Question about Steam Beer

When US brewers of the time referred to domestic "Weiss" beers, they were talking about a US style of beer closer to Berliner Weisse rather than the weisse beers of Bavaria. The US weiss beer brewers, which almost always sold only a bottled product, were essentially a smaller, third segment of US brewing industry - after Ale and Lager Brewers. According to Wehl and Henius, apparently many US weiss beers used corn, rather than or in addition to wheat, as an adjunct.

(Sadly, most of the general reference material of the late 19th century refers to weiss breweries only in reference to their conflict with tax regulators. US beer at the time was taxed via actual stamps on barrels and kegs. Beer for bottling was removed from taxed barrels, but since weiss beer was never kegged, paying the tax was always problematic).

As for the Steam Beer of the Broadway brewery being described as "sharp" - I'd assume they were referring to high level of carbonation (commonly called "carbonic acid" at the time, after all). Despite various theories about the origin of the term "steam beer", most sources seem to agree that it referred to the very high level of carbonation from being kraeusened in the keg. The description of the steam beer brewing method even calls it "steam" in 100 Years of Brewing:

Most pre-Pro steam beer did use corn as an adjunct - even Anchor's was adjunct-brewed until Maytag reformulated it after purchasing the brewery.

 

Perhaps this will add some thought:
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/brewing-insights-open-fermentation/

And a little quote in addition:

 

For those interested in the history of Steam Beer there is an interesting article written by Roger Bergen entitled “California Steaming” that was originally published in Brewing Techniques (see link below).

Roger was of the opinion that Steam Beer of the past was brewed using:

· “The malt would have been primarily made from Bay Brewing barley, a unique six-row variety then widely grown in California (1).”

· “Either "roasted malts," presumably caramel and/or black malts, or caramel coloring were used.”

· “The use of adjuncts was probably uncommon.”

· “The hops used would have been almost exclusively California hops, primarily from the Russian River growing area…”

· Lager yeast fermented at warmer temperatures

Below is more detail on why he had the opinion that Steam Beer was an all-malt beer:

“The use of adjuncts was probably uncommon. Wahl and Henius were great advocates of adjunct brewing, which they felt was the key to chill-stable bottled beer (the adjuncts dilute the protein and tannin content). At the time, however, adjunct brewing was only about 30 years old, and most Eastern and Midwestern brews for local draft consumption were still all-malt. We have no reason to believe that conditions were any different in San Francisco in this regard, and brewhouses designed for raw adjunct use are on the whole more expensive and complex than the relatively simple plant most steam beer brewers would have possessed.”

To brew an adjunct beer a brewhouse would require a cereal cooker in addition to the other equipment to brew malt beer. Needless to say but the addition of a cereal cooker adds cost to the brewery:

· Capital to purchase the cereal cooker

· ‘Extra’ space in the brewery to accommodate the cereal cooker

· On-going costs for the energy costs of operating the cereal cooker

· Etc.

Cheers!

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/styles/2_1style.html

 

I'm sipping an Anchor Steam Beer. A really nice beer.

 

Good points. I think the necessity for brewers historically to brew with adjuncts in the US, due to the dominance of 6 row barley varieties, has been exaggerated in the process of rehabilitating the image of adjunct use in American beer. In explaining its use in beer from the 19th century and onward some have become of the belief, it seems, that it was impossible to brew beer with 6-row only. A more complete picture would include both all-malt six-row brewing, all malt 2-row brewing (depending on the local growing conditions), and 6 row combined with adjunct brewing, with the dominance of the latter corresponding with the growth in popularity of pale beers (and pale bottled beers especially).

 

And that air is cool, and sterile filtered I would think. Many breweries ferment in clean rooms with filtered air.
"Since all of our fermenters are open to the air, we have to maintain a very high standard of industrial hygiene in our brewery. Ales and lagers employ different yeasts and are fermented in separate enclosed rooms that are ventilated with filtered air. After each brew is finished, the fermenter is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before the next cycle. "

 

Yes. I was providing the link in case that shed any light on the steam beer brewing of the past as opposed to Anchor's setup.

 

Patrik, I have a differing view here.

I think it is entirely possible (probable) that the market for bottled beer drove the use of adjuncts. In other words some breweries made a decision to also provide their beers in bottled form. With bottled beer there was a desire to produce a clearer beer and that is where adjuncts were helpful. Once the brewery made the investment to incorporate cereal cookers in the brewhouse then this was available for the production of all of their beers: bottled and draft.

From my perspective it came down to a business decision to purchase a cereal cooker to produce more appealing product (i.e., clearer beer). Early on some breweries made this investment and some breweries did not choose to make this investment. Over time the overall market demand for clearer beers would have compelled more and more breweries to make the investment of a cereal cooker to meet market demands.

Cheers!

 

Well I think we view the impetus for the use of adjuncts the same way, of bottled beers driving the use of adjuncts, but the timeline here leaves a pretty long stretch of time when bottled beer was not available and later when it was only getting off the ground. It seems to me that bottled beer presented the brewers with an even greater challenge of providing a clear beer than draft beer. With draft beer brewers could opt for long storage times at cool temperatures, they could use clearing agents like isinglass or Irish moss, beechwood chips in the storage casks (depending on the heritage of the brewer of course) etc., all in an effort to put out a clear beer which would stay clear for an acceptable amount of time until it was consumed. It seems to me as if the modern day relationship of draft to bottled beer visavi freshness also applied to back then, only the shelf life of bottled beer was alot closer to that of draft beer. In order to aid the shelf life and stability of bottled beer, adjuncts provided a great help. But it is my understanding that for all intents and purposes, 6 row barley could serve its purpose in providing an acceptably clear beer which would remain clear for an acceptably long enough period of time, for its time, even if 2-row was superior in this respect.

 

I started drinking Anchor Steam in 1972 and I clearly remember that quite often the beer was cloudy and had quite a "bite" compared to the AAL's available then. I don't recall it as sour, but far more bitter than the others.

 

Maybe @jesskidden can provide some input here?

In the late 1800's to early 1900's what was the principle serving vessel for draft beer at American bars/saloons? Were they clear glasses and were the consumers demanding of clear beers served on draft? Was there a differing expectation for consumers of bottled beers? Would those customers open those bottled beer and pour them in glasses and subsequently have an expectation of a non-hazy beer?

At what point in American beer history was there an expectation that both draft and bottled beer be clear vs. hazy?

Cheers!

 

Your post reminded me of a passage from Dave Miller's Complete Handbook of Home Brewing (1988), which I will quote just to show how far we've come. Fwiw, he seems to agree with you that the bitterness really made Anchor Steam stand out:
" An interesting relative of IPA is the American west coast specialty known as steam beer. It is made by a unique fermentation system using lager yeast, but blind tastings have repeatedly shown that it is a dead ringer for an IPA, with the same deep amber color, strong note of caramel, and strong hop bitterness and aroma. I have given a recipe for an all-malt IPA which, if fermented with lager yeast, can be called a steam beer."

Anchor seems to have made the first IPL as well .

 

Holy cow. If anyone here claimed Anchor Steam was a dead ringer for an IPA, he/she would be eaten alive. Things are certainly not set in stone.

 

Back then something like Bass would be what he was comparing it to, especially if you consider the description about the color and caramel presence; hopping rates, too, in a sense. Perhaps the 'dumbed down' Ballantine IPA as well.

But you are correct, of course- we, as a group, are becoming overly parochial with how we see IPAs as being strictly a modern American style these days.

 

Just finished a Brotherhood Steam variation from Anchor that a friend gave me. It's a nice, brighter twist Anchor Steam.