The Story of German Beer Horst D. Dornbusch An Imprint of Brewers Publications A Division of the Brewers Association Boulder, Colorado Brewers Publications, Division of the Brewers Association PO Box 1679, Boulder, CO 80306-1679 (303) 447-0816; www.BrewersPublications.com © 1997 by Horst D. Dornbusch All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Neither the author, editors, nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 ISBN-13: 978-0-937381-55-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dornbusch, Horst D. Prost! : the story of German beer / Horst D. Dornbusch. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-937381-55-1 1. Beer—Germany—History. I. Title TP577.D67 1997 641.2’3’0943—dc21 97-18237 CIP Book Project Editor: Theresa Duggan Copy Editor: Dianne Russell and Kathrin Rueda Assistant Editor: Kim Adams Art Director: Vicki Hopewell Cover Designer: Liz Howe Interior Designer: Ray Tollison Interior illustrations by Mark Duffley unless otherwise noted. Please direct all inquiries or orders to the above address. To Kathrin. She knows why. Table of Contents Foreword by Eric Warner ......................................................................... ix Preface ...................................................................................................... xi Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Five-Hundred-Year Milestones of German History and Beer .......... 7 1 The Dawn of German Beer .................................................................. 8 Beer Fit for the Gods ........................................................................ 10 The End of Rome—at the Hands of Ale-Drinking Barbarians ....... 14 2 Elsewhere in the Ancient World . . . .................................................. 18 Cleopatra’s Enduring Legacy ............................................................ 21 3 Of Hausfrau Brewsters, Vassals, Monks, and Nuns ...................... 24 4 Saint Gall: Megabrewery of the Dark Ages ....................................... 35 5 The Struggle for Purity—But Where’s the Yeast? ............................ 39 The Verdict of the European Court: Purity Violates Free Trade .... 45 When Did the Oktoberfest Really Start? .......................................... 49 6 Of Burghers and Guilds and Free Brewers ....................................... 50 Gambrinus, the King of Beer ........................................................... 58 7 A Private Trading Empire Built on Beer .......................................... 60 Frau Luther Was a Brewster ............................................................. 67 8 Wheat Ales: An Upper-Crust Quaff Makes a Flip-Flop .................... 69 9 Here Come de Yeast . . . and Modern Brewing ................................ 74 Lavoisier and the Perpetual Carbon Cycle ...................................... 79 Brewer: An Honest Profession for a King ....................................... 89 10 Beer Making for the Uninitiated ....................................................... 90 11 Brewing in Style ................................................................................. 97 German Beer Styles at a Glance ..................................................... 102 12 German Ale Styles ............................................................................. 105 13 German Lager Styles ......................................................................... 114 Appendix: German Beer in History: A Chronology .............................. 125 Glossary .................................................................................................. 134 References and Further Reading ........................................................... 142 Picture Credits ........................................................................................ 147 About the Author .................................................................................... 148 Foreword W hen I returned from my first trip to Germany in 1985, I knew I’d go back to Europe as soon as I graduated from college. My interest in brewing was waxing, and with the advent of some of the microbreweries in the Pacific Northwest, I decided that an education in brewing was my ticket back across the Atlantic. Unaware that England, France, Austria, and Belgium all have reputable brewing schools and degree programs, I looked only to Germany as the coun- try where I would learn how to really make beer. I am now aware of the rich traditions and high-quality educational infrastructures other European brewing nations have, but ten years ago I intuitively made the right choice for me when I headed to Germany. Every brewing nation in the world looks to Germany for brewing techniques and equipment, beer styles and ingredients, trained brew- ing personnel, nomenclature, glassware, and even beer itself. Building a reputation of such huge proportions is not something that develops overnight. Prost! is perhaps the only work in English that details how the political, economic, and social history of Germany are inextricably linked to its brewing history and culture. This work also clearly shows us how German brewing technology achieved critical mass in the nine- teenth and twentieth centuries. Without the strong role beer played in German culture, the drive to develop brewing technology would not have existed. Without this technology German brewers would not have been able to grow, thrive, survive political and economic crises, and export this technology, as well as beer culture and tradition, to virtually every country in the world. My knowledge of German beer culture and history has been won mostly in osmotic and piecemeal fashion. Although this is partially a result of my own somewhat unsystematic approach to learning, it is mainly attributable to the fact that until now there really hasn’t been a book that lays out German brewing history from start to finish. Horst Dornbusch has taken the time to detail the development of German brewing from the Foreword ix