeable sections of my text.

It was the Märzen article that made me renounce wikipedia and its evil ways. Take time to look at the wikipedia Märzen article now . . . . . .

What do you think of it? That's right, it's almost total bollocks. Scarcely a word of what little content it has is true. The shit that was thrown my way when I tried to correct some of its glaring inaccuracies would have blocked the Incredible Hulk's toilet.

Why do I bring this up now? Apart from the fact that I hate losing arguments. Just something I stumbled upon this morning when I was searching for a description of mashing in an ancient German book. (I get up early enough to leave an hour for doing this stuff before setting off for work. Dilligent, aren't I?) One section listed the main types of Bavarian "Byer" (I told you it was ancient). The very first was Merzen or Sommer Byer. According to the Wikipedia article, Märzen was "invented" by Anton Dreher in Vienna in the 1830's. My new source pushes that date back just a tad. Any guesses as to how much further back? 1800? 1750? 1700? No, much further. The book was published in 1581.

Thanks to Kristen for sending the link to the 1581 book. It's full of fascinating stuff. For people like me. Now all I have to do is read it. In addition to the usual obstacle of gothic typeface, it also uses idiosyncratic spellings. And weird grammar. Be patient.

And, for those who think yeast was unknown before Pasteur, it also mentions "Heffe".

Adulteration (part two)

I've decided to look more closely at the differences between the gravities recorded in brewery logs and those obtained from the analysis of pub samples. To make life easier for all of us, I've calculated the pub OG as a percentage of the log OG. To be fair, I've included all the samples I have for the periods covered.

There's a huge significant difference between the results for Whitbread Bitter and Mild. I've chosen pretty much the same years for both, 1931 to 1939 for Bitter, 1933 to 1940 for Mild. The Bitter pub samples had, on average, 96.47% of the OG in the brewing log:


Of the 19 samples, 18 were below the brewery OG, just one, every so slightly, above. Two samples were within 1% of the brewery OG, 4 between 1% and 2%.

It was a very different story for Whitbread Mild:


Of the 23 samples, 18 were above the brewery OG, 5 below. 3 were within 1% of the brewery OG, 8 between 1% and 2%. On average, the Mild samples had 102.49% of the brewery OG.

Maybe someone who understands statistics better can me if can say if that's significant.

Barclay Perkins Burton

It's been too long since I last mentioned Barclay Perkins. I wouldn't want the conceit of this blog to evaporate. What? It was just last week? Still too long ago. Barclay Perkins Burton. That kills two obsessions with one stone.


The table below covers almost a century of Barclay Perkins KK. Sold on draught under the name Burton. In the 19th century, it really was a Strong Ale, weighing in at over 7% ABV. Like all other British styles, its gravity was whittled away by taxation to fund hostilities, starting with the Boer War.


WW I knocked almost 25% off. After a period of stability in the 1920's and 1930's, WW II reduced the gravity by about another 25%. By the 1950's the gravity was little over half what it had been in 1869. A reduction pretty much typical for all British styles over the same period.


You know what I would love to run? An Edwardian pub. I don't mean a pub in an Edwardian building. I mean one with Edwardian-strength beers. So ordinary Bitter and Mild at 1050, Best Bitter at 1060, Burton and Stout at 1075. That's the draught beers. The bottled beers would be stronger. Double Stout at 1082, Triple Stout and KKKK at 1095. Admittedly, not at Edwardian prices. Would I have any customers?

Braunbier decoction 1826

This is fun, isn't it? Looking at all these methods of decoction. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much.

You're not stupid. If you've bothered to read the title, you have a fair idea of what this post will be about: decoction mashing in a Braunbier brewery in 1826. This will be a first. Our first foray into the time before thermometers. Before they used them in Germany, at least. In Britain, thermometers were popular amongst brewers before 1800. The practice took a while to spread to the Continent.

The source is "Beschreibung der Braunbierbrauerei" by Benno Scharl, 1826, pages 63-65.

The ground malt is tipped into the mash tun, which already contains cold water. The two are thoroughly mixed together with a mashing shovel. This process is called Einmaischen. The mixture is left to stand for 3 - 4 hours before mashing begins.

