Historical Beer

Category 27. HISTORICAL BEER

• Category intro: The Historical Beer category contains styles that either have all but died out in modern times, or that were much more popular in past times and are now known only through recreations. This category can also be used for traditional or indigenous beers of cultural importance within certain countries. Placing a beer in the historical category does not imply that it is not currently being produced, just that it is a very minor style or perhaps is in the process of rediscovery by craft brewers.

Historical Beer: Kellerbier

Overall impression

• An unfiltered, unpasteurized, fully-attenuated German lager traditionally served from lagering vessels. May be a little richer, more robust, and rustic than the base styles. A fresh beer without fermentation defects associated with young, green (unfinished) beer.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Reflects base style. May have an added bready, yeasty character from the yeast. Clean. Pale versions can have a more robust hop character. Dark versions can have a richer malt profile.
• Appearance: Reflects base style. Can be somewhat hazy or cloudy, but never murky. Likely a little darker in appearance than the base style.
• Flavor: Reflects base style. May have an added bready, yeasty character from the yeast. Pale versions can have a more robust hop character. Dark versions can have a richer malt profile, but should never be roasty. May be slightly more bitter than the base style, and be a little heavier in the finish. Fully fermented with a clean fermentation profile; should not have eggy, buttery, apple-like, or similar flaws.
• Mouthfeel: Reflects base style. May have a bit more body and a creamier texture than the base style. Carbonation typical of the base style, but may be lower.

Context

• Comments: A traditional serving style more than a beer style, yet these beers do have sensory differences from the base beers. Judge these somewhat like Specialty-Type Beers; consider the range of kellerbiers based on Helles to Märzen to Dunkel to be a continuous spectrum, so allow the brewer to pick the closest one without being too picky about strict adherence to the base style.
• History: Originally referred to lager beer matured in the caves or cellars under the brewery, and then served from them. First applied to amber lager from Franconia, then later to local Munich styles. More recently used internationally to create specialty Pils variants. By tradition, a serving style for a popular summer specialty in Bavaria, but now adapted broadly as a marketing term for unfiltered lagers.
• Characteristic ingredients: Same as base styles. Traditionally naturally carbonated. Dry-hopping is not a traditional German brewing method, but some modern pale examples use this technique – which is allowable in this style as long as it is balanced. Traditionally lagered and unfiltered, these beers were never meant to be packaged for external sale.
• Style comparison: Richer or more robust than the base style, possibly with a bit more body and mouthfeel. Can be slightly cloudier than base beer.
• Entry instructions: The entrant must specify the base style: German Pils, Munich Helles, Märzen, or Munich Dunkel.

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Märzen – Faust Kräusen Naturtrüb, Mahrs Bräu aU Ungespundet Kellerbier; Dunkel – Engel Kellerbier Dunkel, Paulaner Ur-Dunkel Naturtrüb; Helles – ABK Kellerbier Naturtrüb, Löwenbräu 1747 Original; Pils – Giesinger Feines Pilschen, Ketterer Zwickel-Pils

Tags

• standard-strength, bottom-fermented, central-europe, traditional-style, balanced

Historical Beer: Kentucky Common

Overall impression

• A clean, dry, refreshing, slightly malty dark beer with high carbonation. Mild-tasting, with light toast and caramel flavors, served very fresh as a sessionable saloon beer.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Low to medium grainy, corn-like, or sweet maltiness with a low toast, biscuity-grainy, bready, or caramel malt accent. Medium to moderately-low hop aroma, usually floral or spicy in character. Clean fermentation profile, with possible faint berry ester. Low levels of DMS optional. No sourness. Malt-forward in the balance.
• Appearance: Amber-orange to brown in color. Typically clear, but may have some light haze. Foam stand may not be long lasting, and is usually white to beige in color.
• Flavor: Moderate grainy-sweet maltiness with low to medium-low caramel, toffee, bready, or biscuity notes. Generally light palate flavors typical of adjunct beers; a low grainy, corn-like sweetness is common. Medium to low floral or spicy hop flavor. Medium to low bitterness, no coarse or harsh aftertaste. May exhibit light fruitiness. Balance in the finish is towards the malt, possibly with a lightly flinty or minerally-sulfate flavor. The finish is fairly dry. No sourness.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-light body with a relatively soft mouthfeel. Highly carbonated. Can have a creamy texture.

