Kulmbach area Export 1878 - 1893

I'm back with analyses from "Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel" by Joseph König. Sorry about the delay. There's a good reason.

I've been out in the internet fields harvesting modern beer details. Lots of them. Because I want to make some comparisons between 19th-century and 21st-century Lagers. And because I enjoy collecting data. It's addictive.  I'm building up an impressive set. Which I'm sure we'll have loads of fun with in future.

There's a decent set of beers from Kulmbach and nearby Kitzingen in "Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel". Enough to handle them separately.

I'll start with a note on colour. Some are specified as being Helles or Dunkles, but most aren't. However, it being Kulmbach, I'd assume most were dark. Kulmbacher was one of the early Lager styles which was imitated abroad (one of Heineken's early Lagers was a Kulmbacher). From what I can gather, it was darker and bitterer than Münchner.

Let's take a look at the 19th-century samples first.

Kulmbach area Export 1878 - 1893
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %	CO2 %
1878	Puszta	Kulmbach	Export Hell	Helles Export	1049.9	1015.3	12.40	4.49	69.34%	0.170	0.227
1878	Gebr. Christ	Kulmbach	Export Hell	Helles Export	1050.4	1015.1	12.52	4.58	70.04%	0.180	0.232
1884	Unknown	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1052.6	1020.2	13.04	4.19	61.60%	0.120	0.130
1878	Puszta	Kulmbach	Export Dunkel	Dunkles Export	1053.2	1018.2	13.18	4.53	65.79%	0.130	0.201
1884	Aktien-Export-Brauhaus	Kulmbach	helles Export	Export Helles	1053.6	1013.3	13.27	5.24	75.19%	0.132	0.140
1879	Kulmbacher Aktien-Br.	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1054.5	1017.4	13.49	4.80	68.07%		0.198
1885	Ehemann	Kitzingen	Export	Export	1056.3	1017.0	13.91	5.10	69.80%	0.210
1878	Export-Brauhaus	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1059.0	1016.0	14.54	5.59	72.88%		0.302
1893	Aktien-Export-Brauerei	Kulmbach	Monopol-Kulmbacher	Export	1059.2	1013.1	14.59	6.01	77.87%	0.203
1884	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Export	Export Dunkles	1061.9	1024.0	15.22	4.90	61.23%	0.153
1893	Aktien-Export-Brauerei	Kulmbach	helles Exportbier	Export Helles	1062.5	1014.1	15.35	6.31	77.44%	0.150
1891	Aktien-Brauerei	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1062.7	1015.5	15.40	6.15	75.28%
1879	Export-Brauhaus	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1062.8	1019.3	15.41	5.64	69.24%	0.200
1891	Aktien-Brauerei Streitberg	Streitberg	"Löwenbier" (nach Art des Münchener Exportbieres)	Export Dunkles	1064.2	1013.5	15.75	6.63	78.97%
1879	Ehemann	Kitzingen	Export	Export	1064.4	1017.5	15.79	6.10	72.83%	0.230
1879	Sandler	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1064.9	1018.2	15.91	6.08	71.96%	0.230
1879	Rizzi	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1065.5	1013.2	16.05	6.84	79.85%	0.270
1891	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	Export Dunkles	1065.7	1027.9	16.09	4.88	57.53%	0.137
1879	Pätz	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1067.5	1021.4	16.50	5.98	68.27%	0.260
1884	Aktien-Export-Brauhaus	Kulmbach	dunkeles Export	Export Dunkles	1067.6	1025.9	16.53	5.39	61.69%	0.180	0.189
1891	Unknown	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	Export Dunkles	1067.6	1023.0	16.53	5.78	65.98%	0.142
1891	Aktien-Brauerei	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1068.6	1026.2	16.76	5.48	61.81%
1879	Eberlein	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1070.5	1024.0	17.20	6.03	65.96%	0.280
1878	Aktien-Brauerei	Kulmbach	Export	Export	1072.9	1022.0	17.75	6.61	69.82%		0.300
1878	Unknown	Kitzingen	Export	Export	1074.4	1025.0	18.09	6.41	66.40%
1893	Aktien-Export-Brauerei	Kulmbach	dunkeles Exportbier	Export Dunkles	1076.9	1025.8	18.65	6.63	66.45%
	Average				1062.7	1019.3	15.38	5.63	69.28%	0.188	0.213
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

There'a a big spread of gravities. The weakest would only just about count as Export today. While the strongest are at Doppelbock level. Mmmm... not sure I can make any sense out of that.