First Dickmaisch. As soon as the water in the kettle is boiling vigourously, the Dickmaisch can begin. Some let it boil longer than others.

The boiling hot water is ladled* from the kettle into the mash tun. While this is happening, mashing occurs in the tun. Mashing is performed in the same way as Einmaischen, the grains and water being mixed thoroughly with a mashing shovel. Mashing continues until the kettle is empty. The mixture, as much as possible of the malt, is transferred to the kettle until it is full. Now the first Dickmaisch is in the kettle. The rest remains in the mash tun. During this time the fire is stoked so that the Dickmaisch comes to the boil quickly.

In the beginning the malt has to be stirred so that it doesn't fall to the bottom of the kettle and burn. When the heat increases, the malt rises of its own accord. When the Dickmaisch comes to the boil, the fire shoukld be reduced so that it does not boil over. It is boiled for 1.5 hours.

Second Dickmaisch. When the first Dickmaish has boiled for 1.5 hours, it's ladled back into the mash tun. The procedure is now the same as for the first Dickmaisch, except that none of the thick part in the kettle is ladled back into the mash tun. When mashing of the second Dickmaisch is over, it's left to stand for 15 minutes.

Half an hour earlier, at the beginning of the second Dickmaisch, about three Eimer of clear wort is tranferred to the underback. When the kettel has been cleaned of the spent grains, this wort is put into the kettle so that it doesn't burn before the Lautermaisch begins.

Lautermaisch. After the mash has stood in the run for 30 minutes, the tap is opened and the Lautermaisch run into the underback. when the kettel is full, it's heated again until the Lautermaisch comes to the boil.

As son as the Lautermaisch comes to the boil, it's ladled back into the mash tun and there's more mashing, as described above.

As this is the last mash, mashing is longer, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile more water is heated in the kettle, enough to make a Nachbier.

When the last mash is over, the mix in the tun is left to stand for at least one or two hours.

Without the help of pumps, that sounds like an awful lot of hard, physical labour, moving all that wort around. It's recognisably a classic triple decoction, but with a couple of twists. Not returning the grains in the second Dickmaisch to the mash tun is a new one. Not sure what the point of that is. And, at an hour and a half, the boiling time of the two Dickmaisch is much longer than in later descriptions.

I can't say that I would want to attempt brewing just using these instructions. There's no indication of how much wort is put into the kettle and boiled. Which would help, in the absence of temperatures. I would assume that the aim is to hit around 50º C after the first Dickmaisch, 65º C after the second and 78º C after the Lautermaisch. But that's just my guess.

Notice my correct translation of Grand (underback) in this piece. It's wonderful to actually know what it means. Any suggestions for the English equivalent of Einmaisch?

How consistent were their mashing temperatures? Possibly more than you would expect. Experience would have taught brewers how much water/wort to boil to obtain the best results. Volume was easy enough for them to measure.

I've another thermometer-free description. I'm not sure if I should include it, as it isn't a decoction mash. What do you reckon? Maybe I'll take a look at the Barclay Perkins lager logs instead. That's decoction mashing. What about a decoction-mash Mild? I've a log for one somewhere. An experimental brew from, I believe, 1916.


* I've translated the German "geschöpft" as "ladled". You know the two crossed things you always see on German beermats. Those two things with the long handles. One looks like a shovel with holes in it, the other like a bucket on a stick. I think "geschöpft" means using the bucket on a stick. If you have a better translation. please let me know.

Middelburg

Every so often, Kruidvat sell 10 euro train tickets. You can use them to travel anywhere in holland at the weekend. The catch is that they are only valid for a limited period. Our last ones expired yesterday. Which is why the whole family went to Middelburg on Saturday.

Why Middelburg? Well, it had to be somewhere a good way from Amsterdam to drag the most out of the cheap tickets. No point going somewhere we can get to for 11 euros any time. And the kids are collecting provinces. With their first trip to Zeeland, they've now crossed off ten of the twelve.

Middelburg has the typical zig-zag outline left by 17th-century defensive earthworks. Inside, winding streets are filled with narrow, red tile roofed houses. "Everything is so low" Dolores commented. She's right. The older houses in Amsterdam are on average two stories higher. We're such city slickers.