Context

• Comments: Modern accounts of the style often mention lactic sourness or sour mashing, but brewing records from around 1900 at larger breweries have no indication of long acid rests, sour mashing, or extensive aging. These stories are likely modern homebrewer inventions, theorizing that since local Bourbon distillers used a sour mash, beer brewers must also done so. No records indicate sour mashing or even a sour profile in the beer; rather the opposite, that it was brewed as an inexpensive, present-use ale. Enter soured versions in 28B Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer.
• History: An American original, Kentucky Common was almost exclusively produced and sold around Louisville, Kentucky from some time after the Civil War until Prohibition. It was inexpensive and quickly produced, racked into barrels while actively fermenting, and tightly bunged to allow carbonation in the saloon cellar. Before the style died, it accounted for about 75% of sales around Louisville.
• Characteristic ingredients: Six-row barley malt. Corn grits. Caramel and black malt. Rustic American bittering hops. Imported Continental finishing hops. High carbonate water. Ale yeast.
• Style comparison: Like a darker-colored Cream Ale emphasizing corn, but with some light character malt flavor. Malt flavors and balance are probably closest to modern adjunct-driven International Amber or Dark Lagers, Irish Red Ales, or Belgian Pale Ales.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Apocalypse Brew Works 1912

Tags

• standard-strength, amber-color, top-fermented, north-america, historical-style, balanced

Historical Beer: Lichtenhainer

Overall impression

• A sour, smoked, lower-gravity historical central European wheat beer. Complex yet refreshing character due to high attenuation and carbonation, along with low bitterness and moderate sourness.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Moderately strong fresh smoky aroma. Light hints of sourness. Medium-low fruity esters, possibly apples or lemons. Moderate bready, grainy malt. The smoke character is stronger than the bready notes, and the smoke has a ‘dry’ character, like the remnants of an old fire, not a ‘greasy’ smoke. No hops.
• Appearance: Tall off-white head, rocky and persistent. Yellow to gold color. Fair clarity, may be somewhat hazy.
• Flavor: Moderately strong fruity flavor, possibly lemons or apples. Moderate intensity, clean lactic tartness without any funkiness. Similar dry wood smoke character as aroma, medium strength. Dry finish, with acidity and smoke in the aftertaste. Low bitterness; acidity is providing the balance, not hops. Fresh, clean palate, and slightly puckery aftertaste. The wheat character is on the low side; the smoke and acidity are more prominent in the balance. The tart, lemony, or green apple flavor is strongest in the finish, with smoke a close second. No hops.
• Mouthfeel: Tingly acidity. High carbonation. Medium to medium-light body.

Context

• Comments: Served young. Smoke and sour is an unusual combination that can be an acquired taste.
• History: Originating in Lichtenhain, in Thüringen (central Germany). Height of popularity was towards the end of the 1800s, and was widely available throughout Thüringen. Like a pre-1840 Berliner Weisse.
• Characteristic ingredients: Smoked barley malt, wheat malt, Lacto, top-fermenting yeast. Grists vary, but the wheat would typically be 30-50%. Can be made with all barley malt.
• Style comparison: In the same general historical lower-alcohol central European wheat beer family as Gose, Grodziskie, and Berliner Weisse; has elements of all of them but with its own unique balance – sour and smoke is not found in any of the other styles. Not as acidic as Berliner Weisse, probably more like a smoked Gose without coriander and salt, or a Grodziskie with Gose-like acidity.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Live Oak Lichtenhainer, Wöllnitzer Weissbier

Tags

• standard-strength, pale-color, top-fermented, central-europe, historical-style, wheat-beer-family, sour, smoke

Historical Beer: London Brown Ale

Overall impression

• A luscious, sweet, malty, low-alcohol dark brown ale, with caramel and toffee malt complexity and a sweet-tasting finish.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Moderate malty-sweet aroma, often with a rich, caramel, or toffee-like character. Low to medium fruity esters, often dark fruit like plums. Very low earthy or floral hop aroma optional.
• Appearance: Medium to very dark brown color, but can be almost black. Nearly opaque, although should be relatively clear if visible. Low to moderate off-white to tan head.
• Flavor: Deep, caramel or toffee sweet malty flavor on the palate, lasting into the finish, often with hints of biscuit and coffee. Some dark fruit esters can be present; relatively clean fermentation profile for an English ale. Low bitterness. Low earthy or floral hop flavor optional, but rare. Moderately-low roasty or bitter black malt flavor optional. Moderately sweet finish with a smooth, malty aftertaste. May have a sugary-sweet flavor.
• Mouthfeel: Medium body, but the residual sweetness may give a heavier impression. Medium-low to medium carbonation. Quite creamy and smooth in texture, particularly for its gravity.

