St. Louis Beer Blog: Dark Lager

It Takes a Village: Dorfbier

By Nate Brinson

It seems that nowadays we seem to brew more Dorfbier (our Bavarian-style Dunkel) because more people want to drink it during the cold winter months. It seems reasonable to have a beer that has a little more body and deeper malt character during this time of year so why not talk a little more about it!

As with many of our beers, it feels important to discuss the name of the beer; Dorfbier simply means “village beer”. For centuries, every village in Bavaria and Franconia had at least one brewery, and seemingly all of them brewed a dark lager. Although these beers have changed drastically over the years, the basics remain the same since the 14^th/15^th century or so: dark malts fermented with cold fermenting yeast.*  

While we’ll cover more of the history of dark lager in the future, but the modern version of the beer really began with the invention of Vienna and Munich malt in the late 1830s. This malt was easier to make more consistently, removed the smokiness from malt/beer**, and made paler beers possible as this kiln uses indirect heat to dry/cure the malt instead of an open flame. Munich malt forms the backbone of most Dunkel (dark) Lager, including ours!

Many assume that darker beers are fuller-bodied and higher in alcohol than paler beers. Both can be true, but there isn’t always a direct correlation between the beer’s color and its mouthfeel and/or alcohol content. Munich malt lends a lovely note of bread crust and toast to beer, providing a richer malt flavor than paler beers. Munich malt also creates a beer that is fuller bodied than beers made with pale malt. Without proper care, these beers can become so full-bodied and sweet that they will not be all that refreshing and one beer might be the limit for many people’s palettes***.  

Therefore, our goal with Dorfbier that brings the best of both worlds with Dunkles Lagerbier: rich malt character yet still refreshing. We first do this through proper malt selection; our QA Department takes malt COAs (Certificate of Analysis) and tests various sources of malt to find the most suitable variety to brewing Dorfbier.  

Second, we utilized more a more complex mashing regimen that even many German breweries no longer use, decoction. This technique essentially involves mixing water and grains, holding the mix (aka the mash) at that temperature, and heating the mash by removing a portion of the mash and returning that portion to the main mash, achieving a higher temperature that is held. We feel this intensive mash helps create a beer that is full-bodied yet relatively dry beer that accentuates the notes of Munich malt.  

Dorfbier is not the only UCBC Bier that utilizes decoction mashing, and this is a topic worth discussing in future posts. Stay tuned!

* AKA bottom fermenting yeast or lager yeast

** Most beers in northern/central Europe had a smoky note to them before the invention/use of the indirect heated kiln. However, it is important to note that the goal of brewers was simply to make beer, not to make smoky beer.

*** To be fair, a century ago, these beers would have likely tasted much sweeter than today.  

‍