Franconian Beer Message Board

Back to the main page Back to parent post

Real ale tradition

Posted by Nick B. on 2010-10-24 04:52:07

Central European lager is / has been bottom fermenting since...about the time of the industrial revolution, right? I don't think it's unreasonable to say that the rise in lager brewing went hand-in-hand with industrialisation, despite that we say small Franconian country breweries are not "industrial" operations. Cooling became easier with industrialisation. How old is the English beer engine, anyway? I bet it's also a product of industrialisation. Prior to that, beer had to be fetched from casks in the cellar. So while the beer engine certainly never appeared in Central Europe(*), beer dispense there must have been very similar to that in England before CO2 dispense and the beer engine. (*)Some Americans I know are dead set against the idea that Franconia lies in "Central Europe". They consider all parts of Germany to be in "Western Europe", though this seems to contradict what Franconians themselves like to believe, calling the region "Mitteleuropa". Just a side note.

Followups:

Bottom Fermentation Prior to Industrialisation by Nick B. on  2010-10-24 05:04:36

Bottom Fermentation Prior to Industrialisation by DonS on  2010-10-24 09:56:27

Real ale tradition by JosB on  2010-10-24 15:10:24

History of Bottom Fermentation by Nick B. on  2010-10-24 23:48:19