Lexie had come prepared. The night before he'd made his own Google map with the most important locations marked: train station, museum, beer pub, toy shop. We didn't make it to the museum. After half an hour standing below the air-conditioning vent in Intertoys, I was ready for a beer. Dolores, too. Fortunately a decent-looking pub was at hand.

Right next to the main church, Eetcafé Desafinado thoughtfully had boards outside with the complete menu for both food and drinks. Half a dozen draught and about a dozen bottled beers. Including Westmalle tripel. That'll do me. Dolores went for a Koninck.

Now I look at the photo, I realise that I failed to notice the house beer, Lange Jan. How embarrassing. I hope it's just a label beer.

Andrew had already noticed many cars with German plates. A good portion of our fellow customers enjoying the sun on the terrace were Germans, too. What am I saying? Technically, our party was 75% German. The large German contingent probably explains the presence of Paulaner Hefeweizen on draught. Either that or Heineken's pushing of the brand. Whichever, that was Dolores's second beer choice. That's right, Dolores was keen on a second beer. My lucky day. I stuck with Westmalle.

I've wanted to visit Café Mug for a while. I was in Middelburg with Mike last year, but it was a Sunday. Mug only opens Wednesday to Saturday. And from 16:00. This time, I was concerned that might be too late for us and I'd have just 20 minutes drinking. Fortunately, the kids weren't playing up. We were leaning on the door at 15:58. That gave me a full 90 minutes.

Mug is a comfortable pub with a surprisingly large number of rooms. By my count, four. They have even more beers. Somewhere around 70 in total. I feel my descriptive powers waning. If you want to know how it looks inside, I refer you to the photograph. Nice, isn't it?

About 45 minutes before our train was due to depart, Andrew started fretting. He's inherited worrying from his mum. (Lexie got his craziness from me, I'm afraid.) Middelburg isn't that big. And the station is pretty central. "I've easily time for two more beers. Three, if I hurry." "Daaad, just finish that one. There isn't time for another." I hate to lose an argument with one of the kids. As soon as he said that, I just had to order one more beer.

It took us a good 5 minutes to walk back to the station. Where waited on the platform for a further 15. Just as well I'd stocked up on La Trappe Quadrupel in Albert Heijn. When we'd been buying in our train picnic. The two and a half hour journey sped by. Funny how much shorter the return trip always appears. The wonder of beer.


Eetcafé Desafinado
Koorkerkstraat 1,
4331 AW Middelburg.
Tel: 0118 - 640767
http://www.desafinado.nl


Braai Tapperij De Mug
Vlasmarkt 54-56,
4331 PG Middelburg.
Tel: 0118 - 614851
http://www.demug.nl/

1930's decoction mashing

I warned you that I had loads more of this stuff. This is from "Brauerhandbuch" by Karl Hennies, 1937, pages 124-127. I was most surprised to see a mention of Satz. I hadn't expected any 20th century references to it. I've another book by Hennies, written after the war, that also talks of Satz.

The big difference in the methods described here are the protein and saccharification rests taken in the kettle.

Triple decoction mash
This is typified by a part of the mash being pumped into the mash kettle on three separate occasions. There it is kept at a specific temperature before being boiled. In is then returned to the mash tun. The total duration of the process is 4.5 to 5 hours.

Einmaisch teperature is 35 - 38º C. Then the first mash (about a third of the total) is pumped into the mash kettle. This mash should be as thick as possible.

(First Dickmaische.) The temperature in the kettle should rise slowly; at 50º C a 10 minute protein rest can be taken, between 65 and 70º C there is a 15-25 minute saccharification rest; the mash is then brought to the boil and boiled for 45 minutes. The mash is then pumped back into the tun and reunited with the remaining two thirds of the mash. The contents of the tun are constantly stirred, starting before the boiled mash is returned (vormaischen), while the wort is being pumped back and after all the mash is back in the tun (nachmaischen). As a result of the addition of the first boiled wort the temperature of the whole mash is raised to 50-53º C.

After this the second Dickmaische is pumped into the kettle and boiled for 20-30 minutes. (While this is happening there is a protein rest in the mash tun at 50-53º C.) Through the return of the second mash the temperature in the mash tun is raised to 62-65º C.

