Let's Brew Wednesday - 1885 William Younger B 50/-

Just a couple of degrees stronger is another subtype of 50/-. Often “B” stands for “bottling” in brewhouse names. Not sure that’s the case here, given that it was mostly racked into barrels and half barrels. Which suggests a draught beer.

Unlike most Scottish breweries, Younger wasn’t that into parti-gyling. And when they did opt for it, sometimes it was in a non-standard way. Such as here. This shared a mash with the S 50/- above, but the two beers were hopped and boiled separately.

Which explains how this beer is both much more heavily hopped and contains an extra ingredient: sugar. Not sure exactly which type of sugar, but let’s go with old lovely No. 1 invert. It could be something darker. Especially as there’s a note in the log saying “colour too high”.

A more usual three types of hops here: Kent, Spalt and American, all from the 1884 season.

1885 William Younger B 50/-
pale malt	9.25 lb	94.87%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.50 lb	5.13%
Cluster 90 min	0.50 oz
Spalt 60 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1044
FG	1016
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	63.64%
IBU	29
SRM	4.5
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

1980 DDR beer strength

The 1980 version of TGL 7764 doesn't list the alcohol content  of the beers. But, as it does give the OG and rate of attenuatio0n, it's pretty easy to work it out. Especially if, like me, you already have all the necessary calculations plugged into spreadsheet.

It's all much what you would expect. With Berliner Weisse around 3% ABV, Hell a bit over 4%, Pilsner around 5%, and Bock 6-6.5%. Compared to the West, the Hell and Weizenbier are slightly weaker. The other styles, however, are roughly in line with what occurred on the other side of the Inner German Border.

The bottom limit for Vollbier was lower in the DDR - in the West it was 11º Plato. A beer at the lower DDR limit of 10.5º Plato wouldn't have been allowed in West Germany, nor would extra. Beers weren't permitted to be brewed to gravities between the top limit for Schankbier (8º Plato) anf the lower limit for Volbier (11º Plato).

1980 DDR beer strength
Type	min OG Plato	max OG Plato	app. Atten-uation	min ABV	max ABV
Dunkel (Einfachbier)	5.8	6.2	65	1.93	2.06
Weißbier	7	8	75	2.70	3.10
Extra	8.5	9.3	75	3.30	3.63
Hell	10.5	11	75	4.13	4.33
Edel-Bräu Hell	10.5	11	75	4.13	4.33
Dunkel (Vollbier)	10.5	11	75	4.13	4.33
Schwarzbier	11.7	12.3	70	4.32	4.56
Deutsches Pilsner	12	12.5	75	4.75	4.97
Deutsches Pilsator	12	12.5	78	4.94	5.16
Deutsches Pilsner Spezial	12	12.5	78	4.94	5.16
Märzen	13.7	14.3	70	5.11	5.36
Weizenbier	11.5	12	75	4.54	4.75
Weißer Bock or Bockbier Hell	15.7	16.3	75	6.35	6.61
Dunkler Bock or Bockbier Dunkel	15.7	16.3	72	6.10	6.35
Deutscher Porter	17.7	18.3	64	6.18	6.41
Source:
1980 TGL 7764, pages 9 - 10.

 

 

1980 DDR beer ingredients

We continue our trundle through the 1980 version of TGL 7764 with a look at the ingredients allowed.

The hopping specifications are very different owing to the introduction of hop extract.  Meaning that the hopping rate can't be given in gm/hl any more. Instead, active bitter substances are specified. Not really sure what that means. But at least the relative hopping rates are still obvious.

Several new ingredients have been added, notably amongst the adjuncts, where rice grits and maize grits have appeared. 

On the sour side, there much of interest. Dekkera bruxellensis - Brattanomyces to you and me - is specifically mentioned. Also, that it was only for Porter. Interestingly, no restriction was placed on the use of Lactobacillus. You would have thought that was only appropriate for Berliner Weisse.

What was lactic acid being used for? Was it as a souring shortcut for Berliner Weisse? Or did it have some other use?

