Looking to recreate, as closely as possible, the Einbecker beer that Martin Luther would have enjoyed. Any experts that could get close or recreate a recipe?
In researching, here's about as detailed as I could get:
Luthers Favorite
Because he traveled, Luther could
have had many of these beers, but there is only one with claims to the
effect that it was his favorite. Frederick Salem, in his Beer, Its
History and Its Economic Value as a National Beverage
(1880) notes, "Luthers fondness for beer is well known, and on the
evening of that eventful day at Worms, April 18, 1521, the Duke Erich
von Braunschweig sent him a pot of Eimbecker (Einbecker) beer, to which
he was specially addicted."
Also, Michael Jackson, in his New World
Guide to Beer (1988), notes that Luther received a gift of Einbeck beer
on the occasion of his wedding. Luther scholar Luther Peterson recalls
a visit to a restaurant in Einbeck where he found
a beer coaster with portraits of Martin and Katie on one side and a
tale about their receiving a barrel of Einbeck beer as a wedding
present. Although he adds, "How authoritative a beer coaster can be is
another question."
Einbeck beer was known as early as 1325 and
in One Hundred Years of Brewing (1903) is said to be the most famous
beer of the Middle Ages, available everywhere in Germany and shipped as
far as Jerusalem. It began with two thirds barley
malt, one third wheat malt. Kiln-dried malt was not used as the beer
was to be "yellow in color and clear." It was a top fermentation beer.
The author noted that it was vastly different from the present (i.e.
1903) top fermentation beers, nor to be compared
to either the normal beer (probably lager), or the weiss beer, or the
double-brew (probably doppelbock) beer. It was brewed only in winter,
from about St. Martins day at the end of September until the first of
May. As the beer kept its quality very long, enabling
it to be shipped far away, it stands to reason that it was not only
rich in malt, hence in alcohol, but also strongly hopped.
Von Bergzaberns Herbal, the 1613 edition,
is also quoted in One Hundred Years of Brewing, and describes Einbeck
beer as "thin, subtle, clear, of bitter taste, has a pleasant acidity
on the tongue, and many other good qualities."
Einbecker evolved into the Bock style that
flourishes to this day an extra strong beer, malty with a smooth hop
finish. We can be sure, however, that the Einbecker beers enjoyed by
Martin Luther tasted nothing like the Einbecker
Ur-Bocks of today. In Luthers day, Einbecker was a top-fermented beer
made with a large portion of wheat and fermented with multiple yeast
strains, each vying to impart its own flavor to the beer. The thin,
acidic quality noted in 1613 was probably a product
of bacterial infection at the start and the multiple yeast strains,
plus wild yeast from the air, all working together to ferment every
last bit of sugar.
In researching, here's about as detailed as I could get:
Luthers Favorite
Because he traveled, Luther could
have had many of these beers, but there is only one with claims to the
effect that it was his favorite. Frederick Salem, in his Beer, Its
History and Its Economic Value as a National Beverage
(1880) notes, "Luthers fondness for beer is well known, and on the
evening of that eventful day at Worms, April 18, 1521, the Duke Erich
von Braunschweig sent him a pot of Eimbecker (Einbecker) beer, to which
he was specially addicted."
Also, Michael Jackson, in his New World
Guide to Beer (1988), notes that Luther received a gift of Einbeck beer
on the occasion of his wedding. Luther scholar Luther Peterson recalls
a visit to a restaurant in Einbeck where he found
a beer coaster with portraits of Martin and Katie on one side and a
tale about their receiving a barrel of Einbeck beer as a wedding
present. Although he adds, "How authoritative a beer coaster can be is
another question."
Einbeck beer was known as early as 1325 and
in One Hundred Years of Brewing (1903) is said to be the most famous
beer of the Middle Ages, available everywhere in Germany and shipped as
far as Jerusalem. It began with two thirds barley
malt, one third wheat malt. Kiln-dried malt was not used as the beer
was to be "yellow in color and clear." It was a top fermentation beer.
The author noted that it was vastly different from the present (i.e.
1903) top fermentation beers, nor to be compared
to either the normal beer (probably lager), or the weiss beer, or the
double-brew (probably doppelbock) beer. It was brewed only in winter,
from about St. Martins day at the end of September until the first of
May. As the beer kept its quality very long, enabling
it to be shipped far away, it stands to reason that it was not only
rich in malt, hence in alcohol, but also strongly hopped.
Von Bergzaberns Herbal, the 1613 edition,
is also quoted in One Hundred Years of Brewing, and describes Einbeck
beer as "thin, subtle, clear, of bitter taste, has a pleasant acidity
on the tongue, and many other good qualities."
Einbecker evolved into the Bock style that
flourishes to this day an extra strong beer, malty with a smooth hop
finish. We can be sure, however, that the Einbecker beers enjoyed by
Martin Luther tasted nothing like the Einbecker
Ur-Bocks of today. In Luthers day, Einbecker was a top-fermented beer
made with a large portion of wheat and fermented with multiple yeast
strains, each vying to impart its own flavor to the beer. The thin,
acidic quality noted in 1613 was probably a product
of bacterial infection at the start and the multiple yeast strains,
plus wild yeast from the air, all working together to ferment every
last bit of sugar.
