HISTORY OF BEER IN CROATIA

Robert Skenderovic

Croatian Institute for History, Zagreb

Visnjan, A.D. 2003.

History of beer consumption as a scientific problem!?

History in the 19th century – history of politics, wars and diplomacy

History in the 20th century – looking for new historical problems

French historians in 1950s developed SOCIAL HISTORY (demographic history, everyday life history, women’s history, history of litteracy)

Ancient TimeThe history of beer actually begins before history began.

Ancient EgiptBy 4000 B.C., the Babylonians were brewing at least sixteen varieties of beer.

Ancient Egiptians also knew how to brew a beer.

The brewing process is divided into six stages; grinding, mashing, boiling, cooling, fermenting and racking. The malt is cleaned and crushed, the ground malt called "grist" is mixed with hot water in a vessel called a "mash tun", then this is allowed to stand, the process is called mashing. Subsequently the resulting liquid, now called "wort" is run into coppers where it is boiled with hops. The hopped wort is then cooled and dropped into fermenting vessels, and mixed with yeast, this process lasts about five or six days. At the end of fermentation the product now called beer is run into casks, this is known as racking

STEPS OF MAKING BEER

MIDDLE AGESBeer almost certainly arrived to Europe (and Croatia) by the Neolithic period.

Charles the Great (Charlemagne, 800.-814.) brought a French brewer from Normandy to his brewery in Westphalia to teach his German subjects how to make a beer

HOP9th century – the first reference to hops in

England, Czeh Republik and Germany

REINHEITGEBOTReinheitsgebot: (The German Purity Law)The German Purity Law that dates back to 1516 which says beer can only be made with 3 ingredients: Barley, Hops And Water. Interestingly, at the time no one knew that yeast was involved in the process. (It was in the air.) So yeast has since been added as the fourth ingredient.

SORTS OF BEERALE = Most microbrews are ales. They use top fermented yeasts and are typically stored for about two weeks. Most ales are bitter and heavily hopped in flavor.

LAGER = Lagers use bottom fermented yeasts and are stored for about five weeks after brewing, which results in a full-bodied, smoother flavor than ales. Lagers range in color from gold (Pilsner) to auburn (Märzen) to brown (Dunkles), but each of those beers are lager style.

BEER CONSUMPTION IN CROATIA

- known from the Neolithic period, but...

- Croatia is a land of WINE

- Untill the end of 18th century beer was just a temporary substitute for wine in the continental part of Croatia

HABSBURG -OTTOMAN WAR (1683.-1699.)

-Siege of Vienna 1683.

-Liberation of Slavonia

- domination of German Culture in continental Croatia during the 18th century