German craft beer

Good news for @boddhitree : Posted to Mahr's FB page...

@pixieskid - File under Traditional Craft - Germany.

 

It looks like Krombacher only has a pils in their line-up currently as far as pale lager beer goes, and no Export lager or the likes, so in that sense it makes sense for them to enter the Helles market with a maltier (I assume that it will be slightly stronger and have a higher stammwürze than their pils at 11.2) and less bitter lager (I'm also assuming that Krombacher still has 30 or so IBUs currently, since they say that the helles lager will be less hoppy than the pils).

 

A Mahr’s related story. I was at a local beer bar and on the chalkboard it listed Mahr’s Roter Baron and it was described as being an Alt in the beer menu. I have had many Mahrs beer brands but I have yet to try the Roter Baron (plus I thought it would be interesting to try a non-Dusseldorf Alt). I gleefully ordered this beer but my hopes were dashed when the bartender informed me that the beer just kicked. I found solace in drinking a bottle of Mahr's Ungespundet-hefetrüb instead. I will have to try the Roter Baron next time.

Cheers!

 

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you Beck's Oktoberfest.

 

Patrik, it is my understanding that Krombacher Pils has 24 IBUs (see link). I suppose this means the Krombacher Helles will be sub-20 IBUs?

http://hobbybrauer.de/modules.php?name=eBoard&file=viewthread&tid=9614

Cheers!

 

Patrik, below is a copy of a recent post by BA marquis. Perhaps German beers were dry hopped in the 1800’s but the ‘enforcement’ of the RHG stopped that practice in the early 1900’s?

Cheers!

“I looked at the "progressive Craft" section and the first thing I noticed was "Fun Fact : Thomas was the first person to introduce dry-hopping in Germany" which I very much doubt. I imagine dry hopping was being done before RHG spread its tentacles in the 1900s.”

 

Someone nuke Krombacher. Pretty please.

 

I finally have something to send you in trade! It's still on shelves around here.

For the sake of knowing, I tried it at a local bar a few years back (yeah, it's been around that long) and just about spit it out. Made me think highly of the every day Beck's.

 

PUKE

 

Indeed.

 

I saw that post and figured I should probably insert a caveat to my original post. If it is the case that dry hopping was specifically forbidden by RHG, then of course my hypothesis falls flat on its ass (since Bavaria, the cradle of Helles lager beer would have been covered by RHG since 1516). It really makes me curious to explore the sources listed. Intuitively I find the idea of dry hopped pilsners to make sense, in providing a point of difference from the reigning Bavarian lager beers. As in not only did it provide a strong bitterness from early boil, but also an aromatic hop flavor from the hops due to dry hopping (explaining the oft used description of vineous). But of course as of now this all remains a hypothesis and a theory.

The other explanation (apart from being a complete falsehood) would be that pilsner-style beer outside of Bavaria used dry hopping techniques, although again this is the first I've heard of it and I've read quite a bit about the history of lager brewing in Sweden without coming across a similar reference. It is mentioned again and again in the sources that Swedes had a hard time adjusting to the more bitter taste of pilsner beer compared to that of the sweeter Bavarian lager, but if the hop taste was not simply bone dry bitter but also aromatic and hoppy then perhaps this made it easier to enjoy or something. Either way this is something I will keep in mind in my future research into this matter.

 

Patrik, maybe somebody who is more expert on the history of Reinheitsgebot like @patto1ro will chime in. I recognize that the Reinheitsgebot was first instituted in 1516 but it is my understanding that changes were made to it over the years.

For example, below is an extract from the German Beer Institute (I know, a website not appreciated by some BAs):

“The 1516 Reinheitsgebot simply stipulated that only barley, hops, and water may be used to make the brew. The existence of yeast had not yet been discovered. The intent of the law was to keep beer "pure" by feudal decree, that is, to keep cheap and often unhealthy ingredients — such as rushes, roots, mushrooms, and animals products — out of the people's drink. In medieval times, brewers often used such ingredients to raise their profits by lowering their standards. The word "Reinheit" (purity), however, did not appear anywhere in the original text. It only started to make its appearance in German legal texts around 1918. Until then, the law was usually referred to as the "surrogate prohibition." In modern times, the purity law is part of the German tax code. It states that, in bottom-fermented beers, that is, lagers, brewers may use only barley malt, hops, yeast and water. Specifically, this rule forbids the brewing in Germany of lagers containing spices (as do many Belgian beers), corn or rice (as do virtually all mass-produced industrial beers in the rest of the world), sugar (to be found in many Belgian and British beers), un-malted grains (required for many Belgian and British beer styles), as well as chemical additives and stabilizers.”

Maybe sometime in the early 1900’s the practice of dry hopping became verboten?

Cheers!

 

I have never seen any evidence that dry hopping is or was forbidden. What the purity law says is that you may not add hop *extracts* post-fermentation. That is intended to stop the practice of dosing the beer with highly processed hop extract at packaging time to achieve consistent bitterness levels, as practiced by some breweries elsewhere.

 

I remember reading a long time ago (Michael Jackson maybe) that the Uerige Sticke was the only (or one of the rare) dry hopped German Beers. Anyone else remember that?

Was that the secret?

 

Below is from a presentation entitled German Brewing Practice dated 2008 (author: Steve Holle):

• Pellets allowed

• Extracts allowed if derived by natural

solvents like ethanol, CO2

• Isomerized extracts not allowed

• Hops allowed in kettle only (i.e., no dry

hopping)

It is my understanding that sometime post 2008 dry hopping was permitted.

Cheers!

 

Jeff, below is Matt Cole stated in his BYO article entitled Old-World Alt (he visited the Dusseldorf breweries to write this article):

"Sticke Alt is a more intense version of altbier. These “secret beers” are brewed stronger, are slightly darker, and are dry-hopped in the conditioning tank for four to six weeks. The result is a bittersweet, ultra-crisp ale with a fresh, flowery aroma. These traditional brews are available once or twice a year, usually in September and January. I was fortunate enough to taste Sticke Alt straight out of the aging tank at the Uerige brewery. It was possibly the best beer I have ever tasted."

As to whether Sticke Alt beers were the only German beers that were dry hopped, I have no idea.

Cheers!

 

I thought, officially nothing is forbidden, since the EU declared the German Reinheitsgebot, respectively the latest German beer law from 1993, null and void some years ago. The breweries just decided to stick to it voluntarily. I'm not sure about all that though, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Wasn't there also a lawsuit from Lausitzer Porter (which they won), that they may call their Porter (sugar added) beer?

 

Below is a post from herrburgess dated March 15, 2013. The statement of “It’s allowed now” refers to dry hopping, ergo dry hopping was not allowed at some prior time (e.g., 2008).

“It's allowed now.

Here's a quote from the Bayerischer Brauer Bund from 17 January 2012: „...dass das als Hopfenstopfen praktizierte Verfahren der Zugabe von Hopfenprodukten – mit Ausnahme von Hopfenextrakt – zur Abrundung des Geschmacks des Bieres nicht gegen gesetzliche Vorschriften verstößt” (siehe S. 6)”

Prost!