New cover for the 1919 Beer Style Guide

The title says it all, really.

Lexxie was short of a few bob over the weekend. Seemed like a good chance to replace one of the last crappy old covers that I designed. Have to take advantage of his art services while I can. Never know when he might become wealthy.

What esle do I have to say (tea awaits)? I know:

buy my books!

Belgian Brewing in WW II

I can't believe I've never used this article. It ticks so many boxes. More proof that I've more material than I can cope with.

It was written by De Clerq, a distinguished Belgian brewer and writer. First he describes the situation in the early part of the 20th century.

"Before the first world war, there were many breweries in Belgium, more than 3,000. Beer consumption was very heavy, more than 200 litres per inhabitant per year (44 gallons). Almost exclusively top fermentation beer was brewed and sold in barrels. A few breweries started making lager beer; their products were more regular; they gained in the favour of the public and soon these breweries grew to become very large ones. In between the two world wars, two-thirds of the breweries disappeared and it was chiefly the bottom fermentation breweries that extended. The consumers lost their taste for the flat draught beer and the top fermentation brewers readjusted their methods by conditioning their ales; so doing they succeeded in competing successfully with the lager type. The flat draught beers disappeared completely."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing Volume 55, Issue 5, 1949, page 291.

Belgium had crazy numbers of breweries before WW I. As did the bit of France bordering it. Exactly where most of the fighting on the Western Front took place. War damage and German looting of copper put lots of breweries out of action. Many never reopened.

What does he mean by "conditioning their ales"? Some sort of lagering? Were Belgian brewers doing something similar to their American counterparts? It sounds like they were replacing cask-conditioned beers with filtered and carbonated ones. Depressing the way De Clerq nmakes that sound like progress. You can see that Belgium came to bottom fermentation quite late - only between the wars.

Now something about WW II:

"Beer prices going up steadily because of continuous rise in taxation, the consumption per capita fell to 175 litres (about a barrel). The sale of bottled beer grew continuously. During the last war beer became necessarily very weak as the shortage of malt was severe, gravities ranging from 2.4 to 4.7 per cent. extract (sp. gr. 1.009-1.019). The small quantities of malt brewers had at their disposal were not sufficient to provide these gravities and it was necessary to look for other materials. At first, sugar was used, but these supplies soon ran out and finally beetroot was the only material available. The beet was cut in strips, dried on a kiln and then ground, so as to get grits or flour. For those light beers, beetroot gave reasonable results. A simple extraction was sufficient and very often beers were brewed with 50 per cent, malt and 50 per cent, beetroot. Fermentations were good and the foam on the beer was firm and persistent. Even today, certain breweries still use beetroots, because this material gives a good head, perhaps through the pectin it contains. This pectin often produced a persistent turbidity in the tanks, but the flavour of the beetroot was not noticeable, because the beers were so light that they did not, in fact, contain much of this material.

In order to give a pleasant flavour to these war beers, the brewers used chiefly sweetening products, colour and hops, which were still plentiful, but the latter could easily produce an astringent taste in the light beers. Vinegar was also used. In Belgium the sour beers, like Lambic, still meet with a certain favour and blendings were made of Lambic with ordinary beer. As there was no Lambic left during the war, beer-vinegar was manufactured to take its place. Notwithstanding all these efforts to keep one flavour, if nothing else, in the beer, the consumption dropped to one half of the pre-war figure."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing Volume 55, Issue 5, 1949, pages 291 - 292.

1009 to 1019 even weaker than British beer got during WW I. Isn't that fascinating about the use of beetroot? No reason why you shouldn't, I suppose. It's as good a source of starch as anything else. But I would have thought the colour might have been a problem. Beetroot stains like buggery, as i'm sure you know. I wonder if there's still anyone using beetroot for head retention? I doubt it. Making a beetroot war beer might be fun. Though I suspect professional brewers might take some persuading.

There are those who would argue that Lambic is beer vinegar. Why did Lambic run out? Maybe they didn't make any after 1940. A low-gravity beetroot Lambic probably wouldn't work.

It may sound odd ending up with a surplus of hops, but that happened in Britain in WW I. As beers weakened, fewer hops were required.

Now what happened after war's end.

