Horst at it again.

You have to hand it to Horst Dornbusch. He's not easily discouraged. An endless supply of historical fantasy flows from his pen.

This is an excerpt from his article on Altbier:

"Historically, the modern Altbier evolved from northern German ales that were typical for the region during the Middle Ages. These were strong, well-hopped brews with names like Broyhan and Keutebier, which often contained portions of wheat malt, perhaps as much as 40%."
"Oxford Companion to Beer", page 37.

So Broyhan and Keute were strong and heavily hopped. Let's see if actual evidence confirms that.

Broyhan

Let's start with a quote from one of my favourite books (and one the bloke who wrote the "Oxford Companion to Beer" article on Berliner Weisse should have read:

"In Hanover, the very weakly-hopped, sweet Broyhan Bier, using 20% wheat malt, has been brewed for centuries."
"Die Herstellung Obergähriger Biere" by Dr. Franz Schönfeld, 1902, page 65.

That's fairly specific. Not heavily hopped.

Her's a quote from another weighty scientific tome:

"1. Low-alcohol, light beers filled as Ausstossbier or bottled with Kräusen which are mostly free from bacteria and rich in CO2. Examples: Lübbener, Werder'sches, Cölner, Bremer, Hamburger, Grätzer, Münchener Weissbier etc.

2. Beers with similar attributes to those just named, but with a higher lactic acid content. Examples: Berliner Weissbier, Broyhan, Calenburger Weissbier, Lichtenhainer, Gose-Bier."
"Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte in der Lehre von den Gährungs-Organismen" by Professor Dr. Alfred Koch, 1896, pages 160-161.

That defines Broyhan as a low-alcohol beer wiuth a high lactic acid content.

"Broyhan is a dark, lightly hopped, poorly attenuated top-fermenting beer brewed mostly in the province Hannover. It is made from barley malt with the addition of up to 20% wheat malt. "
"Encyklopädisches Handbuch der technischen Chemie, Volume 4, Part 1", 1915, page 30. My translation.

Do you see a theme here? Lightly-hopped, not strong.

This text is a little older:

"To brew Broyhahn, after Hermstädt.

This beer is named after its creator, Cord Broyhahn, who first brewed it in 1526 in the brewhouse of Hans von Sode in Leinstrasse, Hannover. The genuine Broyhahn is very pale, similar in colour to young white wine, has a winey aroma and a pleasant sweetish yet acidic taste. Broyhahn differs from other white beers chiefly in that it is brewed from pure barley malt without the addition of wheat malt or hops.

For a brew of 2000 Berlin Quarts [1 Berlin quart = 1.14053 litres] are needed 26 Berlin scheffels (1560 pounds) of pale barley malt, air malt or Welkmalz (?) . The grist has 800 Berlin Quarts at 30º R [37.5º C] poured over it and it is worked through until all the malt is mixed well with the water and no more lumps can be seen. Then the whole is left to rest in the covered tun for half an hour. A second watering follows with 1700 Quart boiling water; it is well mashed for an hour and then the mash is left in the covered tun for a further hour.

After the wort has been drawn off, it is gently boiled in the previously cleaned copper until it evaporates down to 2000 Quarts and then allowed to cool down to 14º [17.5º C] R in the coolship.

In the fermenting vessel the wort is finally inoculated with 6 Berlin Quarts of good yeast, preferably taken from good white beer, well mixed and immediately brought into the barrels in the cellar to ferment out, which takes about 36 to 40 hours, after which the barrels must be tightly bunged. This Broyhahn keeps about 14 days in summer, and in winter 24 days in cool storage, without becoming sour.

The spent grain is once again infused with 500 Quarts of boiling water, mixed well, so that after half an hour the wort can be drawn off, which is inoculated with yeast and processed into Kovent. "
Source: "Grundsaetze der Bierbrauerei nach den neuesten technisch-chemischen Entdeckungen" by Christian Heinrich Schmidt, 1853, pages 444-445.

Look - no hops at all in that version.

Still not convinced that Broyhan wasn't strong? Here are some 19th century analyses:

Year	Brewer	Country	Beer	Style	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	atten-uation
1850	Unknown, Halberstadt	Germany	Halberstädter Breyhan	Breyhan	1.29	1012.69	1034.67	2.84	62.59%
1884	Hannover, Städtisch	Germany	Einfacher Broyhan	Broyhan	0.158	1022.54	1031.43	1.03	27.67%
1884	Hannover, Städtisch	Germany	Doppelter Broyhan	Broyhan	0.06	1043.60	1053.37	1.20	17.55%
Sources:
“Archive der Pharmacie”, 1855, pages 216-217
Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830

One last point about Broyhan: it dates from the 1500's. That's not the Middle Ages.



Keute

Let's move on to Keut. It's a type of beer that was brewed in parts of the west of Germany, Holland and Belgium. This one does date back to the Middle Ages. So far back, in fact, that it's origins were before the use of hops in the area. Though later small quantites were added to it.

The only current example of the style, Jopen Koyt, is a gruit beer. Heavily hopped? Don't make me laugh.

