Dortmunder Export
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dortmunder Export or Dortmunder is a pale lager from the city of Dortmund in Germany. Originally brewed by Dortmunder Union in 1873, this soft pilsner style beer became very popular with industrial workers, and was responsible for Dortmunder Union becoming Germany's largest brewery and Dortmund having the highest concentration of breweries in Germany. With the decline of heavy industry in the area, the sales of Dortmunder also declined until, by 1994, the Dortmund Union brewery had shut down, and merged with several other Dortmund breweries to form Brinkhoff's Brewery.
Contents |
[edit] History
Dortmund was one of the earliest commercial brewing centres in Germany, establishing itself as a major brewing city which exported its beers to the neighbouring Westphalian cities. The Dortmunder breweries originally brewed a wheat based, dark coloured, short fermented beer. However, in 1873, when the golden coloured, pale barley based, slow fermented beer as brewed in Pilsen and known as Pilsener, became popular, several of the local breweries grouped together under the name Dortmunder Union to produce their own pale lager under the guidance of the brewmaster Fritz Brinkhoff. There were originally two varieties: Lagerbier and the stronger Export. The weaker version proved less popular and was eventually dropped.
[edit] Description
The beer from Dortmunder is a pale lager influenced by the golden beer from Pilsen known as Pilsner, though is mainly labelled as Dortmunder Export. Like all other pale lagers the beer is a pale gold colour, with a moderate bitterness from the noble hops, a lean, well attenuated body, and a crisp carbonation. The local water contains more calcium carbonate (chalk) than average which tends to give a sharpness to the flavour of the hops. Brewers use less hops to avoid the harsh hop notes, giving the beers a subtle emphasis on the malt flavours.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Fred Eckhardt, A Treatise on Lager Styles, 1969.
- Michael Jackson, The World Guide to Beer, 1977.
- Roger Protz, The Taste of Beer, 1998.
