Why brew an old-time beer?

I recently wrote an article discussing the benefits of homebrewing vs. buying beer: Why Homebrew Beer?

One of the reasons within that article was we get to homebrew beers that are not commonly produced. And obviously a beer that was made in a bygone day would be one of those. I regularly homebrew a beer that I name 1896 Michelob since Michelob was first brewed in 1896. It is a reconstruction of how Anheuser-Busch would have brewed that beer in the timeframe from about the end of the 1800’s and the early 1900’s.

History of Anheuser-Busch wanting to brew a beer like Michelob

But first there was Budweiser

The Anheuser-Busch brewery in the 1800’s produced a number of beer brands but the beer that made them famous was Budweiser. Budweiser was first brewed in 1876. The brewery’s business name then was E. Anheuser Company's Brewing Association. Not too many people know this but the original Budweiser was a contract brewed beer; Adolphus Busch brewed this beer for his friend Carl Conrad.

Below is a photo of a Budweiser label of 1876. A couple things worth highlighting:

• It clearly states this beer is from “C. Conrad & Co”.
• It details the beer is brewed using Saaz hops (“Sazzer Hopfen” on the main bottle label).

Also, of interest is what was not listed on this particular label: rice (which would be “reis” in German). Rice would later be added to the label.

Adolphus Busch travels to Bohemia

The history of Europe in the latter 1800’s and early 1900’s was very dynamic and fluid with changing names of countries and border changes over those decades. What we now call the Czech Republic was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and was comprised of various regions, one of which is called Bohemia. In the latter 1800’s Adolphus Busch traveled to Bohemia to enjoy the Pale Lagers brewed there, what we would term Bohemian/Czech Pilsners.

One brewery renowned for their beer was in the town of Michelob. That brewery was owned by Anton Dreher who was the son of the famous brewer of the same name, Anton Dreher Sr., known for developing Vienna Lager in 1841. Adolphus Busch loved the high quality all-malt Pale Lagers and after his visit decided to brew a beer like this and even ‘borrowed’ the town’s name Michelob for this new product.

This all-malt beer would be a super-premium product for Anheuser-Busch although the actual classification of “super-premium” was likely not used by breweries of that time. Another distinguishing feature of Michelob is that it was a draft-only product which would not be bottled until the 1960’s. Beers brewed with adjuncts (rice in the case of Budweiser) were considered to have improved beer stability in the latter 1800’s and early 1900’s and likely this was a consideration to not bottle Michelob at that time.

Ingredients used to brew beer in America circa 1900

Malt

I already made mention that Michelob was an all-malt beer vs. an adjunct lager like Budweiser. One of the challenging aspects for brewers of the 1800’s was the predominant barley grown in the US was six-row barley. Six-row barley was well suited for the growing climate of much of the US but produced a hazy beer (chill haze) due to the high protein content. It turns out that the protein content of the wort/beer can be diluted by using adjuncts (e.g., rice, corn) as part of the grain bill. Using rice in a beer such as Budweiser resulted in a beer that did not suffer from chill haze and improved beer stability, providing a longer shelf life when bottled.

To produce an all-malt pale beer which did not suffer from chill haze, a two-row barley which is lower in proteins would be needed. One option would have been imported two-row barley (malt) from Europe. Below is a statement of the protein content of barley from the book Beer From the Experts Viewpoint (1937):

The other option was two-row barley that was grown in the US, most often grown in western states. The Anheuser-Busch brewing logbooks from circa 1900 were lost so no specifics on the malt used is known.

Hops & Hopping Schedule

The dominant hop grown in the US circa 1900 would have been Cluster hops. The heritage of Cluster hops is not completely known. From the book For the Love of Hops (2012):

The American hop industry in the latter 1800’s was quite prolific. Since Michelob was a super-premium beer it is possible that only imported hops were used. But which exact hop variety? Since the motivation for brewing the Michelob beer was to ‘replicate’ the Pale Lagers of Bohemia it is likely that Czech Saaz hops were used. This is also consistent with the ingredient label of Budweiser.

Yeast

Yeast used by American brewers in the mid to latter 1800’s was likely a mixture. Today we have lots of pure (single strain) yeast to select from but in the middle part of the 1800’s this was not the case. In 1905 Dr. Robert Wahl obtained a yeast culture from the brewery in Michelob, Bohemia. From the book Beer From the Experts Viewpoint (1937):

My Reconstruction of a Turn-of-the-Century Michelob

As already mentioned, the brewing logbooks for Michelob beer circa 1900 were lost. We do know that Michelob was intended to be a replication of the Pale Lagers of Bohemia so it is in essence a Bohemian (Czech) Pilsner. I have been homebrewing a beer I brand as “1896 Michelob” since 2015 on an annual basis and I have evolved the brewing of that beer over the years.

Sterling hops are American hops but they are related to Saaz hops. Sterling has a high(er) AA% and I can use a lesser amount for bittering. In previous batches I have featured Czech Saaz hops for flavor/aroma but last year I decided on a whim to try Polish grown Saaz hops (i.e., Lubelski hops) and the aroma/flavor profile was markedly different and I really liked it. Lubelski hops provide a very floral aroma/flavor to my palate while in contrast Czech Saaz is herbal/spicy.

Brewing Water Profile

I use carbon block filtered tap water which I also treat with a gypsum addition (to increase the sulfate amount) for the mash and lactic acid additions for both the mash and sparge. Below is my water profile:

I choose to add Brewtan-B to enhance beer stability: “Brewtan-B is an all natural tannic acid that extends shelf life and enhances flavor and colloidal stability.” The measured mash pH for this recent batch was 5.3 (I target a pH between 5.2 – 5.4).

Brewing Directions

1. Mash: Add 1.5 grams gypsum and ¼ tsp. Brewtan-B to the mash water. Mash at a water-to-grist ratio of 1.5 qts/lb. Adjust brewing water to be consistent with the minerals of the above water profile and add lactic acid to achieve a mash pH of 5.2 – 5.4. Mash at 153 °F for 60 minutes.
2. Sparge: Sparge until approximately 7 gallons of wort is achieved (tailor amount based upon your boil off rate to obtain 5.5 gallons of wort post boil).
3. Boil: Boil vigorously for 75 minutes in an uncovered brew kettle adding the 2 ounces of Sterling hops for 60 minutes of the boil. Add 1 ounce of Lubelski hops for the last 20 minutes. Add rehydrated ¼ tsp. of Brewtan-B for the last 16 minutes. Add 1 tsp. of rehydrated Irish Moss for the last 15 minutes. Add ½ tsp. of rehydrated Wyeast yeast nutrient for the last 10 minutes.
4. Whirlpool: At the end of boil add 1.5 ounces of Lubelski hops and conduct a 20 minute whirlpool/hop-stand.
5. Ferment: Ferment cool (lower 50’s F) until final gravity is achieved; conduct a diacetyl rest towards the end of fermentation if you prefer. Transfer to a lagering vessel and lager cold (35 °F) for about five weeks. Package when lagering is complete.

Photo Essay: Brewing My 1896 Michelob