Then a third mash is pumped into the kettle. This time not a Dickmaische, but a Lautermaische, which is as thin as possible. The Lautermaische is quickly brought to the boil and boiled for 25 minutes. (During this time: the temperature in the mash tun is 62-65º C = saccharification rest.) When the 3rd mash is pumped back into the tun, the temperature rises to 76-78º C (= mashout temperature). Now mashout occurs, that is the complete mash is pumped into the lauter tun.

Sometimes a "Maischrest" is employed. When the mash is pumped back into the tun a remainder is left in the kettle. When the next mash is pumped into the kettle into the boiling-hot Maischrest, as a result of the higher temperature, more unfermentable dextrines are formed than fermentable sugars.


Double decoction mash
Einmaisch is with warm water at 50º C or the Einmaish is cold and then wqarmed to 50º C. The first Dickmaische (about half the total mash) is boiled for up to 30 minutes. After being pumped back the temperature of the whiole mash in the tun rises to about 65º C. Then a second Dickmaische (about one third of the total mash) is drawn off and boiled. When pumped back into the tun the mashout temperature of 75-78º C is reached. When the malt demands it, during both Dickmaische a longer or shorter protein rest and saccharification rest are taken. Double decoction is often used with pale, well-modified malt.


Single decoction mash
There are different ways of performing this method. This is the so-called "Kesselmaisch" [Kettle mash] method.

Mashing occurs in the kettle and the complete mash, after a protein rest, is warmed to the saccharification temperature. Stirring is stopped and the thin (enzyme rich) part of the mash, the so-called "Satz" pumped into the mash tun. The thick remainder is boiled in the kettle and then pumped into the tun with the thin part and kept at saccharification temperature for 30 minutes. The whole mash is then pumped into the kettle and brought to mashout temperature.


The Hochkurz [High fast] mashing method
This is used with very well-modified malt. Einmaisch is at the higher temperature of 62º C (avoiding a protein rest). The first mash is only boiled for a short time - 5 minutes.After pumping back the boiled mash the temperature rises to 72º C. This temperature is maintained for an hour. Then another mash is drawn off and again boiled for just 5 minutes and mashout is at 78º C.


Springmaisch method
The einmaisch temperature is 37º C. The mash is then added to boiling hot water. The temperature of the mash is so raised to 70º C. The temperatures between are skipped. This method is used with over-modified malt which saccharifies too quickly.


Schmitz method
You can mash any way you like. Abläutern, separating the wort from the spent grains, occurs not at normal mashout temperature (76-78º C) but at boiling point. Wort obtained this way needs to be cooled a little and undergo more saccharifcation. To this aim, "cold Satz", a watery malt extract (diastase extract) obtained after einmaschen, is run off earlier in the process. By mixing the Satz and the wort at saccharifcation temperature saccharification takes place.

I'll probably be going back in time for the next installment. To the pre-thermometer time.

Obsession (again)

My confessions, multiple as they are, can no longer be any surprise. Not even to me.

Decoction mashing. My new obsession. Ask Andrew. I keep telling him about it. He's so enthralled, he seems in a trance. "Wake up, Andrew. How does Dickmeisch differ from Dünnmeisch?" "Daaad, it's midnight. I have to go to school tomorrow." No commitment, these youngsters.

I won't pretend to have read every word of every book I own. How much time do you think I have? The Kunze that's topping my new book tower has 847 pages. In an ideal world, I'd have time to read it twice forwards and once backwards. I have a job and a family. Excuse me if I'm selective.

The raw material is piled up around me. Way too much ("Dad, you've already said that") to attack it randomly. Investigating a specific theme is the only way to stop your head exploding. Mine's almost popped a few times.

"How do you perform a decoction mash?" That's my current question. Finding references to it is piece of piss. Index . . . .M . . . Miaischen . . . page 171 . . . . "In Deustschland sind Dekoktionsvervahren allgemein üblich. Man wendet . . . "

It's that simple. But still definitely worth doing. If only for my own education. This technical stuff is quite fun. I love numbers. And decoction mashing has loads of numbers. It's a great theme.

