Beer and Brewing Culture Through the Eyes of a New

Beer and Brewing
Culture Through the
Eyes of a New England
Heathen
•
By Mark Andersen
Published by
Odroerir: The Heathen Journal
August 2014
Volume II
Originally published April, 2012
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Óðrœrir 1
Back in the mid 90’s, almost a decade before I converted to Asatru, I took up the hobby of home brewing.
Back then, my knowledge of beer in general was very limited, home brewing technology and ingredients
weren’t nearly at the level they are today, and not that many people were home brewing. Undaunted and
armed with the book “The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing” by Charlie Papazian, I gave it a fair go.
Nothing I brewed during that 2-3 year period was particularly good or memorable, but I learned the basic
mechanics of home brewing using only extract recipes and a stove top kettle. Ultimately, I gave it up. My
non-heathen ex-wife wasn’t very friendly towards the process. Usually she complained about the smell
of malt boiling on the stove and the mess made in the kitchen. Also, there really weren’t any other home
brewers that I knew on Cape Cod at the time. I have since found out that the CCLAMS (Cape Cod Lager
and Ale Makers) home brew club, of which I am now an active member, started around that time.
After the year 2000 I got divorced, and not long after met my current wife who introduced me to the
world of Heathenry. Finally in 2004, the two of us decided to attend our first ever Asatru event, the East
Coast Thing, that summer. One of the things that struck me most was the variety, and in most cases, the
quality of the home brewed beer and mead at the event. There seemed to be a real sense of pride in this
homemade beer and mead , not only by the individual brewers, but by the community as a whole. I was
also struck by the fact that folks were very hospitable when it came to sharing their beer and mead. It was
as if a significant part of the pleasure derived from brewing and mead making came from sharing it with
other heathens and the socializing/bonding that went along with it. This event and meeting other heathen
home brewers provided the inspiration I needed to really delve into home brewing again.
What was it that brought about this inspiration? Learning that good quality beer could be home brewed
and subsequently enjoyed was, of course, a big plus. The more time I spent around other heathens,
however, I realized that there was something more to it. What I came to understand is that home brewing
is an integral part of our culture and highly valued by the heathen community. Becoming a proficient home
brewer is one way that an individual can gain a good reputation within the community. It also is a great
way to bond with other members of the community. It is one thing to share a store bought bottle of beer
with a fellow heathen but it is ten times better to share your own home brew.
Shortly after my first East Coast Thing in 2004 I began a flurry of brewing activity. I bought lots of new
equipment, dusted off some of my old equipment from the 90’s, and began brewing a variety of extract
and partial mash concoctions. Some of the batches came out pretty good, but something was still missing.
I would bring bottles of it to local heathen events. My fellow Raven Kindred North members would
politely (but not too emphatically) praise some of my beers. None of them were anywhere close to being
home runs. I tried a variety of things, including shifting to outdoor brewing with a big 10-gallon kettle and
propane cooker so I could do full boils, as well as several other improvements. I still had not reached the
point where I was wowed by any of the beers.
Then I met a fellow heathen named Aaron Bennet at a pubmoot in Providence, Rhode Island. Aaron was
a member of a local Asatru Alliance kindred at the time. Not long after, I attended his annual Oktoberfest
party where he put on a keg of home brewed Oktoberfest. I was really impressed with it. That was the
home run I had been trying to achieve.
Aaron told me that one big reason for the better quality in his beer was that he used the “all grain”
brewing process instead of using malt extract. I had read about “all grain” brewing quite a bit even back
in the 90’s but was a little intimidated by it. Aaron generously invited me over for a brew day to show me
the process. Admittedly, it did look easier than I had previously thought it to be. I got the run down on the
equipment needed and made a commitment to do “all grain” brewing from then on. With a lot of mentoring
from Aaron, I got pretty good at it and started to produce the quality beers for which I had always hoped.
My first home run came when I brewed a Maibock to be served at Raven Kindred North’s May Day
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celebration back in 2007. I was completely hooked. I’ve been insane about home brewing ever since. I
can’t tell you how much time and money I’ve since invested in it, but a tour of my home will reveal a
brew cellar complete with lagering tank, racks of grain, grain mill, many carboys both empty and full, a
fully packed fridge just for hops and yeast, a kegerator in the living room, and so on- and the madness has
really just begun.
My second big inspiration for brewing, and beer in general, came when I visited Germany for the first
time also back in 2007. I had always wanted to visit Germany as I had been fascinated by the culture,
the history, the geography, and of course the beer! Having joined RKN a couple of years prior, I had a
chance to become good friends with a longtime member of RKN from Germany called Ingmar Lauer.
