Medieval German Brewing

[Tanga]

So, I'm thinking about joining the SCA and going German because they had good beer and the hammered dulcimer (which is kinda like a small piano but you hammer the strings yourself instead of using a keyboard).

I've been googling like a teenage boy whose folks are away, but I just can't find much in the way of detail. There's some evidence that seems to suggest the earlier beers were ales rather than the preponderance of lagers that Germany has today - though of course some were lagers (which is where the lagering laws came from - ie you can't brew in summer - and so lagers are now the main beer type).

Latish in the middle ages various purity laws came through as well in the different regions - malt and hops only - many regions (not all though) only allowed barley malt.

This seems to indicate that beers in the later middle ages (1400s on) were similar to what we have now. Am I correct in this assumption?

PS - I realise the beers probably weren't as consistent and the kind of beer a region could make would have been dependant on the kinds of yeasts that were predominant in the brewery / local area. Does anyone have any more info on the kinds of beer in the various regions (now, but hopefully in the past as well?).

Cheers!

 

[brettprevans]

There's a fair bit of info in radical brewing by mosher mainly because there are a heap of beer styles that were lost once tge purity laws were bought in.

There is quite a bit of info around relating to styles of beers traditionally brewed around tge world due to water chemistry in the area etc.

I dint have any info at hand at the moment but if I come across any I'll post it up.

 

[Tanga]

http://www.radicalbrewing.com/rbabout.html - just had a look. How authentic are his old style brews - did he use old recipes, or did he invent new recipes using what he knew of old ingredients - if that makes sense.

http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/history.html - if anyone else is interested (or googling in the future) then this is a great read.

 

[brettprevans]

It's not so much the recipes it's the history that he discusses in the book then he gives a few recipes. They should be pretty authentic.

 

[Bribie G]

The main thing about medieval beers was that they were made with dark malts and probably had a smoky component, as malted grain had to be kilned over wood - coke (pure carbon not the drink) didn't come in until the Industrial revolution and this enabled pale malt to be produced, and ultimately Pilsener style beers. So you would have to go with strong dunkels, rauchbiers etc.

I hope you aren't going to go too far into the SCA as this might involve not bathing, lice, wads of sphagnum moss on a monthly basis in your case :huh: and a diet rich in porridge and wild birds cooked in interesting fats such as lard. However the 9% ABV beers would no doubt render you not Giving a f anyway
Medieval times were great for women brewers because most local production that wasn't controlled by the monasteries was done by ale wives :beerbang:

 

[Tanga]

It's not so much the recipes it's the history that he discusses in the book then he gives a few recipes. They should be pretty authentic.

Sounds interesting. I don't think I'll buy it (I'm not really that radical - 471 IBUs ) but the history part sounds awesome.

The main thing about medieval beers was that they were made with dark malts and probably had a smoky component, as malted grain had to be kilned over wood - coke (pure carbon not the drink) didn't come in until the Industrial revolution and this enabled pale malt to be produced, and ultimately Pilsener style beers. So you would have to go with strong dunkels, rauchbiers etc.

I hope you aren't going to go too far into the SCA as this might involve not bathing, lice, wads of sphagnum moss on a monthly basis in your case and a diet rich in porridge and wild birds cooked in interesting fats such as lard. However the 9% ABV beers would no doubt render you not Giving a f anyway
Medieval times were great for women brewers because most local production that wasn't controlled by the monasteries was done by ale wives

Yup - they got into selling it too - though mostly to each other.

I like that it's Creative Anachronism - so you can take what you want from it and leave the rest (like lack of hygiene) behind.

Do you know how dark the malts were? This seems to indicate that the terms were wheat beer, white beer, and red beer (the later 2 from barley - probably). I know there weren't the Kolch's, etc, but the beers couldn't have been too dark if the dark beer still looked red - though it may just have been relative I guess.

Though I like the sounds of a red smoky beer. It makes me think that I can get away with something similar to a JS Amber Ale =).

PS - Oh - and even if/when I do go AG, there is no way I'm doing it over a wood fire / stove and using my arm as temperature control.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ...0Mgfp6OoodD3sBh

 

[brettprevans]

White beers aren't really what today's white beers are. Google Devon white ale. Sone funky shit in that stuff and it's mostly tge suspended flour that gave it it's name.

 

[MHB]

Lager brewing (as we know it) is really a 19th century development, beer prior to that is mostly referred to as Alt beer (Old Beer) and was mostly Ale.
Even the first Reinheitsgebot wasnt enacted until 1512 (SCA only runs to 1650 IIRF) so I think you can forget about Lager and concentrate on Alt and Heff beers if you want to stay period.
Some very good information here: - German Beer Institute.

MHB

 

[brettprevans]

Now correct mr if I'm wrong but If memory serves Germany did do lagers as they had the right geology ie caves etc and thus could lager. So they did do lagers but darker lagers ie swartzbeir (yes my spelling sux arse).

 

[Tanga]

I've been reading that MHB - I was about 1/4 of the way down I think when you posted (still 1/4 of the way down) - it's great.

From what I can see they brewed lagers or ales depending on what yeast got into the beer - so probably (more often) lagers in winter and ales in summer. I'm guessing the lager strains were tastier (or suited the beer being brewed better) in many regions which is why they brought in the ban against summer brewing. In the areas where the ales were tastier (quite often wheat ales in those days by the looks of things) those states responded with the 'top fermenting beers' only laws.

Though some regions probably just went along with what the more powerful states decided, and stopped brewing perfectly good ales.

I can't help but be pleased that ales are the way to go though - it'll suit my (lack of) setup better. Though in winter I can brew lagers and it'll be perfectly period.

 

[Tanga]

Look what I just found:
http://mbhp.forgottensea.org/

His yeast research is especially interesting (even if you're not a history nerd), and seems to reinforce the idea that the reasons for the different specialities in different regions were because of the endemic yeasts.