Altbier (often abbreviated to Alt) is the name given to a form of pale ale that originated in Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach and the Rhineland region in Germany. Pale ale is a term used to describe a variety of Beers which use Ale yeast and predominantly pale Malts It is widely considered to be one of the major Düsseldorf (ˈdʏsəldɔɐf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Mönchengladbach (mœnçənˈglatbax is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The Rhineland ( Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.
The name Altbier, which literally means old beer, refers to the pre-lager brewing method of using a warm top-fermenting yeast like British pale ales. Lager (storage camp bearing etc is the more popular of two main types of Beer; the other being Ale. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a Species of Budding Yeast. It is perhaps the most useful Yeast owing to its use since ancient times [1] Over time the Alt yeast adjusted to lower temperatures, and the Alt brewers would store or lager the beer after fermentation, leading to a cleaner, crisper beer than is the norm for an ale.
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History
The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot of 1516, was drawn up to ensure the production of decent-quality beer; however, this decree did not affect brewers of the Rhineland. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 The (literally "purity order" sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English is a regulation concerning the production of As such, the brewing traditions in this region developed slightly differently. For example, brewing during the summer was illegal in Bavaria, but the cooler climate of the Rhineland allowed Alt brewers to brew all year long and to experiment with storing fermented beer in cool caves and cellars.
The name "altbier" first appeared in the 1800s to differentiate the beers of Düsseldorf from the new pale lager that was gaining a hold on Germany. Pale lager is a very pale to golden -coloured Beer with a well attenuated body and noble hop bitterness [2] Brewers in Düsseldorf used the pale malts that were used for the modern pale lagers, but retained the old ("alt") method of using warm fermenting yeasts. [3]
The first brewery to use the name Alt was Schumacher which opened in 1838. [4] The founder, Mathias Schumacher, allowed the pale ale to mature in cool conditions in wooden casks for longer than normal, and laid the foundation for the modern alt beer - an amber coloured, lagered ale. [5] The result is a pale ale that has some of the lean, dryness of a lager, with the fruity notes of an ale. [6]
Regional Alts
Up to the 1950s, Alt was also called Düssel (from Düsseldorf), but since the term is not a Protected Designation of Origin, Altbier may also be produced outside of the Düsseldorf region. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Venlo, a city in the Netherlands on the German border near Düsseldorf, produced the first Dutch Altbier. Venlo ( is a Municipality and a City in the southeastern Netherlands. Similar varieties, also called altbiers, are associated with some other cities in Germany, particularly Hannover. Hanover (i ( haˈnoːfɐ on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen Altbier is also brewed in small quantities in Austria, Switzerland and the United States.
Düsseldorf and Cologne are long-time rivals, though today it mostly comes down to whose beer is better, Düsseldorf's Altbier or Cologne's Kölsch, another top-fermented beer. Kölsch is a local Beer speciality brewed in Cologne, Germany.
Some alt breweries have a tradition of producing a strong ale known as Sticke Alt, coming from a local dialect word meaning "secret". It is generally a seasonal or special occasion brew, and is stronger and sometimes darker than the brewery's standard output.
Brewpub Alts
At present, there are four brewpubs in Düsseldorf which brew Altbier on premises. These beers have greater character than those brewed by larger breweries, and are worthwhile seeking out during a visit to Düsseldorf. The brewpubs are (alphabetically):
- Füchschen
- Schumacher
- Schlüssel
- Uerige
Three of the four are located in the Old Town (Altstadt); the other (Schumacher) is located between the Altstadt and the main rail station (Hauptbahnhof), and also maintains an establishment in the Altstadt, Goldener Kessel, directly across the street from Schlüssel.
Each produces a special, secret, seasonal "Sticke" version in small quantities, though the names vary: Schlüssel spells it "Stike", without the "c", while Schumacher calls its special beer "Latzenbier", meaning "slat beer", possibly because the kegs from which it was poured had been stored on raised shelves. [7] Füchschen's seasonal is its Weinachtsbier (Christmas beer), available in bottles starting mid-November, and served in the brewpub on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve, December 24, is the day before Christmas Day, the celebrated birthday of Jesus. [8]
References
- ^ Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter - Copper-bottom ales halt lager tide in Germany
- ^ Altbier
- ^ Altbier
- ^ Düsseldorf Breweries
- ^ Prost! The Story of German Beer, Horst D. Dornbusch, Brewers Publications, 1997, pp 109 - 110. ISBN 0937381551
- ^ Düsseldorf Pub Guide: the best beer bars, pubs and brewpubs
- ^ Horst Dornbusch, Altbier. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications
- ^ Fuchschen web page on Weinachtsbier, visited 2007. 04. 26
See also
External links
- Alaskan Amber
- Diebels Alt
- Schumacher Alt
- Uerige
- Füchschen
- Schlüssel Alt
- Frankenheim Alt
- Schwelmer Alt