Berliner Weisse had to have a minimum of 30% wheat malt. While Weizenbier had to include at least 20%.

1980 DDR beer ingredients
Category	Type	kg malt per hl	Hops, hop extract expressed in active bitter substances g/hl
Alkoholfreies Bier	Aubi	11	9
Einfachbier	Dunkel	9	1.9
Schankbier	Weißbier	11.5	4.2
Vollbier	Extra	14.5	9.7
	Hell	16.2	8.5
	Edel-Bräu Hell	17.2	8.5
	Dunkel	17.2	8.5
	Doppe1-KarameIbier	10.5	1.8
	Schwarzbier	19	10
	Deutsches Pilsner	19.2	11.5
	Diabetiker-Pils	18	15
	Deutsches Pilsator	19.2	16
	Deutsches Pilsner Spezial	20.2	16
	Märzen	24	10
	Weizenbier	18	4.5
Starkbier	Weißer Bock or Bockbier Hell	26	8
	Dunkler Bock or Bockbier Dunkel	26	8
	Deutscher Porter	34	22
Source:
1980 TGL 7764, page 2.

Here's the full list of permitted ingredients.

4. RAW MATERIALS AND ADDITIVES
All raw materials and additives must comply with food law regulations,
Brewing malt according to TGL 17756
Hops for brewing according to TGL 26778/01
Hop extract according to TGL 34097
Unmalted barley according to TGL 25709/01
Rice grits for brewing according to TGL 23219
Sugar (sucrose) according to TGL 3070/01
Caramel according to TGL 36604
caramel
maize grits
Saccharin according to the 2nd pharmacopoeia of the GDR (2nd AB - GDR)
brewing water

Fermentation organisms:
Saccharomyces uvarum (carlsbergensis)
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Dekkera bruxellensis
Lactobacterium delbrückii 

Enzyme preparations:
Brewery enzyme according to TGL 29166/01
amylases
proteases
ß-glucanases

Organic acids:
Lactic acid according to TGL 24132
Adipic acid according to TGL 6964

Salts
Calcium chloride according to 2. AB - DDR
Calcium sulphate according to 2. AB - DDR
Cooking salt B according to TGL 21020/03
or rock salt according to TGL 21020/02

Stabilizing agent
tannin
silica gel preparations
tannin adsorbents
pepsin concentrate
papain
1-ascorbic acid according to TGL 20130
bentonites
1980 TGL 7764, pages 2 - 3.

 

1980 DDR Beer specifications

TGL 7764. What a wonderful document. It's certainly been a life saver for me. How many posts will I be able to wring out of it? Quite a few more. Starting here.

We've moved on to the 1980 version. There have been quite a few changes  Including the addition of several new styles. And the removal of several others.

The styles which have disappeared were all weaker, and mostly poorly-attenuated types: Jungbier, Braunbier, Malzbier. Einfachbier Hell and Malznährbier. Not such a surprise as these types of beer rapidly lost popularity after the war in both Germanies.

The new arrivals are more surprising. At the bottom end, there's Extra, which seems to be a lower-gravity Hell. Though it was a bit hoppier. Next is Edel-Bräu Hell. Which apart from having a lower minimum level of hopping, looks exactly the same as Hell. It also includes a word - "Edel" - specifically forbidden in 1960.

Two nre Pilsner variations have appeared: Deutsches Pilsator and Deutsches Pilsner Spezial. (There's another word forbidden in 1960.) Not sure what the difference between the two was, as the specs are identical. They were hoppier and a bit more attenuated than standard Pilsner. Pilsator was a cracking style. And included some of my favourite DDR beers.

Aubi - alcohol-free beer - seems very modern. I'm trying to remember if I ever saw it in the wild. Probably not, as Dolores didn't. Her comment was: "People would have said: what's the point in that? Why not just drink lemonade".

Really taking me by surprise were Märzen and Weizenbier. The former looks very similar to amber Bavarian versions. As for the Weizenbier, it's weaker than Bavarian versions, which are usually over 12º Plato. I've never come across any trace of these two types.

