Most “Historical-Tasting” AAL?

Unfortunately, I don't think beer really prefers any social-political divisions. It's an equal opportunity "lubrication."

 

Even if someone had beer from that long ago, the lens of time is probably going to severely distort their memory. Unless there was some extremely unique and unforgettable feature about the beer from back then. But any minor changes are just so much dust in the wind.

 

On the other hand, the flipside of free markets could be Swedish 1920s-1930s socialist temperance whereby a patron is allowed to buy no more than two 33 cl bottles of 3.2% abw beer before being cut off. By this system the beer drinker gets exactly what he pays for, but the government decides when enough is enough. I think most beer drinkers would prefer the (old) Bavarian system of having the volume and price dictated by a benevolent, or perhaps indifferent, government that wishes to keep the price of beer affordable for the masses while keeping the volume of a Maß the same.

 

“The American empties his glass very quickly, which he pays 5 cents for and which holds barely more than 200 ccm beer; normally the beer displays a 2 to 3 cm head of foam.”

The volume of 200 ccm makes me think of the Sham Pilsner glass; I have a couple of these from attending past beer festivals:



@jesskidden do you know when the Sham Pilsner glass was first manufactured? Would they have been around in 1893?

Cheers!

 

And the Bavarian politicians/bureaucrats would 'optimize' beer tax revenue by not limiting beer consumption. A win-win between consumers and government bureaucrats?

Cheers!

 

I'm pretty sure the classic US "sham pilsner" glass is a post-Repeal item. I'd guess that small glass described would have been a simply shell glass, but it could have been a stemmed glass or standard pilsner, too.

As the observation by the Austrian envoy's quote in @Crusader 's post notes, beer glass size and, sometimes, price varied greatly - region-to-region and bar-to-bar. Here's an interesting graphic from the Repeal era (Aug '33) from the New York Daily News of the average price of beer by state.

(I don't trust the info as 100% accurate or universal within a state, but it's interesting nonetheless. It also shows the "nickel" beer's return all hoped for didn't happen in most states.)


Also, growler prices ("to-go") certainly varied greatly (as did, of course, the volume of the customers' containers (buckets, pitchers, jugs) - some examples can be found on on my Pre-Pro Growler page.)

 

A person wanting to optimize tax revenue might want to look at the Swedish system of taxation versus the German system after all. As per a Brewers of Europe report, in 2018 Sweden brought in 425.28 million Euros in excise taxes on 448 million liters of beer produced, Germany brought in 655 million Euros in excise taxes on 9,36 billion liters of beer produced. So even though Germany produces 20 times more beer than Sweden it only generates slightly more than 50% more in total tax revenues.

 

Whiskey.

 

There are some theories that the saloon-brewed beers tasted like pre-distilled whiskey mash (no hops available), so you probably aren't far off.

 

Well, I don't know anything about video games but both the classic Stubby bottle and the Steinie (which seems to be the bottle in that pic) are products of the post-Repeal 1930s, created by glass manufactures in reaction to the success of the beer can - both bottles designed to be shorter and, in most cases, as a "One Way / Throw-Away" bottles, sold without a deposit.

 

You maybe thinking about Hec Ramsey starring Richard Boone.

 

Forgot about that one, but Garner was in Nichols.

And we can't forget Bearcats! with Rod Taylor.

 

If I remember right, Alias Smith & Jones had a couple episodes featuring the new-fangled horseless carriage.

Yeah, TV junky in my youth.

 

Thanks
I always wondered what this glass was for.
My wife picked it up at a thrift store. Volume is only 200ml and I couldn't figure out what Lowenbrau would serve in it.

 

FWIW I have always associated these smaller glasses with the corner bars in my area when I was a kid. I always just guessed they were 'good' for two reasons:

• The bar could 'advertise' cheap(er) draft beer prices
• The beer in that small of a quantity should be still quite cold for that last sip

I have only drank beer out of small glasses at beer festivals and they were typically only filled 1/3 - 1/2 full (which is a proper amount IMO if you choose to sample multiple beer brands like I did).

Cheers!

 

Damn. That's a very high RDF based on other info on US beers of that era. (As we've discussed...) the 1909 United States Brewers Association Yearbook listed the average US lager beer's RFD at 55.3% (draught) and 58% (bottled). Into the 1980s, average RFD hovered around just under 65%. 75% would sure blow my theory re: the difference between pre-Pro AAL and Today's out of the water...

