Historical Steam Beer

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Slim M

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From what you know was the original Steam beer / California Common just warm fermented German style Pilsner using Cluster Hops?

I’ve read a few articles that seem to suggest the Maytag Anchor Steam is a relatively modern recipe not based much on historical recipes from the which it’s named. From what I’ve read it seems Cluster hops would probably have been the only locally sourced hops in the early day, certainly no Northern Brewer.
 
I went down that rabbit hole (and it is a considerable rabbit hole) during the early aughts and I decided to roll with 6-row, a smidge of C-40 (it did exist at the time but would've been imported and prohibitively expensive to use in the quantities that contemporary Anchor uses) and Clusters. Frankly, I don't think they would've used C-40, but I have a hard time thinking about a Steam beer w/o C-40.

It was a nice enough beer but it was sorta stranded in a no man's land between pre-Prohibition pils, golden ale, and contemporary California Common.

I'm sure the literature has expanded since I last dipped my toe in, so I'm excited to see what others have to say.
 
I'm putting these thoughts outs not from any experience I have with it, but just what I have read think about the subject. So if I'm mistaken, misunderstanding or other, let then let me know or just ignore.

Not certain why the hops used is a issue. Or are you wanting a authentic recipe? Steam beer is a process, not any one particular recipe IMO. Most of that process centered around using a strain of Saccharomyces pastorianus that was found to make a decent beer at the lower end of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae temp range.

I don't do lagers yet, but some of the various ways to lager is done at those higher temperature profiles. So isn't that "steam beer"?

But I have not ever looked deeply into steam brewing, which doesn't even involve steam. Other than steam powered equipment was common at the time.
 
I went down that rabbit hole (and it is a considerable rabbit hole) during the early aughts and I decided to roll with 6-row, a smidge of C-40 (it did exist at the time but would've been imported and prohibitively expensive to use in the quantities that contemporary Anchor uses) and Clusters. Frankly, I don't think they would've used C-40, but I have a hard time thinking about a Steam beer w/o C-40.

It was a nice enough beer but it was sorta stranded in a no man's land between pre-Prohibition pils, golden ale, and contemporary California Common.

I'm sure the literature has expanded since I last dipped my toe in, so I'm excited to see what others have to say.
Yeah I know what you mean about the crystal/ caramel malt, it’s hard to think about California Common without because we are all used to the Maytag version. I think I’m pretty certain now though the steam beers in California back in the early days were probably closer to a warm fermented German pils or a maybe a cream ale. Heck those brewers in that region in that time were basically the OG of the warm fermented lager thread 😊
 
I read an article which reprinted a lecture from 1903 about "Steam Beer". Nowhere in the paper did the author mention crystal malt as an ingredient and, as mentioned before in this thread, Northern Brewer was not an option. NB hops were developed in 1934 and released to the market in 1944. Other sources mention the use of "Frohberg type" lager yeast.
 
Steam beer is a process, not any one particular recipe IMO.
This is where I have landed based on what I have read. Beer historian Martyn Cornell has a recent very well-researched article on his website:
Steam beer from Yukon to Nevada and the strange link with Flat Beer

I love this passage:
Skagway steam beer, “light or dark”, was served at a table in a glass pitcher containing a quart of beer, for 25 cents. It was “produced and consumed at high speed. No one expected quality and no one found it.”

The fact that it was available "light or dark" tells me that it was more a way of brewing or serving, not a specific style or color.

"The beer is sold in two varieties, as flat beer [sic] and as steam beer. However, both come from the same brew and their difference only arises when they are filled into the barrels. The flat beer is the usual draught beer. The steam beer, which is purchased in smaller quantities, receives an admixture of young beer from the fermenting vat when it is filled up, namely as the first entry into the barrels. This young beer is then processed with the flat beer and brings it into powerful fermentation. When pouring, the glasses are filled up to a third with steam beer and the rest with flat beer, which mixture provides the guest with a clear, active beer with a delicate, milk-white foam." [emphasis mine]

The important difference was kräusening: "No contemporary source gives an explanation for the name “steam beer”, but the evidence strongly points towards the high condition that the beer was in because of the krausening."