Finally, there's Diabetiker-Pils. Now this one was reasonably common. I know for sure that I drank at least one: Gothaer Diabetiker-Pils. It wasn't great. Then again, none of the the Gothaer beers were. My least favourite of the Thuringian breweries.

1980 DDR Beer specifications
					colour
Type	OG Plato	apparent attenuation %	CO2-content % min	Isohumulone mg/l	NFR	Brand
Aubi	6.9 to 7.4	30 to 40	0.38	22 to 34	max 330	max 0.8
Dunke1 (Einfachbier)	5.8 to 6.2	55 to 65	0.35	3 to 11	min 2375	min 12
Weißbier	7.0 to 8.0	min 75	0.6		240 to 410	max 1.0
Extra	8.5 to 9.3	min 75	0.45	25 to 37	max 330	max 0.8
Hell	10.5 to 11.0	min 75	0.4	18 to 30	max 370	max 0.9
Edel-Bräu Hell	10.5 to 11.0	min 75	0.4	13 to 30	max 370	max 0.9
Dunkel (Vollbier)	10.5 to 11.0	min 75	0.4	18 to 30	min 2375	min 12
Doppe1-KarameIbier	11.7 to 12.3	—	0.42	3 to 10	min 3275	min 20
Schwarzbier	11.7 to 12.3	60 to 70	0.42	20 to 34	min 4025	min 30
Diabetiker-Pils	11.0 to 11.5	—	0.42	25 to 38	max 350	max 0.8
Deutsches Pilsner	12.0 to 12.5	min 75	0.4	25 to 33	max 330	max 0.8
Deutsches Pilsator	12.0 to 12.5	min 78	0.42	30 to 44	max 330	max 0.8
Deutsches Pilsner Spezial	12.0 to 12.5	min 78	0.42	30 to 44	max 330	max 0.8
Märzen	13.7 to 14.3	min 70	0.42	20 to 34	1075 to 1325	3.5 to 5.0
Weizenbier	11.5 to 12.0	min 75	0.5	10 to 25	max 370	max 0.9
Weißer Bock or Bockbier Dell	15.7 to 16.3	68 to 75	0.4	14 to 26	550 to 1075	1.5 to 3.5
Dunkler Bock or Bockbier Dunkel	15.7 to 16.3	65 to 72	0.4	12 to 24	min 2125	min 10
Deutscher Porter	17.7 to 18.3	min 64	0.42	35 to 50	min 4025	min 30
Source:
1980 TGL 7764, pages 9 - 10.

Let's Brew - 1885 William Younger S 50/-

There’s quite a big jump up to the next beer. A variation on 50/-. Younger loved having subversions of beers, with a prefix or a suffix added.

What does the S stand for? Scotch, possibly. Which could account for the low level of hopping. Because that is much lower than in straight 50/-. Not quite 4 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared to 6 lbs.

It definitely looks like this was an exclusively bottled beer. Every last drop was packaged into hogsheads. A sure sign that it was destined for bottling.

Three types of base malt made up the grist: Smyrna, Scots and French. That’s where the barley was grown, all of it would have been malted in the UK.

Here’s the really odd bit: there’s just a single type of hops. Kent from the 1884 crop. Most of Younger’s beers contained at least three, if not more, types of hops. Note that this was one of their few beers which wasn’t dry hopped. 

1885 William Younger S 50/-
pale malt	9.75 lb	100.00%
Fuggles 90 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
OG	1042
FG	1018
ABV	3.18
Apparent attenuation	57.14%
IBU	12
SRM	4
Mash at	157º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

1966 DDR malt specifications

Here we are with some more malt specifications. With lots od different number, most of which, to be honest, I don't understand.

The specs aren't identical to those of 1953. For example, the extract of wheat malt has increased from 79% to over 80%. Kara-Pils has also increased while Kara-Münch has declined.

Saccharification times have also changed. Munich malt has been reduced from 20 to 30 minutes.

