Part II, Section A: Understanding Beer Styles Flashcards
What are the 3 primary drivers in the development of beer styles?
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- Available ingredients
- Equipment
- Water (mineral content, hardness/softness)
What are the 4 secondary factors in the refinement of beer styles?
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- Technology
- Taxes and Regulation
- Culture
- Consumer appeal
When was the first known documentation of beer?
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The first known documentation of beer was
around 3000 B.C. with the Sumerians.
When and where were hops introduced into beer?
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Dubious Hops were introduced into beer around the year 1000 in Bremen, Germany.
Oxford Companion states: “The first recorded use of hops in brewing dates from 822 when Abbot Adalhard of the Benedictine Monastery of Corbie in the Picardy, in northeastern France, made a record stating that his monks added hops to their ales.”
In what part of the world did hops dominate and become the styles we know today?
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Beer gained popularity across Northern Europe
in Germany, Flanders, the Netherlands, and
England.
What 2 scientific instruments were adopted in brewing in the 1700s?
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- Thermometer
- Hydrometer
What major biochemical advancement in brewing happened in the 1800s?
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Single-yeast cultures were first used in beer in
the mid-1800s.
Production of beer using a single strain of yeast, as opposed to a mixed population, was first performed at the Gamle (Old) Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen in November 1883
By the mid-1900s it was the norm.
When and where was refrigeration first used in commercial brewing?
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Refrigeration was first used in commercial brewing in 1873 in Germany.
Oxford Companion: “In 1873 Carl von Linde, working for the Spaten Brewery in Munich, invented mechanical refrigeration.
What scientific biochemical study was published in 1876?
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Louis Pasteur’s “Études sur la Bière” (Studies in Beer) was published in 1876.
It had widespread effects across the beer world because it demonstrated the causes of beer spoilage and how to prevent it.
What is the Reinheitsgebot?
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Reinheitsgebot is the Bavarian beer purity law of 1516 issued on April 23, 1516, by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV.
It limited the ingredients allowed in beer to malt, water, and hops (yeast was not specified as an ingredient)
Calling it the ‘German Purity Law’ is a misnomer – it was limited to the Duchy of Bavaria.
Many beer styles from Northern Germany that used other ingredients were lost as a result of the Reinheitsgebot.
Even the part we think we understand is generally misinterpreted. In detailing the allowable ingredients, Wilhelm does not specify yeast, which has caused modern writers to assume he didn’t know about it. Not only is that wrong, but it leads us to miss an important element of the Reinheitsgebot’s logic. Matthias Trum, the sixth-generation family owner of Bamberg’s famous rauchbier brewery Schlenkerla, explains how we should actually understand that famous omission.
“The yeast is in fact not mentioned; that is correct.” Trum, who studied history while earning his brewing degree at Weihenstephan, points out that brewers of the day were well aware of yeast’s existence. “In the Middle Ages, they had a profession called the ‘hefener,’ so they knew exactly. The purity law lists ingredients, right? The yeast I put in there and I get more out of it. I harvest the yeast at the end and I put it into the next batch. And that was actually the job of the hefener.” It’s actually hard to imagine how they couldn’t have known about it. Why? Because after you brew, you end up with a fluffy layer of stuff at the bottom of the fermenter: “Zeug. Zeug was the German word, which is ‘stuff.’ The hefener’s job was to harvest the yeast from the batches, to press out as much remaining beer as possible, which was sold at a low price to the poor, and then the yeast was added to the next batch. You started with a smaller amount of yeast and then you ended with a bigger amount of yeast.” An ingredient, Wilhelm’s logic went, was something that stayed in the beer.
What did Prohibition do to the number of US breweries in the US?
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Before Prohibition, there were thousands of breweries in the U.S.
After Prohibition–by 1970 there were 89 breweries operated by 42 companies.
Where was Pilsner beer invented?
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Pilsner beer style was invented in Plzen, Bohemia, now modern Czech Republic
Where were Porter and Pale Ale invented?
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Porter and Pale Ale beer styles were invented in England
What was the decree of 1553, issued by Wilhelm the IV’s successor, Duke Albrecht V?
In 1553, therefore, Wilhelm’s successor, Duke Albrecht V, went one step further than the Reinheitsgebot: He forbade brewing altogether between the Feast of Saint George (April 23) and Michaelmas (September 29).
The Reinheitsgebot apparently hadn’t removed all problems with the wholesomeness of beer. This was long before modern refrigeration techniques existed and the beers were stored in cool caves as they continued to lager. But beers actually brewed in the summer apparently had problems being brewed in warm times.
This 1553 decree had enormous, mostly unintended, consequences for the entire world of beer. It not only cleaned up Bavarian beer, but it inadvertently also caused all Bavarian beers henceforth to be lagers, because all ale-making yeasts go dormant below roughly 7°C (45°F). Only lager-making yeasts are still capable of fermenting beer at cold winter temperatures. Also, because of Albrecht’s decree, brewers had to work overtime in late spring to make enough beer for the hot summer months, for which they made relatively strong beers, of perhaps 6% ABV, that would keep well. These brews of spring became soon known as March beers (Märzenbier in German)—forerunners of the modern Märzen beer style.
