JOIN USBrewing beer in Bayreuth
Baroque theatres and opera houses, palaces and breweries… that’s a heady combination. I am in Bayreuth in northern Bavaria, Germany, a city with not only a strong musical tradition but also a strong beer heritage. This region called Franconia, with its green hills and fresh springs has the highest density of beer breweries in Europe. Once a part of Prussia, Napoleon gifted Franconia to the newly-established state of Bavaria in the early 19th century.
Around 200 breweries here today produce over 1,000 different kinds of beers, from pale ales to refreshing Helles. Bayreuth is also famous for its underground catacombs, a labyrinth of rock cellars, that are 400 years old. The tunnels dug into the sandstone between the 15th and 19th centuries were originally dug for mining ores. In times of war, they were used as shelters and emergency hospitals. Due to the constantly low temperatures, these cellars were the best place to store the great beers of the region around the end of the 19th century. We visit Maisel and Friends, a family-owned brewery founded in 1887, by brothers Hans and Eberhard Maisel. Today, it’s run by the fourth generation of the family. Jeff Maisel founded Maisel and Friends in 2012, a craft brewing offshoot of the original brewery, to brew more experimental offerings. The main attraction at Maisel’s (besides the beers of course) is that one can visit the historic brewery museum, which gives you an insight into how brewing beer has changed over the ages. Alexander Knirim, who works at the brewery, is our guide, showing us around the brewery. “It was thanks to Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria and his brother that Germany has the Reinheitsgebot or the Bavarian Purity laws for beers brewed here, which was passed in 1516, which means that we can only use four ingredients in brewing beers: Water, malt, hops and yeast,” explains Alexander. In other areas of Germany unaffected by the purity laws, wheat beers were developed and enjoyed. I learn all about the origins of beer making, and how it started off as a safe way of drinking water which in those days was polluted, and therefore people preferred to drink beer which was more hygienic. In the Middle Ages, the monks brewed the first beers and they supposedly had medicinal properties, “Today the largest percentage of beer is still water, and beer is affected by the type of water one uses — how alkaline it is and its hardness. We are fortunate to get our brew water from the nearby Fichtel Mountains,” says Alexander.
It’s a step back in time as we walk through a floor paved with vintage tiles, into the 19th-century plant. All the machines of the brew house have been preserved in shining condition as if the factory was still working. History whispers from every corner of the old brewery — from old tools arranged neatly on walls, black and white photographs from the past of horse-drawn carts that delivered beer, to the polished steam engines, and the large copper kettles used for brewing. There is a room that is used to store and measure out the hops in large gunny bags, and another where the beer was bottled in old-fashioned bottling machines. The room with the cooling container has been preserved just as it was in the olden days, with over 400 enamel signs from different breweries and beer brands, displayed on the walls.
I learn that malted barley is the most popular grain used in brewing. That’s because it’s filled with starch and enzymes, both essential to fermentation. It gives beer its colour, alcohol content and distinctive taste. The mixture of barley and hot water is called the mash, which resembles porridge at this stage. “Hops is the ingredient that gives beer its distinctive taste and that subtle bitterness,” says Alexander. Hops’ antibacterial properties provided flavour during fermentation and extended the shelf life of the finished product as well. Yeast is every brewer’s biggest secret. Alexander explains that fermentation produces heat, and yeast cannot take the heat, therefore it is added to the cooled liquid. We learn the difference between top-fermented beer which is brewed at a room temperature of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius and the yeast rises to the top as a result of fermentation and is called ale, whereas bottom-fermented beers require cellars with temperatures between 4 and 9 degrees Celsius and the yeast collects at the bottom. Bottom-fermented beers are called lagers, and large chestnut trees were placed on top of rock cellars to protect them from the summer heat, and this was the origin of the beer gardens of Bavaria. The brewed beer is aged in cellars in wooden barrels. During the period of ageing, which can take as much as eight months, the beers take on the aromas of the cask. Then the aged beer gets carbonated and filled into special bottles.