Diastatic power is only required for Pilsner, Munich and Melanoidin malt. Most of the darker darker malts have no requirement to have any diastatic power.

1966 DDR malt specifications
Type	Water content %		Saccharification time	Extract content % in dry matter		Resolution		Degree of protein dissolution according to Kolbach	Diastatic power according to Windisch-Kolbach
	max	base value	min	minimum	base value	Yield difference	Hartong number (HZ) minimum		min
Pilsner malt	5	4.5	10 to 15	79.5	80	2.5 to 3.8	5	36 to 42	200
Münchner-Malz			15 to 25	77.5	78			no requirements	80
Melanoidin malt	5.5	5	max 25				no requirements
Kara-Pils-Malz			max 30			no requirements			no requirements
Kara-Hell-Malz			no requirements	74.5	75
Kara-Münch-Malz				69.5	70
Farb-Malz				59.5	60
Wheat malt	5.3	4.8	max 15	83.5	84	2.5 to 3.8	5
Source:
1966 TGL 17756 page 3.

 

 

1966 DDR malt characteristics

Aren't you lot lucky? More details about DDR malt types. Something you never thought you'd need to know about.

There are still eight different types of malt. Just not exactly the same ones. Gone are Brühmalz and Vienna malt. And in come melanoidin and Kara-Hell. I'm guessing the former was replacement for Brühmalz

Not just the types of, also the specs for some have changed. Most notably Kara-Münch, which has become much paler. The 1953 standard was 40 to 90, which seemed high to me. Incidentally, they're using two colour scales again. Kara-Hell, Kara-Münch and Farbmalz are on the lintner scale, the rest Brand.

Kara-Pils has also become paler, ending up with the same colour as standard Pilsner malt.

Next time will be real fun. As this document has much more detailed technical specifications.

1966 DDR malt characteristics
Type	Flavour	Colour	Appearance of endosperm
Pilsner malt	malt-aromatic	0.16 to 0.25	pale, floury grains at least 94%
Munich malt		0.80 to 1.20	light brown, floury kernels at least 90%, occasionally browned kernels permitted
Melanoidin malt		3.0 to 6.0	golden brown, glassy
Kara-Pils-Malt	malty, not bitter and not burnt	0.16 to 0.25	pale, glassy
Kara-Hell-malt		5.0 to 14.0	golden brown
Kara-Münch malt		15.0 to 40.0	dark brown
Farbmalz	not bitter	140 to 180	dark brown
Wheat malt	malt-aromatic	0.20 to 0.30	pale, floury
Source:
1966 TGL 17756 page 2.

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1885 William Younger 50/-

Hold on tight. It’s going to be a long climb. Next on the strength ladder is 50/- (50 shilling). A little bit stronger than Table, but not much.

To me, it looks pricey for its strength 50/- a hogshead is 33.33 shillings per barrel. For that, you’d have got a beer of at least 1040º in England. Other than perhaps Harvest Beer, you really didn’t get anything under 1040º south of the border.

This was a parti-gyle with the Table above. No need for further comments on the recipe.

One handy feature of Younger’s brewing records is that they list which casks a beer was racked into. In this case hogsheads, half hogsheads and quarter hogsheads. Which tells me that it was destined to bottlers.

Interestingly, the Table in the same parti-gyle also went into barrels and half barrels. Implying that it was party for bottling and draught as well.

1885 William Younger 50/-
pale malt	8.00 lb	100.00%
Cluster 120 min	0.75 oz
Spalt 60 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1035
FG	1010
ABV	3.31
Apparent attenuation	71.43%
IBU	29
SRM	3.5
Mash at	156º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61.5º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

1953 DDR malt specifications

Yes, we're still in the wonderful world of DDR standards. Looking at some more malt specifications. This time rather more technical stuff.

Most of it won't come as much of a surprise.  Like the extract of Farb-Malz being lower than for other types of malt.

Some details are implied rather than specified. For example, the malts with no saccharification time specified can't have had any diastatic power. While the longer time for Brüh malt and Munich malt implies that they had less diastatic power than Pilsner malt.