Sorry if I go on about this. I did clearly state in my mission statement that this blog was supposed to serve as an outlet for the conversations I couldn't have with my family or friends. You're the only ones I can talk to about decoction mashing or the discrepancy between brewery and pub samples of Barclay Perkins draught beers in the 1930's. You were warned.

Having more books than I can read is worthwhile. I'm impulsive. Ideas grab me. When they do, I'm prepared. Dolores believes that, I hope. Though, like an addict, I keep some of my book-buying secret. Don't give me away.

Fermentation. I've skipped through lots about that. All those funny-shaped fermenters. Cleansing. They were crazy about that. Who cleanses now? Lagering. How many ways to lager?

There's so much. So much. Is there anyone rich enough to pay me to do this fulltime?

I can dream.

Three hundred and twenty-six

How many different breweries are represented in my Mega Gravity Table? Three hundred and twenty-six. Just Thought I'd let you know. I was going to post the complete list but, covering many pages, it isn't practical. Here are those breweries beginning with the letter 'F':

Feigenspan (Newark, NJ)
Felinfoel Brewery, Llanelly
Flower & Sons
Forest Hill Brewery
Fowler
Frederick Smith, Aston
Fremlin
Friary Holroyd
Frydenlunds Brewery, Oslo
Fuller, Smith & Turner

I may finally publish the Mega Gravity Table soon. It now contains more than 4,000 entries. But I want to finish off the Truman Gravity Book first. And the Whitbread one, too, possibly.

Three hundred and twenty-six. The number of entries for Barclay Perkins. For Charrington, it's 277. Courage 190, Mann 268, Meux 141, Taylor Walker 145, Truman 271, Watney 257. But there are the most for Whitbread - 423.

Just what you wanted. More numbers. Seven, forty-nine, nintey-two. There's a couple more. I promised you numbers when I started this blog. I don't want to be accused of deception.

1950's decoction mashing in the DDR

Who says this blog is willfully obscure? Taking a break from 19th century decoction techniques, let's return to another of my obsessions, the DDR. The source is one of my favourite books, Dickscheit's "Leitfaden für den Brauer und Mälzer", 1953, pages 64 - 66.

The DDR was a bit of a time warp. The techniques described here, though the book was published in the 1950's, are probably unchanged from at least the 1930's.

Today I've not one, not two, not three, not even four decoction methods, but five for your delectation. I never realised there were so many different ways of performing a decoction mash.

Decoction mashing is standard practice in Germany. It is not employed because it gives a better yield - an infusion mash with well-modified malt can be just as efficient - but because of the flavour of it lends to the finished beer. Beers brewed by the decoction method taste more powerful and heartier. Because boiling darkens the colour of the wort, for very pale beers the quantity of wort boiled should be kept to a minimum.

The classic decoction method is triple decoction. It is used for Munich beers, but rarely for very pale beers because it darkens the wort. However it is used at Pilsner Urquell. Beers brewed by triple decoction usually have a lower degree of attenuation than those using a double decoction because of the early destruction of the diastase.

The triple decoction mashing scheme for a pale beer can look like this:

Length of mash 3.5 to 5 hours
The main mashing temeratures are 37, 54, 65 and 76º C
Einmaischen at 37º C
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil
Boil first mash
The Restmaische remains at 37º C
Aufmaischen at 54º C
The combined wort stands at 54º C (protein rest)
Draw off second mash and bring to the boil
Boil second mash
The Restmaische remains at 54º C
Aufmaischen at 65º C
Draw off third mash and bring to the boil
Boil third mash
The Restmaische remains at 65º C
Aufmaischen at 76º C and mashout

It should be remarked that triple decoction can be performed in many different ways. The rests can be longer or shorter, the Kochmaische can be pumped quickly or slowly, Dickmaische or Lautermaische can be drawn off. However there are always three boils of the mash and the temperatures are always the same. Though, in the case of a cold Einmaischen, they can vary by 2 or 3º C.


Double decoction is the most widely used method in Germany. It is suitable for the production of pale beers and is more rational as it uses less coal and time. Beers brewed by double decoction are paler than those made using triple decoction. The mashing temperatures are 50, 70 and 76º C. When using poorly modified malt a rest at the start temperature, 50º C, is recommended. As an example, this is a method of double decoction employed by Schönfeld in the Hochschulbrauerei in Berlin. This method is typified by the care which is taken.