Ingmar had since started Raven Kindred Deutschland after moving back to Germany from Boston a few
years earlier. In 2007, I met Ingmar in Switzerland, and we worked our way from North to South doing a
beer tour of Deutschland that would bring us from the border of Switzerland all the way to the northern
city of Hamburg. What I discovered is that the German beer culture is substantially different than our
understanding of it here in the United States, based on the beer that has been exported to us. First, the
quality of beer in Germany, assuming you know where to look, is a lot better than what we’ve been
exposed to. Second, there is, in quite a few places, a deeply, well-established and very, very traditional
beer brewing and beer drinking culture in place. It really was an eye opener of how great it can be. I also
think that in experiencing the traditional German beer scene, I was witnessing a window into the past as to
how beer was brewed and enjoyed and thankfully still brewed and enjoyed in some places today.
There are quite a few very interesting practices in German brewing and beer drinking that you can
experience and I’ll enumerate a few of them here:
1. It was in the city of Bamberg that I first tried a beer that the city and region is renowned for
called Rauchbier. Rauchbier has been jokingly dubbed “bacon beer” by many because of the very smoky
beer made by Brauerei Heller Trum of Bamberg. Heller Trum brews a beer called “Aecht Schlenkerla
Rauchbier”. Schlenkerla does give the impression of almost drinking liquid bacon. They are one of a
couple of dozen breweries in the Franconia region of Germany that still brew this historical style. In their
case, the smokiness comes from the practice of kilning the malt over a beechwood fire before mashing it. I
reckon that most of the beers brewed historically from Germany all the way through Scandinavia had this
smoky aspect to it because of lack of modern kilning methods. Luckily we can reproduce these historical
styles either by purchasing pre-smoked malted grain or even smoking the grain ourselves.
2. We’ve come to know lager here in the United States as a bland, pale, and generally poor quality
cheap beer. I discovered in Germany that this is not the case with many breweries, especially in the
Franconian and Bavarian regions. I think this is a result of these breweries using a much higher standard
in both the ingredients that they use and the process that they employ. In many small breweries in Bavaria
and Franconia, they still use the process of step mashing called decoction mashing. This is a more labor
intensive process that can be employed by the home brewer to bring out smoother, maltier, and clearer
lager beers, especially when it is combined with the process of lagering the beer at cold temperature.
3. In certain parts of Germany, there exists much more of a community aspect both to brewing and
beer drinking. Here in the US, all too often, going out for a few pints entails sitting in a bar staring at the
TV’s on the wall. This is not the case in a traditional brewpub in Germany. Often times, as a visitor, you
will find yourself sitting at a table with benches and conversing with complete strangers, or you’ll be
sitting outside in a gorgeous bier garten or bier keller enjoying the scenery along with the beer. Many of
the bier kellers in Franconia even have playgrounds and swing sets as they are often the weekend hangout
Óðrœrir 3
for families looking to enjoy a nice day out with good food, and great beer with other members of the local
community.
Nowhere is this communal aspect of brewing and beer drinking (mentioned in #3 above) better witnessed
than in a section of the Oberpfalz region affectionately called, by us beer tourists, Zoigland. This region
is in Northern Bavaria not far from the Czech border. Zoigl is the name of the beer that is brewed in the
5 remaining towns (Windischeschenbach, Neuhaus, Mittereich, Falkenberg, and Eslarn) that still preserve
the practice of communal brewing. They also have a tradition of having rotating Zoigl Stubes. A Zoigl
Stube is what we would call a pub but are essentially attached to the home of the family that operates it.
These Zoigl Stubes take turns opening on pre-designated weekends. There is even a calendar available
over the internet identifying which Zoigl Stube is open in each town on any given weekend.
I was lucky to be able to visit the neighboring Zoigl towns of Windischeschenbach (called Eschawo by
the locals) and Neuhaus in July of 2011. What struck me most about this visit, apart from the spectacular
Zoigl beer, was the tight knit community aspect of drinking in a Zoigl Stube. People were wandering in at
all hours, and it seemed as if they all knew each other. There was lots of singing, conversation, laughing,
and generally enjoying each other’s company while enjoying the locally brewed communal beer. The
atmosphere was like drinking in a friend’s kitchen or living room. I think that this is a living, breathing
example that can still be experienced today of beer drinking customs that were probably far more common
historically than they are in our modern age. Drinking beer, feasting, and talking together at a table in the
home of neighbors and/or relatives without distracting televisions, loud music, annoying waitresses, etc.,
all while, drinking beer that is brewed by the local braumeisters for the community connected the past
with the present. I was even fortunate on that one evening to sit at a table with the braumeister who had
been a Zoigl braumeister for 38 years, his son, his daughter, a few local friends, and even the town sheriff.
Incidentally I stayed out at the Zoigl stube that night until close to 3am when the son and daughter of the
braumeister kindly gave us a ride back to our hotel.