The malt standards documents from the 1950s are pretty brief: just two pages. The equivalent document from 1966 is twice as long and includes handy details such as diastatic power and protein content. As you've probably already guessed, we'll be looking at that later.

1953 DDR malt specifications
malt type	water content % ±0.5	saccharification time minutes	Extract % ±0.5
Wheat Malt	5	10 to 15	79
Kara-Münch	6	—	73
Kara-Pils
Farb-Malz			60
Brüh malt		20 to 30	76
Munich Malt	5		77
Pilsner malt		10 to 15	79
Vienna Malt		15 to 25
Source:
1953 TGL 6841:1 page 2.

1953 DDR malt characteristics

For all you technical freaks, we get into the real meat of TGL 6841:1. With the specs of the different malts.

Don't you just love how well organised everything was in the DDR? Each type of beer and each type of malt had a legal definition. Perfect for keeping "innovative" brewers at bay.

This first table has some information about the appearance and flavour of the different types of malt. I'm surprised by how dark the Caramunich could be. Almost three-quarters of the way to Farb-Malz.And enormously darker than Munich malt.But all is not quite what it seems.

Two different colour scales are used in the table. Caramunich and Farb-Malz are on the Lintner scale, all the rest on Brandt. What the hell? All these obscure colour scales drive me nuts. I've some conversion from Brandt to EBC. But not for Lintner. If anyone has full conversions of these scales to something normal like EBC, I'd be very grateful.

The flavour descriptions are much as you would expect. But a bit heavy on negative rather than positive descriptions.

1953 DDR malt characteristics
malt	flavour	Colour	Appearance of grain interior
Wheat Malt	aromatic malt	0.20 to 0.35	pale
Kara-Münch	malty not very bitter, burnt or predominantly bready	40 to 90	dark brown
Kara-Pils		0.70 to 1.50	golden brown
Farb-Malz	not strongly bitter or burnt	min. 140	dark brown, not black
Brüh malt	aromatic malt	min 2	golden brown
Munich Malt		0.80 to 1.20	light brown
Pilsner malt		0.16 to 0.26	pale
Vienna Malt		0.28 to 0.40
Source:
1953 TGL 6841:1 page 1.

1953 DDR Overview of malt types

As threatened, here's a look at another DDR standard, TGL 6841:1 from 1953. It's for malt.

There were just seven types of malt specified. And one of those is wheat malt.

The only real surprise was seeing Brüh-Malz. Which I'm pretty sure is the same thing as "broeimout", which you may remember from various old Heineken recipes. A quick poke around on the internet indicated that it is still produced and is sometimes called honey malt in English.

"Honey malt is the best description for European malt known as ‘Brühmalz’. Its intense malty sweetness makes it perfect for any specialty beer. This highly versatile, multifaceted malt brings flavors of honey, bread crust, toast, pretzel, grain, and a hint of tartness. Great for adding depth and complexity to the malt profiles of styles like Märzen/Festbier, Bock, Dunkel, Altbier, Scottish ale, brown ale or mild ale, pale ale, and many more."
https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/gambrinus-honey-malt/

The rest are pretty much the base set of German-style malts. I'm guessing that Farb-Malz was mainly used in Porter. Probably not in Schwarzbier, though, as that didn't have a roasty flavour.

This list of malts will come in dead handy for anyone wanting to brew beers according to TGL 7764. Because these are the only malts allowed. They should be plenty, though, shouldn't they?

1953 DDR Overview of malt types
Type of malt	Commercial designation	Description
WZ	Wheat Malt	Pale malt made from wheat
KM	Kara-Münch	Malt made from malting barley, which is subject to a special malting process.
KP	Kara-Pils
F	Farb-Malz	Malt made from malting barley that is subject to a special roasting process.
B	Brüh malt	Dark malt made from malting barley
M	Munich Malt
P	Pilsner malt	Palemalt made from malting barley
WN	Vienna Malt
Source:
1953 TGL 6841:1 page 1.

 Next time we'll be looking at these malt types in more detail.