Context

• Comments: Increasingly rare; Mann’s has over 90% market share in Britain, but in a vanishingly small segment. Always bottled. Frequently used as a sweet mixer with cask mild and bitter in pubs. Commercial versions can be pasteurized and back-sweetened, which gives more of a sugary-sweet flavor.
• History: Developed by Mann’s as a bottled product in 1902. Claimed at the time to be “the sweetest beer in London.” Pre-WWI versions were around 5% ABV, but same general balance. Declined in popularity in second half of 20th century, and now nearly extinct.
• Characteristic ingredients: English pale ale malt as a base with a large proportion of darker caramel malts and often some black and wheat malts (this is Mann’s traditional grist – others can rely on dark sugars for color and flavor). Moderate to high carbonate water. English hops. Post-fermentation sweetening with lactose or artificial sweeteners, or sucrose, if pasteurized.
• Style comparison: May seem somewhat like a less roasty version of a Sweet Stout (and lower-gravity, at least for US sweet stout examples) or a sweet version of a Dark Mild.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Harveys Bloomsbury Brown Ale, Mann’s Brown Ale

Tags

• session-strength, dark-color, top-fermented, british-isles, historical-style, brown-ale-family, malty, sweet

Historical Beer: Piwo Grodziskie

Overall impression

• A low-gravity, bitter, oak-smoked historical central European wheat beer with a clean fermentation profile and no sourness. Highly carbonated, dry, crisp, and refreshing.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Low to moderate oak wood smoke is the most prominent aroma component, but can be subtle and hard to detect. A low spicy, herbal, or floral hop aroma is typically present, and should be lower than or equal to the smoke in intensity. Hints of grainy wheat are also detected in the best examples. The aroma is otherwise clean, although light pome fruit esters (especially ripe red apple or pear) are welcome. No acidity. Light sulfur optional.
• Appearance: Pale yellow to gold in color with excellent clarity. A tall, billowy, white, tightly-knit head with excellent retention is distinctive. Murkiness is a fault.
• Flavor: Moderately-low to medium oak smoke flavor up front which carries into the finish; the smoke can be stronger in flavor than in aroma. The smoke character is gentle, should not be acrid, and can lend an impression of sweetness. A moderate to strong bitterness is readily evident which lingers through the finish. The overall balance is toward bitterness. Low but perceptible spicy, herbal, or floral hop flavor. Low grainy wheat character in the background. Light pome fruit esters (red apple or pear) may be present. Dry, crisp finish. No sourness.
• Mouthfeel: Light in body, with a crisp and dry finish. Carbonation is quite high and can add a slight carbonic bite or prickly sensation. No alcohol warmth.

Context

• Comments: Pronounced in English as “pivo grow-JEES-kee-uh” (meaning: Grodzisk beer). Known as Grätzer (pronounced “GRATE-sir”) in German-speaking countries, and in some beer literature. Traditionally made using a multi-step mash, a long boil (~2 hours), and multiple strains of ale yeast. The beer is never filtered but Isinglass is used to clarify before bottle conditioning. Traditionally served in tall conical glassware to accommodate the vigorous foam stand.
• History: Developed as a unique style centuries ago in the Polish city of Grodzisk (known as Grätz when ruled by Prussia and Germany). Its fame and popularity rapidly extended to other parts of the world in the late 19th and early 20th century. Regular commercial production declined after WWII and ceased in the 1990s. This style description describes the traditional version during its period of greatest popularity.
• Characteristic ingredients: Oak-smoked wheat malt, which has a less intense smoke character than German Rauchmalz, and a drier, crisper, leaner quality – a smoky bacon or ham flavor is inappropriate. Traditional Polish, Czech or German hops. Moderate hardness sulfate water. Clean, attenuative ale yeast; Weizen yeast inappropriate.
• Style comparison: Similar in strength to a Berliner Weisse, but never sour and much more bitter. Has a smoked character but less intense than in a Rauchbier. Lower gravity than a Lichtenhainer, but more bitter and not sour. More bitter than a Gose, but no salt and spices.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Live Oak Grodziskie

Tags

• session-strength, pale-color, top-fermented, central-europe, historical-style, wheat-beer-family, bitter, smoke