I also think that the activity of brewing itself is a community activity. This again can be seen in the
Zoigl town of Neuhaus. A fellow Zoigl beer lover from Ireland had this to say about his attendance at
a brew day in Neuhaus that he was invited to: “The people in Neuhaus really do know how to organise
a p*** up in a brewery and how! Unlike Eschawo, Neuhaus kommunbrauhaus is set up for hospitality,
with a really nice little room for visitors.” So here, we see that brewing itself is a social occasion where
the brewers interact with the locals and the rare traveler that is lucky enough to be invited to the occasion.
Over the last few years I have made a habit of organizing heathen brew days at my house once or twice
per year. Usually this happens once in the spring and sometimes once in the fall. Both home brewers and
just fellow heathens that want to hang out and socialize and drink good home brew are invited to attend. I
have found the camaraderie and good times at these events to be outstanding. I think we will see more of
these in heathenry as our communities continue to grow and solidify. I feel that home brewing, and even
making a social event out of a day of home brewing, is participating in something that is a big part of our
heathen cultural heritage.
Another fantastic example of the community and cooperative aspect of brewing in Germany can be seen
every Autumn during the Bock beer release season. During the months of October, November, and into
December, many of the small local breweries of Upper Franconia work together to coordinate the timing
so that each brewery can have its own day to celebrate the release of its bock beer. This event is called
Bockbierantisch, and there is even a schedule posted so bock beer lovers will know what brewpub to be at
and what day and time to be there. Now, how cool would it be for a group of us heathen home brewers to
Óðrœrir 4
each brew a bock beer in the spring and have our own Bockbierantisch at our home on a rotation just like
they do in Oberfranken?
I have spent a lot of time experimenting with and brewing various German styles. I have brewed
seasonal bock beers, Helles lagers, Pilseners, Rauchbiers, and recently even a Zoigl beer using information
gathered from my aforementioned visit to the Oberpfalz region. I am now looking forward to learning
more about and brewing historical Scandinavian styles. We know from various sources that juniper berries
were used in Scandinavian brewing in lieu of hops. Let’s face it, they didn’t have hops readily available a
long time ago. So, they used juniper berries, among other things, as a preservative and to add flavor. One
example that survives even today is Gotlandsdricke ale from the Baltic island of Gotland. In his book
“Microbrewed Adventures,” The famous home brewing writer Charlie Papazian wrote a very nice article
about his visit to the island of Gotland and to a Farmhouse brewery run by an elderly gentleman named
Vello Noodapera. In it, he describes a beer brewed by Vello made with smoked malt, hops, and juniper
berries called Gotlandsdricke ale. According to Papazian, Gotlandsdricke brewing is widespread on the
island of Gotland and done mostly in small home/farm breweries. The late Michael Jackson (no not that
Michael Jackson) was known during his life as the “beer hunter” due to his extensive travel and research
worldwide regarding beer styles and local brewing culture. He wrote a very interesting short article about
the mountainous west of Norway where he discovered that many families keep their own supply of liquid
yeast for home brewing that get passed down from generation to generation. He also mentioned the use
of smoked malt and juniper berries.
A few years ago a fellow heathen brewer J. Talkington brought a home brewed example of a beer using
Juniper berries to East Coast Thing. I’m hoping to do the same this coming year, and in addition use
smoked malts to hopefully reproduce something similar to Gotlandsdricke. The experimentation never
ends and that is one of the beauties of being a heathen home brewer.
I’m going to end this article by providing some interesting links that readers can use as sources to
explore more about German and Scandinavian beer and other interesting tidbits.
1. First the article written by “The Beer Hunter” Michael Jackson about Norway: http://www.beerhunter.
com/documents/19133-000103.html
2. This is a very useful and interesting website listing all the breweries of Upper Franconia, Germany
(Oberfranken). This region has the highest density of breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world
(and it’s not even close!). http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000103.html
3. Historical beer researcher and blogger Ron Pattinson has a blog that is a treasure trove of information
regarding historical beer recipes, brewing logs, and other articles. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/
4. The late John White of England wrote a very good travel article about Zoigland with lots of info and
links and his wife was kind enough to keep his website up in his memory as a reference for us beer lovers
to use. http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/zoigl.html
5. Website of the twin Zoigl towns of Windischeschenbach and Neuhaus. If you click through you can
find links to the various Zoigl Stubes in the two towns. http://www.zoiglbier.de/
6. It’s always nice to have a Zoigl calendar handy so you know where to go and when. http://www.
zoiglinfo.de/pdf/Zoiglkalender_Internet.pdf
Last but not least a shameless plus to the “Beer Gnome” blog of yours truly for those interested in reading
about and seeing pictures of my various beer travels and brewing adventures. http://the-beer-gnome.
blogspot.com/