Adnams Mild 1945 - 1959

As we’ve seen from the figures for Adnams output around the time of WW II, Mild was Adnams biggest seller, around 60% of what they brewed in 1951.

Though its share was slowly and steadily being whittled away by Bitter. I don’t have any solid numbers after 1951, but my guess would be that Bitter overtook Mild in sales sometime around 1960. That’s based on the trend 1940 to 1951.

As you can see from the table header, Adnams Mild went under two different brewhouse names in this period, XX and XXX. The name change happened in 1951. There doesn’t seem to have been any change in the beer itself, other than the gravity increasing by one point. Random name changes happened more often around WW II. In 1940, Whitbread changed the name of its Mild from X to XX for no apparent reason. Maybe to hide the fact it was getting weaker.

I’ve already mentioned that Adnams Mild is notable for having a higher gravity in 1950 than in 1939. Something true of almost no beer. All through the 1930’s XX, as it was then called, had an OG of 1029º. Or a bit weak. I’ve always considered 1030º the minimum gravity for serious beer.

A fairly high degree of attenuation drags it just about into intoxicating territory. Most of the time. Though I imagine that the examples from the early 1950’s with over 80% attenuation must have tasted rather thin.

Hopping is fairly modest, as you expect in this period Mild. The rise in the hopping rate after 1950 almost certainly was a consequence of hops becoming available in greater quantities and brewers being allowed by the government to use more.

Not much more to say about the bare specs of the beer. Here’s the table:

Adnams XX and XXX 1945 - 1959
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)
1st Jan	1945	1027.0	1006.1	2.77	77.43%	4.63	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1946	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.63	0.50	2
15th Apr	1946	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.63	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1947	1027.1	1005.5	2.86	79.59%	4.60	0.50	2
6th Jan	1947	1027.1	1005.5	2.86	79.59%	4.60	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1948	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.60	0.50	2
2nd Jun	1948	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.60	0.50	2
17th Jan	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	4.60	0.49	2
7th Apr	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	4.60	0.49	2
5th Oct	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	5.40	0.57	2
2nd Jun	1950	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	5.15	0.60	2
1st Sep	1950	1030.0	1005.0	3.31	83.38%	5.15	0.60	2
1st Aug	1951	1031.0	1004.4	3.51	85.70%	5.15	0.63	2
7th Nov	1951	1031.0	1005.5	3.37	82.13%	5.03	0.64	2
9th Jan	1952	1031.0	1006.1	3.29	80.34%	5.15	0.63	2
6th Mar	1952	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	4.79	0.57	2
2nd Nov	1953	1030.0	1007.2	3.02	75.99%	4.79	0.57	2
9th Nov	1953	1030.0	1006.1	3.16	79.69%	5.24	0.62	2
15th Sep	1954	1031.0	1007.8	3.07	74.98%	4.94	0.64	2
20th Jul	1955	1030.0	1008.9	2.80	70.45%	5.88	0.73	2
4th Sep	1956	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	6.37	0.78	2
10th Sep	1956	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	6.37	0.78	2
28th Jan	1957	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	5.11	0.62	2
2nd Aug	1957	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	4.89	0.61	2
3rd Jan	1958	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	4.40	0.55	2
4th Dec	1959	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	5.34	0.67	1.58
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery.

The grists leave more room for discussion. Let’s begin with the base malt. Up until 1953, it’s something called “medium” malt. I’ve no idea what this is, but suspect it’s something similar to mild malt. Especially as that’s what replaced it.

The only constant in terms of grains is crystal malt. In the first part of this period it made up around 5% of the total. That was doubled in 1954, presumably as a result of the amber malt being dropped. Amber malt is unusual in a Mild, more often turning up in Porter or Stout. Adnams started using it in their Mild after WW I and continued with it right up until the 1950’s.

The flaked barley that appears in the grists 1945 to 1948 is as a result of wartime energy-saving measures. Flaked barley took less fuel to make than malt and the government forced brewers to use a proportion of it, even ones like Whitbread who had avoided adjuncts before the war.