Historical Beer: Pre-Prohibition Lager

Overall impression

• A bitter and hoppy pale American adjunct lager, often with a robust, corny flavor profile, although more crisp and neutral-tasting versions exist.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Low to medium grainy maltiness. Low to moderate corn-like sweetness optional. Medium to moderately-high rustic, floral, herbal, or spicy hop aroma, not modern fruity or citrusy varieties. Clean fermentation profile. May show some yeast character, similar to modern American Lager. Low DMS acceptable.
• Appearance: Yellow to deep gold color. Substantial, long lasting white head. Bright clarity.
• Flavor: Medium to medium-high maltiness with a grainy flavor. Optional corn-like roundness and impression of sweetness. Substantial hop bitterness stands up to the malt and lingers through the dry, soft to crisp finish. Medium to high rustic, floral, herbal, or spicy hop flavor. Medium to high bitterness that is clean not coarse. No harsh aftertaste. Generally neutral fermentation profile, but some yeast character similar to American Lager is allowable.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body with a moderately rich and creamy mouthfeel. Smooth and well-lagered. Medium to high carbonation levels.

Context

• Comments: Sometimes called Classic American Pilsner. Rice-based versions have a crisper, more neutral character, and lack corn-like flavors.
• History: An adaptation of continental lagers by immigrant German brewers in the mid-1800s in the US. Became most popular by the 1870s, but weakened in strength, bitterness, and popularity after Prohibition, and was largely replaced by Standard American Lager. Resurrected by homebrewers in the mid-1990s, but few commercial examples exist.
• Characteristic ingredients: Six-row barley. Corn or rice adjuncts, up to 30%. Traditional American or Continental hops. Modern American hops are inappropriate. Lager yeast.
• Style comparison: Similar balance and bitterness as modern Czech Premium Pale Lagers, but exhibiting native American grains and hops from the era before US Prohibition. More robust, bitter, and flavorful than modern pale American Lagers, often with higher alcohol.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Capital Supper Club, Coors Batch 19, Little Harpeth Chicken Scratch, Schell Deer Brand, Urban Chestnut Forest Park Pilsner

Tags

• standard-strength, pale-color, bottom-fermented, lagered, north-america, historical-style, pilsner-family, bitter, hoppy

Historical Beer: Pre-Prohibition Porter

Overall impression

• A historical American adaptation of English Porter by German immigrants using American ingredients, including adjuncts.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Grainy malt aroma with low levels of chocolate, caramel, biscuit, burnt sugar, licorice, or slightly burnt malt. Low hop aroma. Low to moderate low levels of corn or DMS acceptable. No to very low esters. Diacetyl low to none. Clean lager fermentation profile acceptable.
• Appearance: Medium to dark brown, though some examples can be nearly black in color, with ruby or mahogany highlights. Relatively clear. Light to medium tan head, persistent.
• Flavor: Moderate grainy-bready malt flavor, with low levels of chocolate, burnt malt, burnt sugar, caramel, biscuit, licorice, molasses, or toast. Corn or DMS flavor acceptable at low to moderate levels. Medium-low to moderate bitterness. Low floral, spicy, or earthy hop flavor optional. Balance is typically even between malt and hops, with a moderately dry finish. Clean fermentation profile, but faint esters are allowable.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Moderate carbonation. Low to moderate creaminess. May have a slight dark malt astringency.

Context

• Comments: Also sometimes known as Pennsylvania Porter or East Coast Porter. This style does not describe colonial-era products.
• History: Commercially brewed in Philadelphia during the revolutionary period as an adaptation of English beer. Evolved later as German immigrants applied lager brewing methods during the second half of the 1800s. Prohibition ended most porter brewing in the US, except in a few regional Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states where it was most popular.
• Characteristic ingredients: Two row or six row malt. Low percentages of dark malts including black, chocolate, and brown malt (roasted barley is not typically used). Adjuncts are acceptable, including corn, brewers licorice, molasses, and porterine. More historical versions will have up to twenty percent adjuncts. Lager or ale yeast. Historical or traditional American bittering hops, American or German finishing hops.
• Style comparison: Smoother and less hoppy-bitter than a (modern) American Porter. Less caramelly and smoother than an English Porter with more of an adjunct or lager character. More bitterness and roast than an International Dark Lager.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Stegmaier Porter, Yuengling Porter

Tags

• standard-strength, dark-color, any-fermentation, north-america, historical-style, porter-family, malty