Duration of the process 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Einmaischen at 35º C 5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C 20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (protein rest) 15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil 30 minutes
Boil first mash 10 minutes
The Restmaische remains at 52º C 40 minutes
Aufmaischen at 70º C 25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (saccharification rest) 30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil 15 minutes
Boil second mash 10 minutes
Aufmaischen at 76º C and mashout 20 minutes

In addition to double and triple decoction there is a series of other methods

The Hoch-Kurzmaische method is characterised by a high Einmaisch temperature. The decoction effect is small and beers produced this way resemble those from an infusion mash. Attenuation of 80 - 84% is achieved with this method. Well-modified malt is essential

The process takes about 2 hours.
Einmaischen at 62º C
Draw off first mash and quickly bring to the boil
Boil first mash for 5 minutes
Aufmaischen at 70º C
Rest whole mash at 70º C (saccharification rest)
Draw off second mash and quickly bring to the boil
Boil second mash for 5 minutes
Aufmaischen at 76º C and mashout



The standard single decoction method is scarcely used in practice. The decoction effect is very small. Beers made this way taste similar to those made using an infusion mash.

A standard single decoction mash goes something like this:

Einmaischen at 50º C
Warm whole mash to 70º C
Draw off mash and bring to the boil
Aufmaischen at 76º C and mashout


The Kesselmaische method, where the whole Dickmaische is boiled, is a single decoction method with a strong decoction effect. In a four-hour mash, it generally gives a better yield than a triple or double decoction mash of the same length. In the hands of a skilled professional, it's a very elegant method which can achieve everything desired. Both well- and poorly-modified malt can be used. The enzymes in the Dunnmaische drawn off earlier are enough to guarantee a complete saccharification. Also the Abmaisch temperature isn't high enough to quickly kill the enzymes. Even during Ablauteren there are still enzymes in the wort.

This method need to be adapted according to the quality of the malt.

A Kesselmaische method goes something like this:

Einmaischen at 50º C
Rest at 50º C approx. 30 minutes
Warm whole mash to 64º C
Rest at 64º C approx. 30 minutes
Draw off mash and bring to the boil
Warm whole mash to 70º C
First saccharification rest at 70º C until iodine normality reached
Draw off the Dünnmaische
Boil the Dickmaische
Aufmaischen at 76 - 78º C
Second saccharification rest

What am I saying, 1930's? The Schönfeld method is probably pre-WW I. If you'll remember, he was the author of "Die Herstellung obergähriger Biere", published in 1908.

Adulteration

There are fascinating insights to be gained by comparing the gravity books and brewing logs. Specifically, what was happening to beer between leaving the brewery and being pulled into a customer's glass.

The brewing logs tell what the brewer intended his beer to be. The gravity books what was actually served in pubs. The two rarely match.

19th Century
Frederick Accum did something similar at the beginning of the 19th century. He sampled beers in the great Porter breweries and then in pubs. One average, by the time they were served, beers were 10 -15% weaker. A century or so later, not much seemed to have changed.

Samples of brown stout with which I have been obligingly favoured, whilst writing this Treatise, by Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, & Co.—Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Co.—Messrs. Henry Meux and Co.—and other eminent brewers of this capital—afforded, upon an average, 7,25 per cent. of alcohol, of 0,833 specific gravity; and porter, from the same houses, yielded upon an average 5,25 per cent. of alcohol, of the same specific gravity*; this beer received from the brewers was taken from the same store from which the publicans are supplied.

* The average specific gravity of different samples of brown stout, obtained direct from the breweries of Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co. Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Co. Messrs. Henry Meux and Co. and from several other eminent London brewers, amounted to 1,022; and the average specific gravity of porter, from the same breweries, 1,108 [I think this should be 1,018].