No. 3 sugar appears in almost every recipe, except for a few in 1949 when No. 1 invert was used instead. That may well have been connected with supply problems as No. 3 was the classic Mild sugar. The increased percentage of sugar after 1954 probably reflects an improvement in it availability. 1953 was the year sugar rationing ended.

The hops are really boring: 100% English (no region of origin specified, sadly) except for a few Czech ones in the late 1940’s. Not really surprising, as the UK was self-sufficient in hops at the time.

Adnams XX and XXX grists 1945 - 1959
Date	Year	OG	pale malt	amber malt	crystal malt	medium malt	MA malt	flaked barley	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	tintose	hydrol	Sucramel	hops
1st Jan	1945	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	76.74%		5.12%		6.82%	1.10%			English
2nd Jan	1946	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	71.62%		10.23%		6.82%	1.10%			English
15th Apr	1946	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	71.62%		10.23%		6.82%	1.10%			English
2nd Jan	1947	1027.1		5.09%	5.09%	71.32%		10.19%		6.79%	1.52%			English, Czech
6th Jan	1947	1027.1		5.09%	5.09%	71.32%		10.19%		6.79%	1.52%			English
2nd Jan	1948	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	75.13%		10.02%		3.34%	1.49%			English
2nd Jun	1948	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	75.13%		10.02%		3.34%	1.49%			English, Czech
17th Jan	1949	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	85.15%			3.34%		1.49%			English
7th Apr	1949	1027.0	20.04%	5.01%	5.01%	65.12%			3.34%		1.49%			English
5th Oct	1949	1027.0		5.11%	5.11%	81.75%			6.81%		1.22%			English
2nd Jun	1950	1030.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
1st Sep	1950	1030.0	38.89%	4.86%	4.86%	43.75%				6.48%	1.16%			English
1st Aug	1951	1031.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
7th Nov	1951	1031.0		5.93%	5.93%	80.68%				6.33%	1.13%			English
9th Jan	1952	1031.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
6th Mar	1952	1030.0		4.16%	4.16%	83.25%				7.40%	1.02%			English
2nd Nov	1953	1030.0		4.16%	4.16%		83.25%			7.40%	1.02%			English
9th Nov	1953	1030.0		4.86%	4.86%		82.64%			6.48%	1.16%			English
15th Sep	1954	1031.0			9.10%		77.34%			12.13%	1.44%			English
20th Jul	1955	1030.0			8.83%		75.04%			14.71%	1.42%			English
4th Sep	1956	1030.0			8.82%		75.00%			14.71%	1.47%			English
10th Sep	1956	1030.0			8.82%		75.00%			14.71%	1.47%			English
28th Jan	1957	1030.0	70.35%		9.38%				9.38%	9.38%	1.51%			English
2nd Aug	1957	1030.0			8.69%		78.20%			8.69%	1.53%	2.90%		English
3rd Jan	1958	1030.0			8.69%		78.20%			8.69%	1.53%	2.90%		English
4th Dec	1959	1030.0	8.64%		8.64%		69.15%			11.53%			2.03%	English
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery.

I’m almost done with Adnams beers. Just the Strong Ale to go.

Adler Brauerei beers

I should probably call this Adler Brauerei Labels, because I’m not going to tell you much about the beers.

And what labels. They’re amongst my favourites. Not just my DDR favourites, but my all-time favourites. The oval Bock label is stunning. Simple and striking. Makes me want to just grab one of them Bocks off the shelf. If they ever were to be found on the shelves.

A little history. The brewery was founded, appropriately enough, as the Kaiser Brauerei in 1894, during the Gründerzeit. The Dirr family became involved soon afterwards and they owned the brewery until 1972, when it was nationalised. It only brewed beer for three more years, but seems to have continued to produce soft drinks. After reunification the brewery was returned to the Dirr family. Not for long, though. Definitive closure came in 1991. The buildings lay empty for decades before they were demolished in 2014.*

The brewery was in Brandenburg an der Havel, about 20 km East of Berlin. The name was changed from Kaiser to Adler in 1942. Not sure what that tells us.