"After these innumerable difficulties with which the brewers had to cope, all their hopes lay in the return of peace; but it turned out to be a deception. When beer came back to its normal gravity in the beginning of 1946, consumption went up, but the beer was too expensive, because the State had naturally raised the taxes and cereals remained very dear. The total of brewing materials used dropped to 70 per cent, of the quantities of 1938. Since, in Belgium, the excise duties are calculated on the weight of materials used, they are the only correct basis to appreciate the beer consumption. The beers remained, however, slightly lighter than before the war, so that it must be said that the consumption fell by 25 per cent. The reasons for this setback are naturally much discussed among brewers. The opinion is often expressed that the habits of the population have changed. In fact, more coffee, fruits and chocolate are imported into Belgium than before the war. Nevertheless, the principal cause must be the price of the beer, which is too high; indeed, considering the purchasing value, in glasses of beer, of the workman's salary, it will be found that it lost exactly one-quarter since before the war. This fall in consumption is the cause of a grave economic crisis in the Belgian brewing industry. The means of production being so important, and competition so strong, each brewer tries to keep his customers, selling the best possible quality at the lowest price. It is this crisis which stimulates the technical developments in the breweries; they are dominated by the necessity to manufacture at a lower cost without impairing the quality. Some of the innovations designed to achieve this will now be examined."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing Volume 55, Issue 5, 1949, page 292.

Brewers the world over love a good moan. Especially about being over-taxed. They were lucky to be able to brew full-strength beer again in 1946. In the UK gravity continued to fall. As this table shows:

UK average OG 1939 - 1952
Year	OG
1939	1040.93
1940	1040.62
1941	1038.51
1942	1035.53
1943	1034.34
1944	1034.63
1945	1034.54
1946	1034.72
1947	1032.59
1948	1032.66
1949	1033.43
1950	1033.88
1951	1036.99
1952	1037.07
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 50

Gravity never returned to its 1939 level.

It's true that Belgian beer consumption was lower after the war. But it had been insanely high. The only other place I can recall averaging over 200 litres a head is Bavaria. You can see in the table below that between 1930 and 1950 consumption per head almost halved. I can see why that would worry a brewer.

Belgian brewing 1900 - 1960
	1900	1910	1920	1930	1939	1950	1960
No. breweries	3,223	3,349	2,013	1,546	1,120	663	414
Production (hl)	14,617,000	16,019,000	10,408,000	16,099,000	12,488,000	10,140,000	10,110,000
Imports (hl)	149,000	272,000	201,000	228,000	65,000	97,000	378,000
Exports (hl)	5,000	9,000	47,000	10,000	7,000	5,000	205,000
Consumption (hl)	14,761,000	16,282,000	10,562,000	16,317,000	12,546,000	10,232,000	10,283,000
Consumption (per head)	221	219	143	202	149	118	112
Source:
"Het Brouwersblad" June 2004, p.6, p.7

Note, too, how WW I and the Depression whittled down the number of breweries. By the start of WW II two-thirds of them had disappeared.

There's plenty more of this to come. Unless I hear the siren call of Lager again.

Brewing in Denmark and Germany in 1960

I didn't want to let up on the Lager deluge while I was busy harvesting analyses. In the meantime I'll be plucking the plums from a 1960 article from the Journal of the Institute of Brewing about brewing in Germnay and Denmark. I don't know about you but I can't get enough of this stuff.

It was written by A. J. Mayfield of Truman. He'd won an award in 1959 and it seems to have allowed him to study in Denmark and Germany for a year. The article is a report of his studies.

First a quick introduction to brewing in the two countries:

"Introduction
In this study of certain Continental brewing methods, it was found essential to relate variations in procedure both to local taste and to the brewing laws prevailing in the areas concerned, in order to see how individual brewers satisfied local demands with the means at their disposal. Thus, Danish brewing, although founded on the Bavarian methods of last century, is now allowed far more scope in the matter of adjuncts and beer additives than is its German counterpart, and this provision is reflected in many aspects of the brewing process.

Classification for duty in the two countries is rather similar and involves a few well-defined groups of beers covering the whole gravity range, the tendency being for certain popular gravity types to be brewed at the top of the range allowed. The common beer in Denmark was at 1043° and in Germany at 1044°. German export beer, pale or dark, was generally at 1052°, Bock was at 1065° and Double Bock at 1075°."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 66, 1960, pages 494 - 495.

