Pre-Prohibition Lager | Short & Shoddy

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Pre-prohibition lager harkens back to the late 1800s, crafted by German immigrants who brought their European-style brewing techniques to America and adapted them using local ingredients such as 6-row barley and corn. Brülosophy contributor Will Lovell has put his unique spin on this beer with a Short & Shoddy approach where he employed an abbreviated mash and boil. Can such a quick process truly do justice to this historical beer style? To answer that, we invited 25 participants to taste and rate Will's creation!
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[@cidmontenegro8225]

I think they use 6 row because that was readily available in the early 1900s.(?)

[@larryryba4497]

Don’t think he said what yeast was used… at 62f, safe to guess 34/70 or NovaLager?

[@user-yo9sm4zz1l]

Crystal springs brewing in Boulder Colorado makes an incredible pre-prohibition style Pilsner called CAP that is one of the best beers in the world. Even better than live oaks (which is absolutely incredible as well)

[@RiggerBrew]

I know August Schell Brewery has been brewing the same Deer Brand since 1861. They use Yellow Dent, wonder how it would be if they used Blue corn.

[@mrow7598]

A local brewer has a corn lager. Its 80% corn, 20% Pilsner and Centennial hops. Its really good.

[@bradygrooms9240]

I don't get why some people are afraid to put too much corn in a beer. I think you could get some good, interesting flavor using a nice heirloom corn as the base malt

[@Kaesekuchen002]

Nice to see another contributor on here! Great video as always, Martin.

[@JPch108]

portugal... bom

[@TheAlchemistsBrewery]

So, from the very beginning the recipe is wrong because the most important ingredient, the 6-row barley was not used. I am very disappointed.

[@digitaldominatrix]

Agreed - isn't that the defining characteristic of the style?

[@dfriendperc]

It’s a short and shoddy!

[@sgoadhouse]

I too wonder what yeast was used. 62F seems a bit high for a lager yeast except for a few select ones. Just curious which one it was. Additionally, a glycol system was mentioned. Given the expense and excellent temperature control of a glycol system, what was the reasoning to use such a high fermentation temperature when, I assume, you could have easily dialed in 52F or 48F? I know some yeast can produce more sulfur at lower temperatures. Was that it?

[@dfriendperc]

It’s a short and shoddy!

[@carlkessler303]

Just did one, 6 row and flaked corn. I used Cluster to be classic. All good but I would not use Cluster again. I thought I had dms at first, but it was just the recipe. Took 2 months, but has mellowed nicely.

[@JohnnyReverse]

what didnt you like about the cluster?

[@carlkessler303]

@@JohnnyReverse hard to explain, but it was a unique flavor that just didn't align to what I like in hops. The recipe did call for one 60 minute addition so that might have been the problem. A person experienced with Cluster said it works better as a late flavor addition.

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

How does anyone really know what a pre-prohibition lager tasted like. On a very simplistic level each brewery would have had different taste and as they were often Germans disappointed with six row why would they want it to taste like corn? Also Guinness is not a stout it’s too weak and IPA is a specification not a style. This maybe bullshit but when it comes to “styles” putting beer in boxes just makes it taste of cardboard.

[@mikekeller5202]

How do you know what a stout is supposed to taste like since every brewery’s stout taste different from one another? Isn’t saying that guisness doesn’t match the style characteristics of a stout, according to you, putting stouts in a box and making them taste like cardboard?

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

@@mikekeller5202 Stout used to mean strong

[@cidmontenegro8225]

I don't understand the anger, or point, here. Breweries use the same ingredients now and they taste different. There are publications and historical brewery documents that describe the flavors. Corn was used in beer because it was so abundant in the US, and cheaper than barley. Many German brewers also embraced corn additions, besides cost reasons, because they found the reinheitsgebot limiting. And stout doesn't necessarily reflect the strength or alcohol percentage, stout describes a full bodied beer.

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

@@cidmontenegro8225 were is the anger? Why did you read it that way? From what I have heard adding corn was started because 6 was leaving the beer cloudy due to too much protein. I’ve never heard that definition for stout. But in a funny way you make my point, styles written in a book by people that don’t live in that country, town, location, not making that beer are not writing a book I want to be limited by.

[@cidmontenegro8225]

@@Margarinetaylorgrease That's just how it read to me and I guess I didn't 'get' the point you were making. And I never heard corn was for clarity, so learn something new everyday.

[@dfriendperc]

Hahaha

[@JohnDoe-es5xh]

Hi Martin, it's a pleasure to see you perfectly shaved in each of your contributions. Seems, that many beer drinkers have no time to remove the kraut from their faces. It's really disgusting.