1972. You’ll see that date come up more often. Until then, many middle-sized companies remained in private hands. Then, on the orders of the USSR, the maximum number of employees allowed in private firms was drastically reduced and swathes of the economy nationalised. Friends who grew up in the DDR tell me this was a disaster for the economy and when everything started going tits up.

You wonder what the point of nationalising the brewery was when they stopped making beer there a few years later. None, probably.

* Sources:
http://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Brandenburg-Havel/Die-fruehere-Eignerfamilie-der-abgerissenen-Brandenburger-Brauerei-ist-veraergert-ueber-Stillstand-in-der-Bergstrasse
http://www.1a-sammlershop.de/index.php?cat=c188_Adler-Brauerei-Brandenburg-Adler-Brauerei-Brandenburg.html

Berlin day five

The day begins with another pesky wasp. Why do I attract the bloody things?

Quite a bit of flapping accompanies my breakfast.

“Don’t do that, Ronald. You’ll only annoy it.” I pay no attention and continue waving my hands about. We’ll see some truly suicidal wasp-bothering later in the day.

The breakfast underneath my waving is different today. Not that it makes any difference to the wasp. I’ve eschewed the fried stuff and joined Dolores in smoked salmon.

Alexei is pleased: “Yeah, more fried stuff for me!” Wish I could take that much pleasure in something so simple.

We watch a bit of Sunday Brunch on Dolores’s tablet until check out time. And I finish off what’s left of my beer supplies, carefully removing the labels from the bottles. OCD. I realise I demonstrate lots of OCD-like behaviour. Why else would I spend hundreds of hours messing around with brewing records? No normal person would. “Just a pity you aren’t a compulsive cleaner, Ronald.”

We’ve another appointment with Joe Stange at the festival. At a slightly different spot, so we can try some different beers, and slightly later. Happily it’s still close to lots of Czech brewery stands.

On the way, Alexei asks: “Daad,  Why did Trotsky have to leave Russia?”

It must be the Stalinist architecture around us subconsciously influencing him. “Because he fell out with Stalin. And you wouldn’t want to upset Stalin.”

We find Joe his and his American mate in the Vietnamese section. This time they’ve got their kids, matching sets of a boy and a girl, and the mate’s wife along. Alexei goes off to the Computerspielemuseum and I go off for beer. That is sort of the point of being here.

It’s not quite as hot as yesterday. But it’s still way too hot for me. Hence my urgent need for beer.

Luckily, the Rohozec stand isn’t too far away. Me and Andrew wander down there and pick up some beer. Once again, it’s something dark for me and something pale for him.

Rohozec Dunkles
Fruity, a touch of bitterness.

I’m amazed at how little trouble the kids are, as they’re around four and six years old. Maybe it’s because they’ve got someone to play with. My attempts at drinking with small kids in tow usually resulted in me spending most of my time chasing after them down the street. Not a great deal of fun

I spot some interesting stands on my next beer quest: Murphys Stout, Newcastle Brown, Strongbow, Fosters, Heineken, Singha and Carslberg. But I manage to resist those temptations and get myself a Pardubicky Porter.

Pardubicky Porter
Liquorice, caramel, sweet and meaty. Dolores: “Too malty” Well I think it’s lovely.

Every time I walk past the Vietnamese food stall I’m more tempted to buy something. Finally I crack and buy some duck. It’s pretty cheap and very nice. If a little bony. Once eaten, it’s time to hunt down some more beer.

Cvikov Svatecni
Amber colour.

You’ll see my notes are improving. And that I’m sticking with my Czech theme. It’s a pleasant enough beer. But not quite in the same class as Pardubicky Porter. Which is why I get another of those next. Has a bit more oomph.

Andrew mentioned the Russian stall to Dolores and she returns with kvass, pierogis and some sort of meat pasties. Very good, too.