Though not mentioned there by name, the Reinheitsgebot dictated differences in German and Danish brewing practice. The Danes had indeed founded their modern brewing industry on Bavarian traditions and techniques. Carlsberg's first Lager was in the dark Munich style.

I'm not sure what the "common beer" in Germany was. 1044º is at about the bottom end of a Pils gravity. But in 1960 Export was the most popular style. I'm a bit flumoxed because the gravity is too low for Helles.

Now a little more detail about Danish brewing:

"Denmark
Malt adjuncts and soluble chill-proofing agents are allowed and artificial carbonation is practised. Maize was the usual adjunct, up to 30% being used, and tannic acid and enzyme treatments were employed in the lager tank and at bottling."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 66, 1960, page 495.

30% is a lot of maize. English brewers rarely used more than 10-15%, though William Younger in Scotland sometimes had 40% maize grits in its beers.

Now malting:

"Malting.— Malting barley consisted mainly of the Scandinavian varieties, Carlsberg II, Herta and Hafnia, with nitrogen contents usually 1.6-1.8%. Pilsner was the basic brewing malt, with the high diastatic power essential for maize conversion; values of 50-60° L. were normal. Extract (Congress wort) ranged from 98 to 104 lb. per Qr. and the difference between fine and coarse extract could be as much as 6 lb. per Qr., the resulting malt having a characteristic gritty bite.

The two major maltings visited (Carlsberg and K.B.) provided extreme variations in the production of this type of malt. One favoured a long cool process with 45-65 hr. in steep at 50° F. and an 8-day germination rising to 60° F.; the other preferred 40-60 hr. in steep at 69° F. and a 6-day growth to 64° F. Subsequent kilning was identical, with the temperature rising to 190° F. in 24 hr."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 66, 1960, page 495.

98 to 104 lbs of extract is very high. Somewhere in the 90's is the best I've seen in British brewing records. Though this is doubtless a lab extract rather than one from an actual brew.

Hang on. I've analyses of British malt from the 1930's. here you go:

2 row Malts in the 1930's
	Pale Ale malts		Mild Ale malts			malt from foreign 2-row barley
	Spratt-Archer	Plumage-Archer	Plumage-Archer	Spratt-Archer	Yorkshire plumage	Moravian	Chilean Chevalier	Bohemian Hanna
moisture %	1.5	1.8	1.7	2.1	2	1.8	1.6	2.5
Extract, lb. 336 lb	100.5	100.6	100.6	99	99.4	98.9	99.9	99.8
colour, 1 inch cell	4.5	4	6.5	6	7	6.5	6.5	4
cold water extract %	18	18.7	19.1	18.7	17.7	17.1	18.7	20.2
diastatic activity Lº	36	37	32	35	32	37	38	35
extract on dry malt	102	102.4	102.3	101.1	101.4	100.7	101.5	102.3
total nitrogen % on dry malt	1.342	1.314	1.322	1.4	1.469	1.518	1.48	1.52
PSN %	0.51	0.509	0.488	0.541	0.469	0.562	0.618	0.6
PSN % on total nitrogen	38	38.7	36.9	38.6	33.3	36.9	41.8	39.5
PSN % on total wort solids	0.67	0.67	0.64	0.72	0.65	0.75	0.82	0.79
Source:
"Brewing Science & Practice" H. Lloyd Hind, 1943, p. 254, 256 & 258
Notes:
PSN = permanently Soluble Nitrogen

You can see that the moisture content and extract are pretty similar to the Danish malt. The diastatic power of the latter is indeed much higher, by something like 50%. Doubtless the pale malt was darker in colour, too, than Danish pilsner malt.

You can probably guess what I'll say next. Loads more of this to come.

A load more Lagerbiers from the North

I'm a bit reluctant to say "North Germany" because many of these beers are from places no longer in Germany. They were at the time, though.

One of the columns in my enormous spreadsheet of beer details is country. For place that have switched nationality over the last century or so, my choice is always likely to be arbitrary. More based on my convenience rather than being a political statement. So breweries in Prague and Pilsen I class as Czech, ones in Vienna and Graz as Austrian. It can't possibly be perfect. Where's the right country to assign to Königsberg? Russia? I don't think so.