This is a description of how to brew the German version:

"WHAT IS Keut? WHAT IS Altbier?
Keut, a Münsterland beer, was brewed according to a specific method. It used to be the house drink of the citizens. An old recipe from the period around 1600 reports on the production of Keut:

"To make Koet. Pour 7 cups of malt, 4 buckets of water and a good hand-full of wheat flour the previous evening into a kettle, where it is to be boiled. The next day boil it for 4 hours so that it boils down to about 1 bucket and becomes somewhat thick, but it must be stirred well so that it does not burn. Then it is poured into a basket with straw, over which a coarse linen cloth has been secured, so that it runs off clear. Then another four buckets of water and a handful of hops are boiled briefly, and poured through the same basket; it is then left to stand until it becomes lukewarm. Then add a good dose of yeast (1/4 litre) to the Koet, stir as with beer and cover it. The next morning, remove the yeast and fill into pitchers. Leave open for two days, then seal, place in each pitcher a »beschaten nagel« and a little white sugar, seal tightly and place in sand. "

So you don't imagine that »beschaten nagel« is a rusty nail, it should be pointed out that Krumbholtz explains this expression in his volume "Trade of the city of Munster," as "probably clove or nutmeg". "Pinkus Müller. Der Singende Bierbrauer in Münster", by Walter Werland, 1966, page 53.

I should be thankful for small mercies. At least Horst seems to have realised Broyhan and Mumme (two beers which could hardly be more dissimilar) aren't the same thing. He does appear to still throw around the names of old German styles randomly, making them whatever he thinks they should be.

Funny that Adambier doesn't get a mention in his article. That really was a strong, heavily-hopped type of Altbier.

Even more Dornbusch bullshit

Thanks to Barm for pointing this one out to me. It's so stunningly wrong, I can't let it go.

"Mumme or Broyhan beer, so-named after Cord Broyhan, a native Hanoverian brewmaster, is a well-hopped, light brown, medieval ale, made from about one-third wheat and two-thirds barley. Also known as Keutbier, it became, for a couple of centuries, the most widely distributed style in north Germany. In the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries Hamburg emerged as a major international brewing center, shipping its beers to wherever sailing ships would call. The brew industry employed almost half of Hamburg's wage-earning population, and it was in one of Hamburg's 531 breweries that Cord Broyhan learned the secrets of beer-making. When he returned to Hanover, in 1526, he became a very successful bewery entrepreneur. Soon others in Hanover followed Cord's lead and opened up competing breweries. In 1609, the city council of Hanover began to regulate the quality and brew techniques of the local Mumme beer, limiting the number of brewer burghers to 317, combining all of them into one guild, and incorporating the guild as a company. The Guild brewery still exists today and is the oldest enterprise in Hannover. It is now part of the Belgian InBev brewing concern.

Though no longer brewed today, Mumme's historical significance is its relationship to the other northern German beer styles. As an ale, it is a distant relative of the modern Altbier, and has influenced the flavor and brewing techniques of such beer styles as Berliner Weisse, Leipziger Gose and Belgian Wit/bière blanche."
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Mumme.html

He manages to confuse three totally different styles of beer. What did Mumme, Broyhan and Keut have in common? They were all brewed in North Germany. That's where the similarities end.

Let's start at the beginning. The first sentence alone has half a dozen errors:

1. Mumme and Broyhan are not the same thing
2. Cord Broyhan was from Stöcken, learnt brewing in Hamburg then moved to Hannover
3. Broyhan was lightly-hopped
4. It wasn't brown, but pale
5. It wasn't medieval - it was first brewed in the 1500's
6. It didn't necessarily contain wheat

Keut (or Koyt) is yet a third style of beer. That is much older, dating back to at least the early 15th century. It's a pre-hop beer that was orininally flavoured with gruit. In Holland Jopen brew a rather good Koyt, based on a 15th century Dutch recipe.

Then there's the differences between Broyhan and Mumme. Broyhan was a fairly low-gravity, low-alcohol beer that's often quoted as the direct ancestor of Berliner Weisse. Mumme was a beer with a massive OG - over 1200 - and an incredibly low degree of attenuation. It's hard to think of two more dissimilar beers. Not sure whether to believe me? Here are some numbers:

Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	Atten-uation
1850	Unknown, Halberstadt	Halberstädter Breyhan	Broyhan	1.29	1012.69	1034.67	2.84	62.59%
1884	Hannover, Städtisch	Einfacher Broyhan	Broyhan	0.158	1022.54	1031.43	1.03	27.67%
1884	Hannover, Städtisch	Doppelter Broyhan	Broyhan	0.06	1043.60	1053.37	1.20	17.55%
1878	Braunschweig	Mumme	Mumme		1202.57	1257.04	4.50	18.43%
1890	Unknown	Braunschweiger Mumme	Mumme		1236.8	1295.1	2.90	19.76%
1850	Unknown, Braunschweig	Mumme	Mumme		1204.14	1224.29	2.52	7.79%
1870	Unknown, Braunschweig	Braunschweiger Mumme	Mumme		1231	1266.4	4.50	13.29%
Sources: Wahl & Henius, pages 823-830 “Archive der Pharmacie”, 1855, pages 216-217 Handwörterbuch der reinen und angewandten Chemie by Justus Liebig, Johann Christian Poggendorff, Friedrich Wöhler, 1858, page 1038 "Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel" by Joseph König, 1879, pages 147 - 158 "Handbuch der chemischen technologie" by Otto Dammer, Rudolf Kaiser, 1896, pages 696-697