A Vietnamese man nearby is having his own struggle with a wasp. He’s trying to splatter it between his palms, which seems like a guaranteed way of getting yourself stung. His wildly flailing arms only manage to knock his small son’s drink flying, soaking both the table and their food. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Alexei comes back from his museum visit and demands a soft drink. Fair enough in this heat. Though I’m disappointed he doesn’t want a beer. He is legal to drink in Germany.

After a couple more Porters it’s time to return to the hotel for our luggage. Which thankfully is still there and still intact.

After consulting various maps, Andrew decided the quickest and easiest way to get to the airport is to walk to Ostbahnhof and get a regional train from there. Seems fair enough. Dolores is happy, because it means avoiding Warschauerstrasse S-Bahn station, for which she’s developed an irrational hatred.

“Daad, why didn’t the Dutch colonise Australia?”

“Because they were too lazy.”

“Daad, why didn’t the Russians colonise Canada?”

“They thought it was too cold.”

There’s a sort of tradition on family holidays. At some point we always embark on a death march. We’ve left it until late this time. But in the heat and uncertainty about the route, it certainly seems like one. It seems much further than it looked on the map. There are rumblings of dissent long before we get to the station.

Where we discover there’s a long wait for the next regional train and we get the S-Bahn anyway. Now wasn’t that fun?

“It’s just like in the DDR days.” Dolores says of Schönefeld. Not sure if that’s a compliment or not. I think not. I doubt they had an Irish pub. Which is exactly where I head with Andrew. The others soon troll up, when I’m already stuck into my pint of Guinness and double Jamesons. They’ve even got English crisps, which pleases Alexei no end.

It’s a very un-German end to the trip.




Internationales Berliner Bierfestival
http://www.bierfestival-berlin.de


Computerspielemuseum Berlin
Karl-Marx-Allee 93A,
10243 Berlin.
Tel: +49 30 60988577
http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/

Bottled Stout in the 1950's - Standard Stouts 60-65% attenuation

The biggest surprise is that I’m still rambling across the moorland of 1950’s Stout. Surely I must eventually come across a pub?

As we gradually move our way down the attenuation scale, you’ll see the FGs rise and ABVs fall. Which is only logical. Though we’ve still got a way to go down that particular road.

There’s a considerable variation in price, not always that directly related to strength. The cheapest, Greenall’s Oatmeal Stout was just 21d – 8.75p in modern money – while the dearest, Mackeson cost 32d (13.33p). That’s almost 50% more, despite there being little difference in ABV. AAs  national, heavily-advertised brand, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Mackeson demanded a premium price. The same seems to be true to a lesser extent of Charrington’s Punch Stout.

Just 5 of the 48 examples have the word “sweet” or “glucose” in their name. Almost as many, 4, are Oatmeal Stouts. More surprisingly, there are two Oyster Stouts. How modern.

There’s a reason why there are four analyses of Jubilee Stout. It was another widely available Stout which Whitbread presumably saw as a rival to their own Mackeson brand. A beer which was incredibly important for the company in the 1950’s.

There’s a very good geographical spread of breweries, from Scotland down to Southwest England, with pretty much every region inbetween represented. Including my hometown of Newark-on-Trent, in the form of Holes Castle Stout.

I can’t think of anything else to say. So here’s the table.

