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Recipe: Bamberger Lagerbier 1818
Based on an early 19th century recipe, this might well have been the kind of thing locals would’ve drunk fresh from the keller. It includes an older technique called hopfenrösten, which means the brewers boiled the hops separately in a small amount of wort.
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From Andreas Krennmair’s Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer—more on that book here—we’ve adapted this recipe for a typical bottom-fermented beer from early 19th-century Bamberg.
If you’d been around then and gone to the keller for it, you might well have called it kellerbier. The process includes an antiquated, batch sparge–like mash of two runnnings plus an old, local method—called hopfenrösten—of boiling the hops separately in a small amount of wort.
For more on the kellerbier tradition and what makes these rustic Franconian lagers so distinctive, see The Bier from the Keller.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.059 (14.5°P)
FG: 1.014 (3.6°P)
IBUs: 36
ABV: 6%
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From Andreas Krennmair’s Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer—more on that book here—we’ve adapted this recipe for a typical bottom-fermented beer from early 19th-century Bamberg.
If you’d been around then and gone to the keller for it, you might well have called it kellerbier. The process includes an antiquated, batch sparge–like mash of two runnnings plus an old, local method—called hopfenrösten—of boiling the hops separately in a small amount of wort.
For more on the kellerbier tradition and what makes these rustic Franconian lagers so distinctive, see The Bier from the Keller.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.059 (14.5°P)
FG: 1.014 (3.6°P)
IBUs: 36
ABV: 6%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
10.8 lb (4.9 kg) Munich
HOPS SCHEDULE
3.4 oz (96 g) whole-leaf Spalter Spalt at hopfenrösten/90 minutes [36 IBUs]
YEAST
White Labs WLP820 Oktoberfest/Märzen Lager or WLP920 Old Bavarian Lager
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash in with 1.8 gallons (7 liters) of 117°F (47°C) water; rest 15 minutes. Add 3.2 gallons (12 liters) of 164°F (73°C) water, stir the mash 15 minutes, and rest 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run all first runnings into the kettle. Add another 3.4 gallons (13 liters) of 164°F (73°C) water, then rest 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run all second runnings into the kettle. While lautering, collect 2 quarts/liters of wort and, separately, bring to a boil; add all the hops to that portion and boil 60 minutes. Strain out the hops, add that portion to the rest of the wort, and boil for 90 minutes. After the boil, chill to 54°F (12°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 54°F (12°C) until complete, then rack to a bunged cask (or holzfass) and condition in a cool cellar for up to 10 months.
BREWER’S NOTES
Malt: The Munich approximates the kilned malt of that time. The original text mentions air-dried malt, too, so that or other very pale malt could also be worth a try.
Hopfenrösten: The “hops roast” was a local Bamberg technique. There may be good reasons why it was abandoned, but feel free to give it a whirl. (Or, just add the hops at 90 minutes.)