But I'm wandering off again. As you can see, these are odds and sods or anonymous. Not the best sets ever. You'll probably be delighted to hear that his will be the Lagerbiers done. I've only just started extracting the Exports so there may be a small pause in this series. You know me, I'll get to it eventually.

As I'll eventually get to discussing these beers. Beginning with those from Königsberg, formerly capital of East Prussia, now part of Russia. I wonder if there's a brewery there today?  All five beers from Königsberg are towards the top end of the scale. Interesting to see an Autumn beer - Herbstbier - for the first time. It looks like a Bock to me. With that crap degree of attenuation it resembles a Munich Bock of the period

Random Northeast German Lagerbiers 1880 - 1897
Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %	CO2 %
1880	Wickholder	Königsberg	März-Bräu	Märzen	1054.6	1019.0	13.51	4.60	65.20%		0.230
1880	Ponarther	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1056.3	1025.0	13.91	4.03	55.60%		0.250
1880	Woriener	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1056.5	1017.2	13.96	5.10	69.56%		0.180
1880	Schönbuchser	Königsberg	Sommerbier	Sommerbier	1062.0	1018.8	15.23	5.60	69.65%		0.190
1880	Schönbuchser	Königsberg	Herbstbier	Herbstbier	1065.4	1026.5	16.01	5.01	59.45%		0.240
	Average				1058.9	1021.3	14.52	4.87	63.89%		0.218
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Königstadt	Lagerbier Hell	Helles	1056.0	1015.7	13.84	5.24	71.96%	0.141	0.346
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Königstadt	Lagerbier Dunkel	Dunkles	1061.9	1023.8	15.22	4.93	61.55%	0.148	0.323
1887	Brauerei-Aktien-Gesellschaft	Berlin Friedrichshain	Lagerbier	Lagerbier	1065.8	1024.6	16.12	5.33	62.61%		0.295
	Average				1061.2	1021.4	15.06	5.16	65.38%	0.145	0.321
1894	Unknown	Breslau	Lagerbier?	Lagerbier	1045.7	1010.0	11.40	4.64	78.12%		0.247
1897	Unknown	Breslau	Lagerbier?	Lagerbier	1048.7	1014.6	12.10	4.41	69.99%	0.161	0.322
	Average				1047.2	1012.3	11.75	4.53	74.05%	0.161	0.285
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Talking of Munich Bockbier, there are a whole load of Salvator analyses coming up. Lots from Zacherl, but also other breweries.

Where was I? Königsberg beers. Pretty poor attenuation overall. They must have had a lot of body, these beers. No lactic acid number, so I've no idea how acidic they were. The Märzen actually looks much like a modern version, apart from the crappy attenuation.

Next three random beers from Berlin. Note the big difference between the attenuation of the Helles and the Dunkles. You quite often see that today, too, that Dunkles has a lower degree of attenuation. I suppose because drinkers expect more body. The acidity is, as with just about every other set, quite high. You'll see something very odd when we get to Berliner Weisse. But I won't spoil that now. The CO2 level is the highest we've seen. Does that mean they liked their beer fizzier in Berlin? Too small a sample to really say. Though Berliner Weisse, a very highly-carbonated style, was popular in the city.

Now for the Erfurt beers. Did I mention that I spent my wedding night in Erfurt? The next day we lost Eddie when he was distracted by a group of Russian soldiers. The Erfurt beer was really good. Angerbräu Pils was one of my favourite DDR beers. Lovely stuff, especially on draught, Really nice and hoppy.