Bottled Stout in the 1950's - Standard Stouts 60-65% attenuation
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1953	Davenport	Celebration Stout	22	0.06	1041.9	1014.7	3.52	64.92%	1 + 17
1953	Hunt Edmunds	Country Stout	26	0.06	1043.8	1015.4	3.67	64.84%	1 + 15
1950	Castletown	Manx Oyster Stout	26	0.07	1043.7	1015.4	3.66	64.76%	1 + 17
1953	Young & Son	Victory Oyster Stout	26	0.05	1046.5	1016.4	3.89	64.73%	1R + 17B
1959	Vaux	Red Label Stout	28		1043.9	1015.5	3.67	64.69%	300
1957	Boddingtons	Extra Stout (lactose absent)	28	0.04	1043.9	1015.6	3.66	64.46%	250
1951	Hope & Anchor	Jubilee Stout	28	0.04	1041.7	1014.9	3.46	64.27%
1953	Samuel Smith	Sams Stout	22	0.11	1043.9	1015.7	3.64	64.24%	1 + 11
1952	Hammerton	Oatmeal Stout	29	0.07	1047.2	1017	3.90	63.98%	1 + 18.5
1959	Nimmo	Nimmo's Stout	28		1048.2	1017.4	3.98	63.90%	300
1954	Bent's	Red Label Stout	26	0.04	1049.2	1017.8	4.06	63.82%	300
1959	Plymouth Breweries	Imperial Brown Stout	26		1045.1	1016.4	3.71	63.64%	350
1954	Charrington	Punch Stout	30	0.04	1047.5	1017.3	3.90	63.58%	1 + 18
1955	Devenish	Double Weymouth Sweet Stout	28	0.06	1042.8	1015.6	3.51	63.55%	400
1959	Devenish	Devenish	28		1042.2	1015.4	3.46	63.51%	350
1953	James Hole & Co	Castle Stout	24	0.06	1041	1015	3.36	63.41%	1R + 17B
1951	Birkenhead Brewery	BB Stout	26	0.11	1046.6	1017.1	3.81	63.30%
1952	Hope & Anchor	Jubilee Stout	28	0.06	1040.5	1014.9	3.31	63.21%	1 + 11.5
1957	Charrington	Punch Stout	30	0.04	1047.2	1017.4	3.85	63.14%	270
1959	Flowers	Table Stout	30		1043.3	1016	3.53	63.05%	250
1952	Hope & Anchor	Jubilee Stout	26	0.05	1040.6	1015.1	3.29	62.81%	1 + 10
1950	Hope & Anchor	Jubilee Stout	26	0.05	1040	1014.9	3.24	62.75%	1 + 11
1952	Groves & Whitnall	Red Rose Stout	26	0.07	1047.9	1017.9	3.87	62.63%	1 + 12
1951	Truman	Best Stout	22	0.06	1040.9	1015.3	3.31	62.59%	1 + 16
1951	Hammerton	Oatmeal Stout	23	0.07	1046.8	1017.6	3.77	62.39%	1 + 22
1950	M???? Manchester	Stout	24	0.06	1044.1	1016.6	3.55	62.36%	1 + 13
1951	Greenalls	Oatmeal Stout	21	0.05	1042.7	1016.1	3.43	62.30%
1950	H???? Manchester	M. Stout (HMS)	25	0.06	1047.2	1017.8	3.80	62.29%	1 + 14
1954	Plymouth Breweries	Brown Imperial Stout	25	0.04	1048.6	1018.5	3.89	61.93%	375
1952	Atkinsons	Punch Stout	24	0.05	1045.3	1017.3	3.61	61.81%	1R + 11B
1959	Joule	Royal Stout	28		1047.1	1018	3.76	61.78%	250
1959	Wrekin	MS Stout	28		1042.3	1016.2	3.37	61.70%	250
1953	Georges	Glucose Stout	28	0.06	1045.5	1017.6	3.60	61.32%	1 + 11
1959	Whitbread	Mackeson Stout	32		1046	1017.8	3.64	61.30%	400
1954	Calder	Scotch Stout	28	0.04	1040.9	1015.9	3.23	61.12%	1 + 14
1959	Boddingtons	Extra Stout	24		1043.8	1017.1	3.45	60.96%	325
1953	Charrington	Punch Stout	30	0.05	1047.8	1018.7	3.76	60.88%	1 + 15
1956	Deuchar R	Edinburgh Sweet Stout	30	0.04	1042.9	1016.8	3.37	60.84%	300
1954	Wilsons	Wembly Extra Stout	26	0.04	1044.3	1017.4	3.47	60.72%	325
1953	John Joule	Royal Stout	28	0.05	1046.3	1018.2	3.63	60.69%	1 + 16
1953	Camerons	Sovereign Stout	28	0.06	1047.3	1018.6	3.70	60.68%	1 + 15
1959	Butler, Wm	Black Satin Sweet Stout	29		1042.2	1016.6	3.30	60.66%	300
1959	Groves & Whitnall	Red Roses Stout	25		1047.5	1018.7	3.72	60.63%	250
1954	Whitworth Son & Nephew	Sweet Stout	28	0.04	1044.7	1017.6	3.50	60.63%	375
1954	Plymouth Breweries	Oatmeal Stout	25	0.04	1048.7	1019.2	3.81	60.57%	400
1959	Taylor Walker	Cannon Stout	29	0.04	1045.8	1018.1	3.57	60.48%	425
1952	Wilsons	Extra Stout	23	0.05	1043.7	1017.4	3.39	60.18%	1R + 16B
1954	Truman	Best Stout	24	0.04	1044	1017.6	3.41	60.00%	1 + 10
	Average		26.54	0.05	1044.7	1016.8	3.60	62.46%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Partnership opportunity