It is nevertheless singular to observe, that from fifteen samples of beer of the same denominations, procured from different retailers, the proportions of spirit fell considerably short of the above quantities. Samples of brown stout, procured from the retailers, afforded, upon an average, 6,50 per cent. of alcohol; and the average strength of the porter was 4,50 per cent. Whence can this difference between the beer furnished by the brewer, and that retailed by the publican, arise? We shall not be at a loss to answer this question, when we find that so many retailers of porter have been prosecuted and convicted for mixing table beer with their strong beer; this is prohibited by law, as becomes obvious by the following words of the Act.

"If any common or other brewer, innkeeper, victualler, or retailer of beer or ale, shall mix or suffer to be mixed any strong beer, ale, or worts, with table beer, worts, or water, in any tub or measure, he shall forfeit £50." The difference between strong and table beer, is thus settled by Parliament.
"A Treatise on the Adulterations of Food" by Frederick Accum, 1820, pages 172 - 175.

20th century
The first thing that tipped me off to this possibility was the variation in gravity for different samples the same beer in the Whitbread and Truman Gravity Books. With the exception of traumatic periods like wartime, brewers didn't fiddle with the gravity of a beer from month to month. It stayed constant for years on end. I know that from the brewing logs. And they were professional enough to be able to hit the target gravity pretty much 100% or the time.

Sorry, I should have said variation in the gravity of draught beer. Bottled beers are much more constant. Which is a real giveaway as to the underlying cause: adulteration. The landlord can't really fiddle with bottled beer. Not so with draught beer.

Let's look at an example from Barclay Perkins. Here are five examples of their KK, or Burton, all from 1936. Four are from the Truman Gravity Book, one from the Barclay Perkins brewing logs.


The beer as brewed was a nice round 1056 gravity. The pub samples vary from 1048.8 to 1055.9. Only one matches the brewery gravity. As these have been calculated, we need to allow from some margin of error. So I'm willing to give the 1053.9 sample the benefit of the doubt. The other two are far too low. 10% and 13% too low to be precise. Something has clearly happened to the beer. But what?

My guess would be slops of weaker beer being put into the KK cask.

But take a look at the figures for Barclay Perkins ordinary Mild, X Ale:


Here all the pub samples have a higher gravity than the brewing log. How can this be? When I was younger, a reason people often gave for not drinking Mild was that the slops from all the other beers were put into it. Being dark, it was hard to spot. I was sceptical about this theory at the time. But that's exactly what these numbers suggest. As X would usually be the weakest draught beer, slops from anything else would raise its gravity.

This begs the question. Adulteration seems to have been common between 1800 and 1940. Does it still occur now?

Brussels - the city

The day after the EBCU reception, I had 6 hours in the Brussels. Before catching my train back to Amsterdam. A chance to correct my neglect of the city.

Been away so long I hardly knew the place. And, due to me being an idiot, the maps I'd printed out of the centre didn't have Centraal Station marked on them. I spent some time wandering about searching for a street that was on my map. I was trying to find Mort Subite. Eventually, I found a street map at a junction. After looking at it for 10 minutes I realised that Mort Subite was just behind me, 20 metres away at most. I thought to myself "I knew it was around here somewhere." It's covered in scaffolding. That's my excsuse.

Inside, Mort Subite was just as I remembered it. Except the prices are now in euros. I had a gueuze. It really wasn't that bad. Nicely sour. Breakfast. It being just past 11 AM, it wasn't mobbed. Just me and another bloke in the opposite corner. Despite being outnumbered by the staff, it still took me the best part of 5 minutes to order. Not that it particulalry mattered. I was in no rush.

The Delirium Café is just around the corner. On a little dead-end alleyway off Rue des Bouchers. Rue des Restaurants would be more appropriate. It's wall-to-wall restaurants. Handy when you know you'll have to have lunch in an hour or so.

The main bar of Delirium is in the cellar. You probably already know that. I must be the last person in the universe to have not visited the place. Large and rather gloomy. I headed for the bar where there was a little more illumination. Already sitting there were the delegation from Danske Ølentusiaster. They'd shown less restraint than me the day before. I'd gone almost straight home (I did stop off for one beer) after the reception ended at 21:00. The Danes had continued on in the city centre for several more hours.

The beer list is very impressive. And pretty international. Where to start? I opted for Pannepot. "Sorry, we're out of standard Pannepot. Do you want the Grand Reserva instead?" Yeah. Go on. Not had that one. What can I say? I didn't think it tasted quite as good as the normal version. And I'm not a great fan of that.