Erfurt Lagerbiers 1879
Year	Brewer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lactic acid %	CO2 %
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1045.9	1010.6	11.45	4.59	76.91%	0.16	0.25
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1047.0	1016.5	11.71	3.94	64.89%	0.15	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1047.5	1014.1	11.83	4.33	70.32%	0.15	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1048.7	1013.9	12.12	4.51	71.46%	0.09	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1048.7	1015.0	12.12	4.36	69.20%	0.15	0.21
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1049.1	1011.5	12.21	4.89	76.58%	0.12	0.27
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1050.6	1016.4	12.57	4.43	67.59%	0.06	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1050.8	1017.6	12.61	4.30	65.35%	0.10	0.18
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.0	1019.0	12.66	4.14	62.75%	0.11
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.3	1015.3	12.73	4.66	70.18%	0.11	0.25
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1051.7	1021.2	12.83	3.94	58.99%	0.09	0.10
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1052.0	1013.7	12.90	4.98	73.65%	0.13	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1054.1	1015.6	13.39	5.00	71.16%	0.06	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1054.2	1013.3	13.40	5.31	75.44%		0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.2	1016.7	13.65	4.99	69.75%	0.15
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.4	1016.3	13.70	5.08	70.58%	0.11	0.10
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1055.5	1016.3	13.72	5.09	70.63%	0.10	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1057.5	1018.7	14.19	5.03	67.48%	0.09	0.20
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1063.7	1015.1	15.63	6.34	76.30%
1879	Unknown	Lagerbier	1067.6	1022.8	16.53	5.80	66.27%	0.09	0.08
	Average		1052.9	1016.0	13.10	4.78	69.77%	0.11	0.18
Source:
Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pages 1102 - 1156

Right, Erfurt Lagerbiers. There's a fair spread of gravities but, once again, the average comes out to about 1053. Attenuation, at just under 70%, is a bit worse than most other sets. Though for once, at 0.11%, the lactic acid content is almost reasonable. Interesting how much lower the CO2 content is compared to the Berlin samples.

As a special treat, here are some modern beers from Erfurt - including Angerbräu Pils:

Walhaus-Bräu, Erfurt beers in 2014
Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Waldhaus-Bräu	Helles?	1048.6	1010.2	12.1	5.00	79.03%
Stock-Dunkel	Dunkles	1049.1	1009.9	12.2	5.10	79.82%
Märzenbier	Märzen	1056.7	1015.9	14	5.30	71.95%
Weizen	Weizen	1050.3	1011.9	12.5	5.00	76.35%
Maibock	Maibock	1069.2	1020.7	16.9	6.30	70.09%
Rotbier	Rotbier	1049.1	1013.6	12.2	4.60	72.28%
Rauchbier	Rauchbier	1050.3	1011.9	12.5	5.00	76.35%
EM-Festbier	Helles	1048.2	1009.8	12	5.00	79.67%
Oktoberbock	Bock	1067.5	1017.6	16.5	6.50	73.98%
Doppelbock	Doppelbock	1076.2	1018.8	18.5	7.50	75.33%
Weihnachtsbier	Festbier	1058.8	1016.5	14.5	5.50	72.04%
Rauchbierbock	Bock Rauch	1067.9	1019.5	16.6	6.30	71.35%
Rauchweizendoppelbock	Doppelbock Rauchweizen	1079.3	1025.5	19.2	7.00	67.91%
Waldhaus WM-Bier	Festbier	1055.4	1015.4	13.7	5.20	72.30%
	Average					74.17%
Source:
Waldhaus website
http://www.waldhaus-erfurt.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=50

Braugold, Erfurt beers in 2014
Beer	Style	OG	FG	OG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Braugold Festbier	Festbier	1052.01	1007.6	12.9	5.80	85.39%
Braugold Spezial	Spezial	1046.95	1009.3	11.7	4.90	80.19%
Braugold 1888	Helles	1050.32	1011.1	12.5	5.10	77.94%
Braugold Hell	Helles	1046.11	1009.2	11.5	4.80	80.05%
Braugold Bock	Bock	1068.33	1018.4	16.7	6.50	73.07%
Erfurter Angerbräu Premium Pils	Pilsener	1050.32	1010.4	12.5	5.20	79.33%
Riebeck Premium Pilsener	Pilsener	1046.53	1008.9	11.6	4.90	80.87%
Braugold Porter	Porter	1048.21	1017.3	12	4.00	64.22%
	Average					77.63%
Source:
Braugold website
http://www.braugold.de/produkte.html

The degree of attenuation is far higher, with the exception of the Waldhaus Märzen and the Braugold Porter.

As I said, there will probably be a gap before the next set. I'll maybe fill in with stuff from an 1960 article of Danish and German brewing.