Calling online home brewing supplies, er, suppliers. I've a partnership opportunity.

It's all part of a dramatic development - possibly the most cataclysmic event ever - here at SUABP. Get in touch via the gadget thing if you're interested.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1955 Flowers IPA

I’m sticking with my 1950’s Flowers theme. There is sort of a point to it. No, not sort of. There is a point.

To show the full range of beers coming out of a brewery in the 1950’s. In some cases, it’s surprisingly few. Not at Flowers. They brewed at least nine beers 4 Pale Ales, and one each of IPA, Mild, Brown Ale, Strong Ale and Stout. Though, a bit like many modern English brewers, they had several Pale Ales of fairly similar gravities. One of which we’re looking at now: IPA.

I don’t know if this was a draught beer as well as bottled. But it looks very similar to a type I sometimes call “Southern IPA”. A couple of London brewers, at least, made one. Like Whitbread. Theirs from 1955 has the same gravity as this, 1034º, but is more highly attenuated and more heavily hopped*. Barclay Perkins brewed this type of low-gravity IPA, too. Though I’m not sure if it survived as long as 1955.

Talking of hopping, this is the most heavily hopped of Flowers Pale Ales, in terms of pounds per quarter. Which is the best way, as it takes gravity out of the equation. 7.5 lbs in the case of IPA, 7.25 lbs for Green Label and OB, 6 lbs for PX and LA. It’s not a huge difference, but it is there.

The recipe is uncomplicated: pale malt, sugar, malt extract and Goldings. Not a huge amount I can say about that, is there? No. 1 is a guess, as the log just says “invert”. There’s a touch of some sugar called DSI, too. No idea what that is.

Er, that’s it. Nothing left but to pass you over to me for the recipe . . . . . .

1955 Flowers IPA
pale malt	7.00 lb	93.32%
No. 1 invert	0.38 lb	5.01%
malt extract	0.13 lb	1.67%
Goldings 90 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 60 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.75 oz
OG	1034.2
FG	1009
ABV	3.33
Apparent attenuation	73.68%
IBU	36
SRM	6
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP007 Dry English Ale

* Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/122

DDR Beer Styles (part two)

I realised there’s lots more information in TGL 7764 that’s interesting. Well, to me. I can’t speak for anyone else.

We’ll be looking at some of the more technical aspects. Such as which ingredients, and in which quantities, were required for each style. And stuff like packaging, shelflife and pasteurisation.

Beginning with the ingredients, I can now see a difference between Deutsches Pilsator and Deutsches Pilsner Spezial: the latter contained slightly more malt. Unsurprisingly, low-alcohol beers like Einfachbier and Doppel-Karamelbier have minimal hopping, considerably lower than even Berliner Weisse. The Pilsners and Porter had the heaviest level of hopping. Again, not really a surprise.