Historical Beer: Roggenbier

Overall impression

• A Dunkles Weissbier made with rye rather than wheat, but with a greater body and light finishing hops. The rye gives a bready and peppery flavor, a creamy body, and a dry, grainy finish that blends with the distinctive banana-and-clove weizen yeast character.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Light to moderate spicy rye aroma (like black pepper) intermingled with light to moderate weizen yeast aromatics (spicy clove and fruity esters, either banana or citrus). Light spicy, floral, or herbal hops are acceptable.
• Appearance: Light coppery-orange to very dark reddish or coppery-brown color. Large creamy off-white to tan head, quite dense and persistent, often thick and rocky. Cloudy, hazy appearance.
• Flavor: Grainy, moderately-low to moderately-strong spicy-peppery rye flavor, often having a hearty flavor reminiscent of rye or pumpernickel bread. Medium to medium-low bitterness allows an initial malt sweetness (sometimes with a bit of caramel) to be tasted before yeast and peppery rye character takes over. Low to moderate banana-and-clove weizen yeast character, although the balance can vary. Medium-dry, grainy finish with a lightly bitter (from rye) aftertaste. Low to moderate spicy, herbal, or floral hop flavor acceptable, and can persist into aftertaste.
• Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body. High carbonation. Moderately creamy.

Context

• Comments: Rye is a huskless grain and is difficult to mash, often resulting in a gummy mash texture that is prone to sticking. Rye has been characterized as having the most assertive flavor of all cereal grains. It is inappropriate to add caraway seeds, as some American brewers do; the spicy rye character is traditionally from the rye grain only.
• History: A specialty German rye beer originally brewed in Regensburg, Bavaria in 1988 by Schierlinger. After eventual purchase by Paulaner, the beer is now positioned as a regional brand and thus hard to find as an export.
• Characteristic ingredients: Malted rye, up to 60% of the grist. Pale and wheat malts. Crystal-type malts and debittered dark malts can be used. Weizen yeast. German or Czech hops. Patented decoction type mash.
• Style comparison: A more distinctive variant of a Dunkles Weissbier using malted rye instead of malted wheat. American Rye Beers will not have the weizen yeast character, and likely more hops.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• Thurn und Taxis Roggen

Tags

• standard-strength, amber-color, top-fermented, central-europe, historical-style, wheat-beer-family

Historical Beer: Sahti

Overall impression

• A sweet, heavy, strong traditional Finnish farmhouse beer usually with rye and juniper, and a banana-clove yeast character.

Vital statistics

Judging anchors

• Aroma: Sweet, worty malt impression. Grainy malt, caramel, and rye in background. Light alcohol aroma. High banana esters with moderate to moderately-high clove-like phenols. May have a low to moderate woody juniper character. Not sour. No hops.
• Appearance: Yellow to dark brown color; most are medium to dark amber. Generally quite cloudy and turbid. Little head, due to low carbonation.
• Flavor: Fairly sweet and often worty raw malt flavor, grainy with some caramel and toffee. Low bitterness. No hop flavor. Light woody or piney character acceptable. Moderate to strong banana and fruitiness, moderate clove and spiciness. Fairly sweet finish. Fresh, not sour.
• Mouthfeel: Thick, viscous, and heavy with protein (no boil means no hot break). Nearly still to medium-low carbonation, similar to English cask ale. Warming from the alcohol level and young age, but this is often masked by sweetness.

Context

• Comments: The use of rye doesn’t mean that it should taste like caraway (a common flavor in rye bread). The juniper acts a bit like hops in the balance and flavor, providing a flavor and bitterness counterpoint to the sweet malt. Piney, woody juniper character more common than gin-like berries.
• History: An indigenous traditional style from Finland; a farmhouse tradition for at least 500 years, often brewed for festive occasions like summer weddings, and consumed within a week or two of brewing.
• Characteristic ingredients: Malted barley. Rye is common. Low hops, if any. Juniper boughs (with or without berries) used for lautering (traditionally in a hollowed-out log). Uses Finnish baker’s yeast in a fast, warm fermentation (German Weizen yeast is a reasonable substitute). Long step mash regime. Wort is not boiled.
• Style comparison: Passing resemblance to Weizenbocks, but sweet and thick with a rye and juniper character.
• Entry instructions: none

Commercial examples (as listed)

• not extracted

Tags

• high-strength, amber-color, top-fermented, central-europe, historical-style, spice