Broyhan was light in colour, body and alcohol. Mumme was "thick, strong, and of a dark brown colour". More like treacle than beer. It's like saying Light Mild and Imperial Stout are the same thing. That bad. Oh yes, Mumme is from Braunschweig and Broyhan from Hannover. Two different towns. Close to each other, yes, but until the late 19th century in different countries.

I might let off a non-German speaker for coming up with such utter rubbish. But Dornbusch is German and can read the sources I've used more easily than me. He has no excuse.

While I've got him down on the floor, I may as well give Horst a few extra kicks in the nuts.

There's the pretentious (and misleading) name of his website: The German Beer Institute. It's not an Institute. It's his personal self-promotion page. Bit of a difference. Then there's the ludicrous claims he makes on its front page "the first and only comprehensive, authoritative information resource for English-speaking fans of German beer." You have to laugh at that.

Finally there's the irritating way he keeps using the word "Ale" to describe extinct German top-fermenting styles. But what would you expect from such an utter twat?

Keut ca. 1600

A special treat today. An recipe for Keut (or Koyt, Koit, Keute, Koet depending on how you want to spell it.

It's an interesting style which, in its day, was pretty international. It was brewed in the Low Countries and parts of Northwestern Germany. Though, like many o these old styles, it appears to have changed character a few times.

In Holland (where Jopen brew a beer called Koyt today) it was a strong beer from mixed grains (wheat, oats and barley). It pre-dates the introduction of hops to the region and was originally a gruit beer. Later, much like Ale in Britain, it did contain a small amount of hops. Though sometimes these were left out.

In Münster Keut hung on for a remarkably long time, the last Keut brewer only dying in the late 19th century.

But you don't want to hear my bullshit. You want the recipe, don't you. Be warned that this a recipe for brewing at home, not on a commercial scale.

WHAT IS Keut? WHAT IS Altbier?
Keut, a Münsterland beer, was brewed according to a specific method. It used to be the house drink of the citizens. An old recipe from the period around 1600 reports on the production of Keut:

"To make Koet. Pour 7 cups of malt, 4 buckets of water and a good hand-full of wheat flour the previous evening into a kettle, where it is to be boiled. The next day boil it for 4 hours so that it boils down to about 1 bucket and becomes somewhat thick, but it must be stirred well so that it does not burn. Then it is poured into a basket with straw, over which a coarse linen cloth has been secured, so that it runs off clear. Then another four buckets of water and a handful of hops are boiled briefly, and poured through the same basket; it is then left to stand until it becomes lukewarm. Then add a good dose of yeast (1/4 litre) to the Koet, stir as with beer and cover it. The next morning, remove the yeast and fill into pitchers. Leave open for two days, then seal, place in each pitcher a »beschaten nagel« and a little white sugar, seal tightly and place in sand. "

So you don't imagine that »beschaten nagel« is a rusty nail, it should be pointed out that Krumbholtz explains this expression in his volume "Trade of the city of Munster," as "probably clove or nutmeg".

"Pinkus Müller. Der Singende Bierbrauer in Münster", by Walter Werland, 1966, page 53.

It's a bit of a weird recipe, as I can't see any mashing, just boiling. Not sure I'd give it a try.

Dutch grists in the late Middle Ages

I'm terrible when it comes to books. Ones about beer, that is. I have to buy them, but then leave them, sometimes for years, before looking at them properly.

"De Middeleeuwse Brouwerij en de Gruit" is a good case in point. I think I bought it in the second half of 2009. Though admittedly that's a guess based on how deep it was down my book pile. I could have had it longer.

Earlier this week I was asked a question about Dister Bier. One of the books I consulted was "De Middeleeuwse Brouwerij en de Gruit". Didn't find anything about Dister, but I did find a table of late medieval beer grists. And you know what a sucker I am for tables.

The demonstrates a particular feature of brewing in the Low Countries: using multiple grains. And, even stranger, using a majority of oats in the grist.  A practice that still lives on today in beers such as Tripel Karmeliet.

Take a look:

Mud. Is that a great name for a measure or what? But I digress. There are three types of beer listed: hopbier, koyte and turfbier. Hopbier is pretty effing obvious: beer with hops. Koyte was a gruit beer, flavoured with herbs rather than hops. And turfbier? Not the foggiest idea what that might be. Though it does appear to be another form of gruit beer.

I'd best warn you. This is just a small part of the orignal table. Expect me to pester you with more in the coming days.