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KOTTBUSSER 4 GERMAN PORTER 6 DAMPFBIER 9 ADAMBIER 7 KOYT 11 DANZIGER JOPENBIER 10 BERLINER BRAUNBIER 8 HANSLA 5 Prior to the unification of Germany, when the Reinheitsgebot applied only to Bavaria, the German beer landscape was incredibly diverse. One example of a pre-Reinheitsgebot beer is the Kottbusser. Assumed to be named after the town of Cottbus, this beer was brewed with barley malt, wheat, oats, honey and molasses, at strengths between 3% and 5% ABV. It would have been moderately hopped to feature the floral and spicy aromatics of typical noble varieties, with a crisp, almost lager-like fermentation profile courtesy of a clean fermenting ale yeast. The biggest ever game-changer beer style was the pale lager, first brewed in Bohemia and Bavaria, which inspired the birth of many other pale beer styles. However, before the lager revolution, English porters were king of the brewing world and were the beers that brewers around the world imitated. The German porter is such an example, although more closely resembling the early stouts of British brewers, at higher strengths (7-8% ABV) and heavily hopped for bitterness and aroma. Brewers would have used either lager or ale yeasts, depending on what ‘house yeast’ they used for their other beers. It is thought that the style morphed into what we know today as Schwarzbier. Translated as steam beer, the dampfbier is similar to the American steam beer (or California common) in its origin as a frugal beer brewed from available materials, but very different in taste. The dampfbier hails from rural Bavaria where weissbier yeast was easy to obtain and maintain, yet wheat was reserved for food. Resultantly a barley malt beer was brewed using weissbier yeast, and with very little control over the fermentation, producing a malty yet refreshing beer featuring some of the characteristic yeast derived flavours but at a less pronounced level. It is presumed that steam designation refers to vigorous fermentations taking place in makeshift village or farm breweries without temperature control. This style was popular in Dortmund in the 19th century, and was also known as Dortmunder Altbier. The beer featured an unusual combination of high attenuation (very little sweetness), heavy hopping and a pronounced sourness derived from bacteria. Typical examples would have been quite strong at around 9% ABV and would have been stored for up to a year to develop sourness after being fermented with a ‘top-fermenting’ ale yeast. This ancient beer from the Netherlands was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries and was exported to many neighbouring regions. The earliest records of the style describe it as a gruit, using herbs and spices for bitterness, as was conventional before the widespread adoption of hops. By the time the beer was experiencing its heyday, hops were commonplace and noble-type varieties would have been used to give this beer a relatively assertive bitterness and flavour. Around 50% of the fermentables were derived from oats, with wheat and barley malt making up the balance. The beer was generally a pale colour with alcohol in the range of 5 to 8% ABV. This is the weirdest of all the pre- Reinheitsgebot German beer styles. Spontaneously fermented and with an eye wateringly high starting gravity (1.230 SG!), this beer was allowed to ferment and mature in casks for at least a year during which time it developed a great deal of acidity from various bacteria. This acidity was less pronounced due to very poor attenuation, resulting in a very sweet and thick, almost syrupy, final beer of around 3 to 4% ABV. In fact, the style was also known as dicktbier (thick beer). Jopenbier would have mostly been used as a seasoning for foods, or a tonic to be added as flavouring to other lighter beers. The long, spontaneous fermentation would have introduced oxidation flavours similar to sherry or port. The name immediately suggests comparisons with the now revived Berliner weisse, and some similarities did exist, such as originating in the same city, being light in alcohol and being served very fresh. However, the Berliner Braunbier was an altogether different prospect. Although it was quite acidic, this was largely masked by a high finishing gravity. As the style evolved, sourness seems to no longer have been a feature. Instead the beer was served either as a sweet, lightly hopped version featuring extra caramels or sweeteners, or a heavily hopped bitter version. The brown hue was derived from malt kilned at high temperatures to produce a dark colour. The style was typically very light (around 2% ABV) and was transferred to casks while still fermenting, sold from street vendors or delivered direct to customers, who were then expected to allow fermentation to complete before consuming. Known by a variety of different names including Einfachbier, kofent or heinzlein, this was a very low alcohol beer (less than 1% ABV) brewed throughout Germany. It is referred to in literature as an old style from as early as the beginning of the 19th century, particularly in the town of Bamburg. This beer was brewed using the third runnings from a mash (after the first two were drawn off to make a standard beer) and was hopped, cold fermented with a lager yeast and served soon after fermentation. The beer was popular with poorer people who couldn't afford full strength beer, or those driving their horse carts back home from the pub. DEVON WHITE ALE 12 This strange English style really blurs the line between a refreshing drink and a food product, perhaps unsurprisingly since it was a long-surviving remnant of medieval brewing tradition. This beer featured a barley malt base, originally balanced and flavoured by the use of bittering herbs and spices (gruit). Instead of using yeast, a mixture of wheat flour and eggs was prepared and allowed to begin a spontaneous fermentation before being introduced to ferment the beer. It was likely drunk fresh and records indicate it was commonly prescribed to nursing mothers or as a treatment for colic or kidney stones. Probably not a style which will see any kind of commercial resurgence then. BREWER'S DOZEN 42 | Spring 2020 | ontapmag.co.za