Attenuation isn't as bad as it could have been. With a couple of examples even pushing 80%. The samples identified as Dunkles have a worse than average attenuation - 65.38%. Interesting, but I'm not sure how significant as I don't know how many of the others were also dark.

The lactic acid level is high again. I can't believe any modern Lager would be over 0.05% acidity. I've still not ween enough CO2 measurements to say anything sensible about them. Maybe I should start studying up on carbonation levels. What I can see is considerable variation, from 0.13% to 0.30%.

Now the modern Lagers. Again, they're from Kulmbach and environs.

Kulmbach area beers in 2014
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	bitterness
2014	Brauerei Reblitz	Bad Staffelstein	Reblitz-Räucherl	Rauchbier	1049.1	1012.1	12.2	4.80	75.33%
2014	Arnsteiner Brauerei	Seinsheim	Landbier	Export	1049.5	1009.6	12.3	5.20	80.70%
2014	Distelhäuser	Tauberbischofsheim	Kellerbier	Kellerbier	1049.5	1010.3	12.3	5.10	79.18%	25
2014	Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	Mönchshof Naturtrübes Kellerbier	Kellerbier	1049.9	1008.5	12.4	5.40	82.96%
2014	Privatbrauerei Kesselring	Marktsteft	Urfränkisches Landbier	Landbier	1049.9	1009.2	12.4	5.30	81.56%
2014	Göller	Zeil am Main	Dunkel	Dunkles	1050.3	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.43%
2014	Privatbrauerei Gessner	Sonneberg	Alt-Sumbarcher Dunkel	Dunkles	1050.3	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.33%
2014	Privatbrauerei Kesselring	Marktsteft	Urtyp Export	Export	1050.3	1009.7	12.5	5.30	80.82%
2014	Distelhäuser	Tauberbischofsheim	Landbier	Export	1050.3	1011.1	12.5	5.10	77.94%	22
2014	Distelhäuser	Tauberbischofsheim	Export	Export	1050.3	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.33%	22-23
2014	Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	Kulmbacher Export	Export	1050.3	1008.9	12.5	5.40	82.31%
2014	Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	Mönchshof Landbier	Landbier	1050.3	1008.9	12.5	5.40	82.31%
2014	Brauhaus Leikeim	Altenkunstadt	Landbier	Landbier	1050.3	1008.9	12.5	5.40	82.31%
2014	Göller	Zeil am Main	Kaiser Heinrich Urstoff	Spezial	1050.3	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.43%
2014	Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	EKU Export	Export	1050.7	1009.4	12.6	5.40	81.57%
2014	Püls-bräu	Stadtsteinach	Weismainer 1798er Kellertrunk	Kellerbier	1051.2	1011.2	12.7	5.20	78.11%
2014	Seinsheimer Kellerbräu	Seinsheim	Kellerbier	Kellerbier Dunkel	1051.2	1013.4	12.7	4.90	73.81%
2014	Seinsheimer Kellerbräu	Seinsheim	Rauchbier	Rauchbier	1051.2	1013.4	12.7	4.90	73.81%
2014	Kulmbacher Brauerei	Kulmbach	Tradition	Dunkles	1051.6	1011.6	12.8	5.20	77.51%	24
2014	Göller	Zeil am Main	Rauchbier	Rauchbier	1053.7	1010.8	13.3	5.60	79.98%
2014	Braugasthof Grosch	Rödental	Grosch Fuhrmannstrunk	Dunkles	1054.1	1011.9	13.4	5.50	78.02%
2014	Distelhäuser	Tauberbischofsheim	Spezial	Spezial	1054.6	1013.8	13.5	5.30	74.71%	26
	Average				1050.9	1010.6	12.6	5.2	79.11%	24.3
Source:
Relevant brewery websites