In the US in the (roughtly) post-WWII-pre-craft era, the kinda "industry standard" glass of beer was in the 6-8 ounce range, as noted in these ads:

 

JK,

From prior discussions I believe you have the book: Beer From the Experts Viewpoint by Arnold Spencer Wahl & Robert Wahl (1937)’

Below is some information I exchanged with Patrik (@Crusader) via PM:

“The book: Beer From the Experts Viewpoint by Arnold Spencer Wahl & Robert Wahl (1937)

On page 168 there is a table entitled Composition of Nationally Known Bottle Beers previous to Prohibition. In this book they list the OG (Original Extract) and FG (Balling after Fermentation) in degrees Plato. It also lists the ABV. Below are some of the beers in the table and I calculated the Apparent Attenuation using a calculator on the Brewers Friend website:

Budweiser: 12.86 (1.052) 3.64 (1.014) 4.8% ABV AA = 72%

Schlitz Pale: 11.69 (1.047) 4.12 (1.016) 3.93% ABV AA = 65%

Pabst Blue Ribbon: 11.82 (1.047) 4.24 (1.016) 3.66% ABV AA = 65%

Miller High Life: 14.08 (1.057) 4.69 (1.018) 4.72% ABV AA = 67%

Blatz Wiener: 12.62 (1.051) 3.57 (1.014) 4,71% AA = 72%

Blatz Muencher: 13.81 (1.056) 5.39 (1.021) 4.39% ABV AA = 61%

Miller Muencher: 13.16 (1.053) 4.69 (1.018) 4.41% ABV AA = 64%

Pabst Bavarian: 14.70 (1.060) 7.02 (1.028) 3.71% ABV AA = 52%

There are more beers in the table than I listed above but this is what I was willing to ‘fat finger’ into this message.

Some general observations of the figures from the table (and my calculations):

Alcohol: The beers from the table were of moderate-low ABV. The highest value listed was 5.73% ABV but the vast majority of beers were below 5%.

Apparent Attenuation: Both Budweiser and Blatz Wiener had Apparent Attenuation values greater than 70% (72%) and these are values comparable to contemporary values (see Jack’s CAP below). Having stated that there were a number of Pale Lagers in the mid-60’s so there was some variability here. The beers with the lowest AA values were the Muencher/Bavarian type.”

So, it would seem that pre-Prohibition there were Pale Lagers which had higher attenuation (e.g., Budweiser) and there were Pale Lagers with a more modest attenuation (Schlitz Pale, Pabst Blue Ribbon) and the lowest being the non-Pale Lagers.

I know that some contemporary Dark Munich malts have a quite low diastatic power which can have an impact on wort fermentability if it is a significant portion of the grain bill. Maybe this was also the case pre-Prohibition? I so, that would be one explanation on why a Bavarian/Muencher style beer would have lower attenuation.

As to why Budweiser is more highly attenuated vs. Schlitz Pale (or PBR) I have no way of knowing. My guess would be a difference in the mashing regime (e.g., time and/or temperature differences).

Cheers!

 

Well to be clear Vuylsteke only mentions degree of fermentation, not what kind of fermentation, but with a number like 75% I have to assume it refers to apparent attenuation, since this value will be higher by default than the real degree of fermentation/attenuation number would be. The apparent attenuation measurement does not take into account the alcohol in the beer as opposed to the real degree of attenuation measurement and is thus higher (the alcohol makes the beer seem more strongly attenuated). I don't know if there's a handy conversion rate between the two however.

Speaking of yesteryear vs today, as per the Finnish alcohol monopoly the current Budweiser has an estimated original gravity of 10.9% and an abv of 5%, likely/obviously the beer is high gravity brewed these days and then diluted, but they calculate it based on the residual extract and the abv (I have asked them about the numbers and they've responded that they come from their own laboratory). That would make it have an apparent attenuation of around 86%. So still quite a ways away from 75% and a different beast compared with today.

I could see Budweiser anno 1900 having an abv of anywhere between 4.5-4.8%, in that ballpark, at 12% plato or thereabout (unless they also had separate recipes for regional vs export trade, bottle vs keg, which might complicate things further).

Basically what I'm saying is that I think it sounds like a reasonable figure, but I wouldn't make it a point to argue that every beer made back then had this exact degree of attenuation (especially considering how high degrees of attenuation, as far as I have been able to tell, were achieved in the secondary fermentation, lagering, as opposed to primary fermentation back then, with wildly differing cellar treatments possible for bottom fermented beers, on top of any differences caused by mashing schedules, grain bills and yeast varieties).