Jever - The German Pilsener

Even Stella used to be 33IBU, now 20.
http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/284.html

 

Access Forbidden

 

This is getting boring. Get an unopened case, and enjoy...

 

Tom and Jack, I got there through Stan's page. Click the "report suggests" to get there.
http://appellationbeer.com/blog/whither-the-german-pilsner/

 

Jeff,

Thanks for that!

I have read earlier papers by Dirk W. Lachenmeier on the topic of decreasing BUs over the past few decades.

I found it fascinating that in this latest paper he references a BA thread.

Reference 7 is http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...that-americans-invented-heavy-hopping.156096/

Cheers!

Jack

 

FWIW, Jever's US importer, Raven Brands, says Jever is 44 IBUs... http://www.ravenbrands.com/jever.html

 

So Jever is is 40 IBU +4/-5 depending on the data source. If someone has extra cash they can send some Jever in for IBU analysis. That would be one way to see what value it has today.

Edit - no Jever distributed here.

 

I found a few interesting aspects to the paper of “The trend of reduced hop-content in Pilsner-type beer in Germany. A change in taste?”

There was a paragraph where the authors provided some speculation on why the hopping amounts have decreased over the decades. That paragraph was concluded with a statement of:

“Clearly, a German Pilsner today is not what it was in the last century.”

In Figure 1 the IBUs of the Pilsners tested between 1983 and 2013 are displayed and the downward trend in IBU values is clearly demonstrated. I took note that between 1983 and 2000 there were 10 German Pilsners tested which had IBUS greater than 45 IBUs. So, in the prior century there were indeed Pilsners being produced in Germany which were very hoppy. One of the Pilsners had > 60 IBUs.

I thought it to be very intriguing that the authors commented upon the burgeoning craft beer movement in Germany to perhaps help ‘counter’ this ongoing downward trend in hopping rates:

“Hopefully the craft beer movement, with its experimentations in highly hopped beers, will increase consumer awareness regarding the hop content and quality.”

Cheers!

 

White Labs charges 38 bucks for IBU analysis. Somebody would need to send 2 bottles.

Any volunteers out there?

Cheers!

http://www.whitelabs.com/files/AnalyticalLabServices_0.pdf

 

Hopunions Alpha Analytics is $30.
https://www.alphaanalyticstesting.com/ibu/

Shipping would be more $.

 

We could pool some $ and make this happen. I am in. Anyone else curious?

Looking at analysis+shipping+purchase of a new 6 pack.

 

What about sending an email to Jever first? If they see this much interest in their beer they might provide more than a stock response. They must have a brewing chemist or QA/QC manager who would know. It could save you some money and trouble.

 

I'm really fascinated by how regional and almost "tribal" beer drinking still is in Germany. I was in a few German cities recently, and it was always abundantly clear where you were based on allegiance to a style or brand of beer. Which I guess sort of exists to an extent in North America, but it seemed even more clear-cut there. Hell, when I was Berlin, there was an advertising campaign to announce the arrival of a particular brand of Munich Helles lager to Berlin that basically traded on the regionalism (the tag being something like a picture from the 60s and a caption that read "Munich Helles in Berlin!? The Wall would have to fall before *that* could happen!").

 

Just to throw this out there- I seem to recall @herrburgess also saying that the gravity went down concurrent with the supposed IBUs. If that's the case, then the impact on how the beer comes across may be close to negligible in any event.

 

You remember correctly. He was pointing out that with the reduction in OG there would probably be a corresponding reduction in IBUs. I think what he was saying was that would be needed to maintain balance. He also thought the focus on just IBUs was misleading.

 

I will send them an e-mail. Then again, it would be nice to have independent analysis. I know of too many cases where a brewery says x, it is measured as y, and y<x.

 

Other parameters come into play. Jever also has about 75 ppm or more of sulfate in the water, giving it that dry lingering finish.

 

Sort of figured there might be other things going on.

 

BTW, forgot to mention, the comments were made in the context of a discusson of possible decline of IBUs in German Beers in general and so not specific to Jever.

 

No doubt there is strong regionalism in Germany, but the divide between Bavarian regionalism/culture is particularly stark and probably what that advertisement is referring to. There is some resentment in the rest of Germany that the entire world thinks Munich's Oktoberfest represents all of German beer culture, but in reality it is only reflective of Bavaria, which has very different and distinct history and traditions from the rest of Germany. I'll make up a similar example from Canada because you're from Ontario... imagine if the world thought the whole country of Canada was represented by National Patriots' Day celebrations in Montreal Quebec...Wouldn't you be a little resentful? Or a USA example, if everyone in the world associated the USA with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, I think there would be some regional backlash.

EDIT: I am by no means an expert on Germany or German culture, but this what I've heard and read. I don't know how regionally divided Germany is currently, but I imagine in a global world and economy these feelings have lessened since the days of that 1960's advertisement. If you want to know more about German regionalism you may want to inquire over on the Germany regional forum.