Steam beer
Steam beer is one of the top-fermented types of beer . It is fermented at higher ambient temperatures at 18 to 20 ° C. The name is traced back to the strongly foaming fermentation process in which the foam bubbles burst quickly and a steam-like zone develops over the fermentation foam. Some brewers from the early days of the 19th century also dubbed their beer "steam beer" because they use a steam engine to make beer. With the part of their name they expressed progress and modernity.
Origin and type of brewing
Steam beer was widespread in the Rhineland, Westphalia and Bavaria until the end of the 19th century and was referred to as "poor people's beer" because of the inexpensive brewing method. Barley malt was mainly used for brewing and only a little caramelized malt was added. The fermentation process was started with excess yeast from wheat beer breweries. For cost reasons, mostly home-grown hops ("backyard hops") were added. The beer was not pasteurized and stored in cellars or rock cellars in the lower lying areas to improve shelf life. The low hop content resulted in a phenolic (reminiscent of cloves ), sometimes slightly smoky taste.
Decline and revival
The production of steam beer has survived the longest in the Bavarian Forest and was discontinued at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1980s and 1990s, some breweries in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia brought this type of beer back onto the market.
In America, a comparable type of brewing has developed in the San Francisco region, independently of German steam beer. Here, too, barley and home-grown hops were used as regionally available raw materials.
Web links
- Steam beer from the Borbecker Brauhaus, Essen / D
- Steam beer from the 1st steam brewery in Zwiesel / D
- Steam beer from the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco / USA
proof
- ^ First Oberland steam beer brewery Bad Lobenstein: Chronicle of the brewery , accessed on April 28, 2013
- ^ 1. Zwiesel steam beer brewery: Steam beer , accessed on April 28, 2013