Tuesday 3 October 2017

German Export Dunkles 1878 - 1900

I’ve got a stack of analyses extracted from “Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel” that I’ve never done anything with. Time to put that right.

I’ve always had a soft spot for a Dunkles, myself. Or Lager Dark Mild as I like to call it. Though. Sadly, it’s been in decline for decades. In Munich, where it was the most popular style until WW II, it’s no longer universally available. It’s deeply unfashionable, just like Mild. Though there are pockets of popularity in Franconia.

But Dunkles wasn’t just Dunkles. Forgetting Bock and Doppelbock for the moment, it came in two major types: Dunkles Lagerbier and Export Dunkles. The difference between the two being their strength. Lagerbier being 11-13º Plato and Export being 13-15º Plato. Or so. There was no style police at the time, so these numbers are approximate.

The 39 samples have an average OG of 1058.2º, or 14.39º Plato. Which is about what I would expect. But there are a few outliers, notably the examples from Kulmbach which have a gravity more in line with a Bockbier. I’d expect that, as the Dark Lagers from Kulmbach were well known for being strong.

The degree of attenuation varies considerably, too. The average of 67% is about what I would expect. I’ve noticed that the attenuation of 19th-century Lagers was often quite poor. I’m more surprised by the ones over 75% than by the ones under 60%.

I'm shocked by how high the acidity of  most examples is. I'd expect a Lager to be well below 0.1%.

You’ll probably recognise some of the names as several of the still extant Munich breweries are included, like Spaten and Löwenbräu. I’d love to know what these beers tasted like. Probably right down my street: big, chewy, malty beers.


German Export Dunkles 1878 - 1900
Year Brewer Town Beer OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation Lactic acid %
1878 Puszta Kulmbach Export Dunkel 1053.2 1018.2 4.53 65.79% 0.13
1878 Unknown Nürnberg Export braun 1055.4 1018.0 4.84 67.48%
1878 Unknown Nürnberg Export braun 1063.4 1021.0 5.50 66.88%
1884 Aktien-Export-Brauhaus Kulmbach dunkeles Export 1067.6 1025.9 5.39 61.69% 0.18
1884 Henninger Erlangen dunkeles Export 1058.8 1014.5 5.76 75.34% 0.148
1884 Carl Niklass Erlangen dunkeles Export 1063.3 1020.0 5.61 68.40% 0.127
1884 Kubra Kyffhäuser dunkeles Export 1050.8 1014.4 4.73 71.65% 0.135
1884 Unknown Kulmbach dunkeles Export 1061.9 1024.0 4.90 61.23% 0.153
1884 Spaten Munich dunkeles Export 1049.7 1022.0 3.56 55.69% 0.099
1891 National-Aktien-Brauerei Braunschweig "Münchener" Export 1056.5 1017.8 5.01 68.50%
1891 National-Aktien-Brauerei Braunschweig "Kulmbacher" Export 1061.0 1020.2 5.29 66.89%
1891 Aktien-Brauerei Streitberg Streitberg "Löwenbier" 1064.2 1013.5 6.63 78.97%
1891 Unknown Kulmbach dunkeles Exportbier 1065.7 1027.9 4.88 57.53% 0.137
1891 Unknown Kulmbach dunkeles Exportbier 1067.6 1023.0 5.78 65.98% 0.142
1891 Bergische Brauerei-Gesellschaft Elberfeld Münchener Exportbier 1053.6 1011.0 5.55 79.48% 0.126
1891 Gambrinusbräu, Böhmisches Brauhaus Berlin Münchener Exportbier 1052.5 1020.3 4.16 61.33% 0.117
1891 Munkebräu Exp.-Br. Flensburg Münchener Exportbier 1052.4 1017.6 4.50 66.41% 0.151
1891 Exp.-Br. Bamberg Bamberg Münchener Exportbier 1057.2 1016.8 5.23 70.63% 0.173
1891 Gaardener Exp.-Br. Gaarden bei Kiel Prälatenbräu 1053.9 1011.9 5.46 77.90% 0.12
1891 Hansa-Br. Gesellschaft Hamburg Münchener Exportbier 1053.6 1015 5.01 72.01% 0.129
1891 Andr. Müller, Exp.-Br. Bremen Münchener Exportbier 1054.8 1010.3 5.80 81.20% 0.144
1891 W. Remmer Bremen Münchener Exportbier 1061.3 1016.3 5.85 73.41% 0.145
1891 Pschorrbräu Munich Münchener Exportbier 1056.3 1018.9 4.84 66.43%
1891 Löwenbräu Munich Münchener Exportbier 1056.5 1023.4 4.26 58.58%
1891 Leistbräu (Franziskaner) Munich Münchener Exportbier 1057.6 1023 4.46 60.07%
1891 Hackerbräu Munich Münchener Exportbier 1057.5 1020.1 4.84 65.04%
1891 Bürgerbräu Munich Münchener Exportbier 1057.6 1024.1 4.31 58.16%
1891 Metzgerbräu Munich Münchener Exportbier 1057.1 1019.7 4.84 65.50%
1892 Prschorrbräu Munich dunkeles Export 1058.6 1020.3 4.95 65.33% 0.162
1893 Spaten Munich Spatenbräu 1055.3 1015.3 5.20 72.33%
1893 Spaten Munich Exportbier 1056.2 1013.9 5.50 75.27%
1893 Aktien-Export-Brauerei Kulmbach dunkeles Exportbier 1076.9 1025.8 6.63 66.45%
1893 Weihenstephan Freising Exportbier 1056.2 1024.7 4.05 56.05%
1893 Henninger Erlangen Exportbier 1060.9 1022.6 4.95 62.89% 0.281
1894 Spaten Munich Exportbier 1060.3 1020.1 5.21 66.67% 0.180
1898 Unknown Munich Export 1055.0 1019 4.66 65.45%
1898 Unknown Munich Export 1058.1 1019.3 5.03 66.78%
1898 Unknown Nürnberg Export 1053.5 1016.9 4.74 68.41%
1900 Spaten Munich Exportbier 1058.1 1020 4.93 65.58% 0.160
Average 1058.2 1019.1 5.06 67.16% 0.149
Source:
König, J (1903), Bier in Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel by Joseph König, 1903, pp 1101 - 1156, Julius Springer, Berlin.


1 comment:

StuartP said...

Dunkles Export - just putting those words together gives me a thirst.