The Danes were off before I was even halfway through my Pannepot. Some building site or other they had to go and look at. Either they have strange hobbies or I've some personal hygiene issues. You would tell me, wouldn't you? If I stank, I mean.

Restraint is my new middle name. After just two beers (the second was French), I went in search of dinner. Or lunch as poshoes insist on calling it. In my calendar of meals, there is no lunch. Rues des Restaurants is full of places offereing three-course meals for as much 13.50 euros or as little a 10 euros. Feeling flush, I opted for the latter. What to drink with it?

Here's another of my many admissions. Sometimes I prefer to drink wine with food. Depends what kind of food it is. German or Asian, and beer is perfect. With Frenchy type stuff, wine is often the better choice. It's probably a good thing I don't order wine more often. I have expensive taste. I won't tell you how much the bottle of Burgundy that accompanied my meal cost. Several times more than the meal. I'll just say that. I don't want Dolores to find out. "We could have had a weeks' holiday with that money, Ronald. Why are you so irresponsible?"

When I'd finished off my grub, I returned to Delirium for another beer. It really was just the one. I told you restraint was my new middle name. I'll admit that I did buy a couple of bottles of Guinness Special Export for the train. It's a three-hour journey. You wouldn't want me to die of thirst, would you?

The Kulmbach method of decoction

Yet another Bavarian method of decoction from Otto (("Handbuch der Chemischen Technologie: Die Bierbrauerei" by Dr. Fr. Jul. Otto, published in 1865, page 128).

As soon as the water in the kettle reaches 50º C, as much as is needed is put into the mash tun to Einteigen.

After an hour, when the rest of the water has come to the boil in the kettle, this is added to the mash. The temperature of the mash should be 53.75 - 56.25º C. A small amount of water should remain in the kettle so that the temperature of the mash is correct. Or a small amount of cold water is added to the mash. When, after resting, the wort in the mash tun has cleared, this is run off and boiled in the kettle. After just a few minutes boiling, this Lautermeisch is added back to the tun and mashed for 45 minutes. The temperature of the mash should be 71.25 - 72.5º C.

Usually a small quantity of wort is left in the kettle and boiled with all the hops for 10 to 12 minutes (hopfenrösten).

The mash in the tun is left to rest for 90 minutes, then it is drawn off and added to the kettle where it interrupts the rösten.

The wort from the first lot of cold water poured over the grains is usually used for topping up the kettle.

Just to be clear, Kulmbach is also in Franken. Another single decoction. And no Dickmeisch. Life's full of surprises.

The Franconian method of decoction

Otto ("Handbuch der Chemischen Technologie: Die Bierbrauerei" by Dr. Fr. Jul. Otto, published in 1865, pages 127 and 128) has yet another Bavarian system of decoction. The Franconian method. It's another one where they do something funny with the hops. I know people love that. Fiddling about with the hops in a weird way.

For 100 pounds of grain, depending on the strength of the beer, between 600 and 700 pounds of water are used.

The crushed grain is put into the mash tun dry. As soon as the water in the kettle has boiled, cold water is added to cool it down to 82.5 - 87.5º C. The water is then mixed with the grains. This shouldn't occur too quickly, so that the temperature of the grain rises slowly. This is important as all 600-700 pounds of water are used at this first mash. The temperature after all the water has been added should be 62.5º C.

After a short rest, the first wort is transferred to the kettle and boiled for 45 minutes. This Lautermeisch is put mack into the tun and the temperature of the whole mash should then be 75º C. After mashing well, the mixture is left to rest for an hour. After this the finished wort is drawn off.

In Franconia, very frequently the hops are boiled for half an hour with a small quantity of the first wort to be drawn off. This gives the beer their distinctive taste. It's called "Rösten" the hops.

Cold water is poured over the spent grains to remove the remaining extract. In the Bamberg area this wort is called Hansla and is used to make a weak beer. In volume, this is almost half the amount of the full-strength beer.

I hadn't expected them to have used a single decoction like this in Franconia. My guess would have been triple decoction.

Still not quite done with Bavaria. There's also the Kulmbach method.