The other ingredients are more intriguing. Quite a bit of white sugar in Doppel-Karamelbier. Sugar colouring – I guess some sort of caramel – in Einfachbier, Doppel-Karamelbier and Porter. Plus artificial sweetener in Einfachbier. Don’t think the latter is a particularly DDR thing. They did exactly the same in the West in that class of beer. Unlike in the West, Berliner Weisse had to contain at least 30% wheat malt in the DDR.

I can’t believe this is the first time that I’ve noticed the bit about Dekkera bruxellensis (another name for Brettanomyces bruxellensis) in Porter. In "Leitfaden für den Brauer und Mälzer" (Dickscheit , 1953) has a description of Porter brewing that includes a secondary Brettanomyces fermentation in wood. It says this isn’t necessarily how Porter was brewed in the DDR, but was the proper method for the style. That caveat had me doubting whether Brettanomyces was ever used. This seems to confirm that it was.

DDR beer styles
				lagering time (days)
	label colour	shelf life (days)	pasteurised?	standard	minimum
Einfachbier	brown	6	N
Weissbier	dark green	not specified	N
Hell	yellow	8	N	20	12
Schwarzbier	red and black	15	N
Doppel-Karamelbier	blue	30	Y
Deutsches Pilsner	light green	10	N	25	15
Diabetiker-Pils	white	30	Y
Deutsches Pilsator	anything	18	N	50	30
Deutsches Pilsner Spezial	anything	90	Y	50	30
Märzen	light grey	30	Y
Weißer Bock oder Bockbier Hell	wine red	10	N	30	18
Dunkler Bock oder Bockbier Dunkel	wine red	10	N	30	18
Deutscher Porter	carmine red	24	N
Source:
"Technologie für Brauer und Mälzer" by Wolfgang Kunze, 1975, pages 419 -  425.

Now some mostly packaging-related stuff. I love the way labels were colour-coded by style. If you think this is just a totalitarian thing, try taking a look at some modern beer labels. Pilsner ones are often green.

The life expectancy of bottled beer was pretty short. I can remember Eisenacher Hell being particularly unstable. Best to drink it on the way back from the shop. It didn’t matter too much because most beer was consumed close to where it was produced. And, as in the Czech Republic, people didn’t leave beer lying around at home.

The exception to this were the types that were pasteurised. And Berliner Weisse, for which there was no sell by date. As a naturally-conditioned beer, it could last pretty much forever. I’ve had bottles that were over 30 years old and still perfectly drinkable.

The lagering times look very short to me. Though I’m sure they’re longer than most industrial breweries now bother with. 30 days doesn’t seem long for Bock. Personally, I’d go for at least double that, preferably four times.

DDR beer styles
	malt kg/hl max	min hops g/hl	white sugar kg/hl max	sugar colouring kg/hl max	crystal sweetener g/hl max	salt g/hl max	special ingredients
Einfachbier	4.5	40		0.2	8
Weissbier	14.5	80					Min. 30% wheat malt, Lactobacillus delbruckii
Hell	17	180
Schwarzbier	19	230
Doppel-Karamelbier	10.5	40	6	0.35
Deutsches Pilsner	20	250
Diabetiker-Pils	18	300
Deutsches Pilsator	20	300
Deutsches Pilsner Spezial	21	300
Märzen	24	240
Weißer Bock oder Bockbier Hell	26	180
Dunkler Bock oder Bockbier Dunkel	26	150
Deutscher Porter	34	500		0.45		100	Dekkera bruxellensis
Source:
"Technologie für Brauer und Mälzer" by Wolfgang Kunze, 1975, pages 419 -  425.

Finally, I love this little note about what couldn’t go on a label:

"Fantasy names, which suggest a higher quality, such as:

Edel, Doppel (with the exception of Doppel-Karamelbier), Extra, Exquisit, das Feinste, aus bestem Malz und Hopfen bereitet, are not allowed."
"Technologie für Brauer und Mälzer" by Wolfgang Kunze, 1975, page  426.

There are lots of labels today that would fall foul of that rule.