You can see not many are actually called Export. There's Dunkles, Landbier, Spezial, Rauchbier and Kellerbier in there. The ones called export cover a very narrow gravity range, from 12.5 to 12.6º Plato. Basicaly I've put together a set of beers stronger than Helles or Pils, but weaker than Märzen. That's not so unreasonable, is it?

As you'd expect, the attenuation is better than in the 19th-century samples, around 10 points higher at 79%. There's not one under 70%.

There's a fair mix of different-sized breweries represented. Kulmbacher being pretty big - 2,259,000 hl in 2013* - Braugasthof Grosch pretty small - 3,000 hl in 2013**.

People take the piss out of British cask beer all being in the range 3.6% to 4.2% ABV. But German Lager isn't any better. That's mostly between 4.8% and 5.4% ABV.

More Exports to come. Obviously.





* Brauerei-Addressbuch 2014/15, page 101.
** Brauerei-Addressbuch 2014/15, page 137.

German Export

Ha. Still not forgotten that it's German Month. A triumph of memory.

Just for a change, I'm not going to bang on about weird, forgotten top-fermenting styles. Today we're in Lagerland, looking at a beer that was once as mainstream as it gets. Export was for a large chunk of the 20th century, the best-selling type of beer in Germany. Until it went out of fashion and the German public's affection switched to Pils.

Export. The name has nothing to do with being shipped abroad. Like Lagerbier, Märzen and Bock, Export is an indication of strength. Export slotted between Lagerbier and Märzen in the strength hierarchy. At one time it would have been a minimum of 13º Plato (around 1052º). As it's popularity eroded after 1970, so did its gravity. Many current examples are barely 12º Plato (around 1048º).

As with those other gravity-related terms, Export came in a variety of colours. The classic Dunkles of Munich was originally a Dunkles Export. But as dark Lagers became more rare, the older distinction between Dunkles Lagerbier and Dunkles Export became irrelevant and fell into disuse. As usual, the style nazis have chosen a single variation - Dortmunder Export - as representing the whole style. Just ignore them and listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. Honest.

Almost forgot. At the time when Vienna Lagers were actually brewed in Austria, you also had amber Export. But these beers, as far as I am aware, disappeared yonks ago. Unless, of course, you count some of the higher-gravity amber Lagers brewed ion the Czech Republic.

Here's a pretty random selection of Exports from across the decades:

German Export
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	Acidity	FG	OG	Colour	ABV	attenuation
1884	Actien Brauhaus, Hanover	Export	Export	0.183	1014.6	1065.6		6.96	76.68%
1890	Aktienexportbierbrauerei, Kulmbach	Helles Exportbier	Export	0.15	1016.1	1064.6		6.31	75.02%
1890	Aktienexportbierbrauerei, Kulmbach	Dunkles	Export		1029.2	1080.4		6.63	63.67%
2004	August, Augsburg	Export	Export		1010.4	1050.3		5.20	78.56%
1930	average of 14 samples	Export Dortmunder	Export		1012.2	1054.0	0.73	5.39	76.44%
1901	Brauhaus Würzburg	Export Beer	Export	0.099	1020.9	1061.1		5.09	64.40%
1961	Dortmunder - Hansa	Dortmunder Urtyp	Export	0.04	1006.7	1053.7	9.5	5.88	87.52%
1890	Gebrüder Lederer, Nürnberg	Exportbier	Export		1020.4	1059.8		5.10	65.89%
1900	German	Export	Export		1018.1	1053.6		4.60	65.06%
1900	German	Export	Export		1019.1	1059.1		5.19	66.51%
1930	German	Foreign Export Beer	Export		1007.8	1048.0	0.66	5.20	83.03%
1930	German	Foreign Export Beer	Export		1009.0	1051.8	0.47	5.42	81.78%
1898	Hamburger	Export	Export		1012.7	1046.0		4.28	71.52%
1898	Hanover	Export	Export		1013.2	1050.7		4.70	73.10%
1884	Henninger, Erlangen	Export	Export	0.148	1013.8	1059.3		5.76	75.72%
1885	Kulmbacher	Export	Export		1029.8	1072.3		5.48	57.10%
1887	Kulmbacher	Export	Export		1017.5	1062.3		5.81	70.59%
1884	Kulmbacher Actien	Export	Export	0.18	1025.1	1068.1		5.39	61.56%
1879	Löwenbräu, Munich	Export	Export	0.23	1014.0	1055.5		5.25	73.76%
1901	Löwenbräu, Munich	Export	Export		1016.1	1054.7		5.01	69.48%
2004	Paulaner	Urtyp	Export		1008.2	1050.3		5.50	83.04%
1885	Pschorr, Munich	Export	Export	0.14	1017.9	1057.0		5.00	67.31%
1896	Pschorr, Munich	Export	Export	0.108	1024.0	1057.8		4.34	57.08%
1897	Pschorr, Munich	Export	Export	0.045	1020.5	1056.7		4.64	62.57%
1901	Pschorr, Munich	Export	Export	0.072	1017.2	1053.5		4.65	66.82%
1878	Robby, Nürnberg	Export	Export	0.21	1017.5	1054.3		4.71	66.49%
1885	Sedlmayer, Munich	Export	Export	0.18	1017.7	1064.6		6.13	71.29%
1879	Spaten, Munich	Export	Export		1019.7	1055.4		4.61	63.14%
1879	Spaten, Munich	Export	Export	0.19	1019.7	1055.7		4.68	63.33%
1890	Spatenbräu, München	Exportbier	Export		1015.5	1057.8		5.50	73.27%
1930	strongest sample	Export Dortmunder	Export		1014.3	1057.2	0.84	5.58	73.85%
1895	Thüringer	Export	Export	0.09	1013.4	1050.7		4.70	72.60%
1898	Thüringer	Export	Export		1009.0	1040.3		3.89	76.83%
1895	Tucher, Nürnberg	Export	Export	0.135	1020.1	1062.2		5.39	66.30%
1870	Unknown, Magdeburg	Export	Export		1018.1	1058.6		5.25	69.11%
1898	Unknown, Nürnberg	Export	Export		1020.0	1057.7		4.85	64.09%
1930	weakest sample	Export Dortmunder	Export		1009.4	1051.2	0.66	5.08	80.88%
1870's	Weihenstephan	Export	Export	2.00				4.05	0.00%
1870	Weihenstephaner	Export	Export		1018.9	1049.9		4.00	62.12%
1890	Weihenstephaner	Exportbier	Export		1025.9	1057.4		4.05	54.85%
1878	Wladschlösschen, Dresden	Export	Export	0.17	1014.8	1052.5		4.49	70.81%
1879	Wladschlösschen, Dresden	Export	Export	0.2	1018.5	1068.3		6.20	71.56%
2004	August, Augsburg	Festbier	Festbier		1011.6	1054.6		5.60	77.93%
Sources: "Bericht über die Entwickelung der chemischen Industrie während des letzten Jahrzehends" by August Wilhelm von Hofmann, 1877, page 382 "Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel" by Joseph König, 1879, pages 147 - 158 "Handbuch der chemischen technologie" by Otto Dammer, Rudolf Kaiser, 1896, pages 696-697 "Van Brouwerij tot Bierglas" by F. Kurris, Doetinchem, 1948, pages 26-27 brewery's website The 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830 Whitbread Gravity Book

You'll surely have seen that most are in the 1050-1060 range. Though there are a few quite a wide outside that range both above and below.

I always think of Export as the German equivalent of Mild. A grand old gentleman who's fallen on hard times. No wonder I follow its fate with such attention.