Gary Gillman published an 8-part series which states that it is (1) the way the beer is clarified and (2) the kräusening that are key, not the ingredients or type of yeast, since there is evidence for both ale and lager yeasts being used.

This other post quotes the above-mentioned 1903 article:
"Materials used are either malt alone or malt and flakes. Some brewers use rice or grits in conjunction with malt. Glucose is also used in small quantities. Hops are nearly all Pacific coast hops. The malt for steam beer brewing is usually somewhat darker than lager beer malt."

I think my Vienna lager that I just kräusened and kegged today probably isn't too far off (except that I fermented at 50F and used Saaz hops).
 
(2) the kräusening that are key, not the ingredients or type of yeast, since there is evidence for both ale and lager yeasts being used.

I think that @MicroMickey 's suggestion of Frohberg type yeasts probably gets us close. And actually, I believe that most of the lager yeast used today is Frohberg type yeast along with Saaz type yeast. Both of which are sub-classifications based on genome sets that are what we know as Saccharomyces pastorianus. Which is the common lager yeast today.

Looking further into that shows they are a hybrid of S. cerevisiae and S. eubayanus Apparently, and there is debate by scholars of this whether instead it was S. bayanus instead of S ebayanus that formed the hybrid that we now commonly call S. pastorianus.

So apparently, when not tightly controlled, yeast can make hybrids when another yeast strain is introduced.

Apparently Steam beer was a shoddy beer for the masses.

Historically steam beer came from Bavaria, Germany, and is associated with San Francisco and the West Coast of the United States.[1] It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity,[1] and was considered a cheap, low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_beer

It amazes me we wish to reproduce it! Though I guess some want to know what the low cost beers of that day tasted like.

But who knows. After all, lobster is now a high priced food. Perhaps tastes change and Steam Beer will command a high price!

Though actually, since modern lagers use those higher temp ranges quite a bit. Perhaps we've been drinking Steam Beer for a long time and just didn't realize it.
 
Normally, when the term “steam beer” comes up, we think of San Francisco and Anchor Brewing. “Steam Beer”, surprisingly, isn’t peculiar to the San Francisco Bay area. It may have even been one of those fads that come and go. Here in New Orleans, from 1869 to 1887, there were at least 5 breweries with “Steam” as part of the brewery name. An example is Old Canal Steam Brewery (1871-1878) which was located at Toulouse & Villiere. The proprietor was George Merz; the father of Valentine Merz of Dixie Brewing. Others included Star Steam Brewery, Hope Steam Brewery, Pelican Steam Brewery, and Marais Street Steam Brewery.

A little research revealed that during the same general period across this country, there were a number of breweries with “steam” in their name. Your guess is as good as anyone else’s as to how and why the term “steam” was applied. Was it due to the steam rising from the roof of the brewery? Was it due to the hissing of highly carbonated kegs when they were tapped? Had these breweries utilized a coal fired steam boiler to heat the wort and drive a steam engine to power the facility? Was it just an advertising ploy to make the brewery stand out from the competition? Strong opinions and convincing arguments abound but we may never have a definitive answer.
 
Regardless, I take "Steam Beer" to be more of a derogatory term for cheap beer, than it is any particular process.
 
I guess I like Beer & I like history, so I find it fun to think about, study, & attempt to occasionally brew my interpretation of old beers based of research & best guesses. I post on this forum occasionally asking for others opinions a knowledge of old historical style because it’s helpful to what I’m doing and I think it’s kinda fun to see what others have to say. This forum, brewing, & researching beer is a nice escape for me😊
 
Speaking of historical beer research, has anyone information on "city beer"? I've seen a few references to it over my years of chasing history. It seems to be a warm fermented beer for immediate consumption. It pretty much ran its course and went away when breweries started making ice.
 
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