What Is a Steam Beer?
If you’ve heard of Anchor Steam, then you have likely asked yourself, “what is a steam beer?” What makes it steam, after all? Is it steamed?
Is it an old style or is it modern?
Well, yes, yes to it all, kind of.
What Is a Steam Beer?
The literal definition of steam beer is beer that is fermented with lager yeast at warmer ale temperatures.
The Anchor Brewing company trademarked the term in 1980, so other brewing companies can no longer use steam beer for their beers, even those fermented and brewed in the same fashion, so you will likely hear them referred to as California common beers.
Why California?
It’s a long story.
History of Steam Beer
You see, in the beginning, thousands of years ago, around 10,000 years ago to be exact, humans discovered the art of agriculture.
This discovery, the concept of growing crops, irrigating land, and becoming domestic – settling in one place to stay – rather than hunting and gathering as a nomadic way of life, was so life-changing that it is known as a revolution in history.
Humans Love Alcohol
Now, one thing we have known about humans for as long as we have been here on earth, is that across civilizations as soon as we find shelter and a good food and water source, we find a way to make alcohol.
We work. And we play.
And that is how beer was discovered, cultivated, and built into the fabric of human history.
The first beer was likely discovered/invented as either an accident or an experiment.
Those crops we had that made wheat and corn and barley would be much tastier when toasted.
Those toasted grains tasted even better when cooked down to a meal.
Then, surprise, surprise, oatmeal or barleymeal left out for several days would ferment thanks to warm weather fermenting ale yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
And now we have the beginnings of beer.
Ale
Over the next several thousand years, ale would be improved upon through simple processes like the addition of herbs to cut down on sweetness, the increase of fermentable sugars to boost alcohol content, sparging to create a smaller, session beer, and more.
But one thing was certain – ale fermented at warm temperatures, usually between 60- and 70-degrees Fahrenheit.
Ale was also typically brewed in open air vessels using a process called krausening, wherein the beer would create a foam on top, trapping the alcohol and carbon dioxide inside.
Small batches would be made to serve within a few days, and then more beer would be brewed.
Other batches would be age barreled and stored for cooler months when ale would not ferment.
It would be several thousands of years before the rival of ale yeast would come along – lager yeast, or Saccharomyces pastorianus.
Lager
It is said that a group of Bavarian monks high up in the Alps were brewing beer in the 1400s and decided to store their fermenting beer in the colder caves.
Alas, those caves were home to a new and seemingly undiscovered yeast that would ferment at much colder temperatures, all the way down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, producing a clearer, lighter, crisper beer than ale.
And from that point on, the word of how to brew lagers spread and lagers became the new beloved beer of the land.
It became so popular that even those brewers who loved ale would “lager” their beer, brewing the ale first at the required warmer temperature, and then slowly drop the temperature until it reaches 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
The act of lagering became quite famous as it is a form of secondary racking that allows the yeast to age as well as clean up after itself, creating a clearer ale than you would otherwise have.
Lager was so popular that brewers would commission ice to brew their beer when the temperatures were not cool enough, and in many areas ice was not even necessary as during many months the temperature was plenty cold.
Steam Beer
Then, as those lager lovers began immigrating west and arriving in California, to the warmer, humid temperatures of California during the 1800s Gold Rush, they created a whole new kind of beer – steam beer.
The way the story goes, men loyal to lagers would brew their own beer on rooftops. But the weather was warm, and the lager yeast was meant for cooler temperatures.
The result was a warm fermented lager that would produce steam as it brewed on those rooftops, hence the name steam beer.
Anchor Brewing, a company that has been around since that time, and in that era, began practicing this steam brewing on a commercial basis, and marketed their caramel-colored lager, a combination of both ale and lager, to the working class in California.
It is no wonder they trademarked the term.
How to Make Steam Beer
Today, microbreweries return to this “primitive” way of brewing, fermenting lager at ale temperatures in open air vessels, as a celebration of the steam beer, or the California common beer.
It became so beloved because it was so easy to make, and it is still easy to make today.
All you need is barley malt, good water, lager yeast, and hops.
The general consensus is that the beer can be made traditionally in an open-air vessel that encourages krausening, which will act as a barrier between the fermenting beer and the air.
The beer of course should then be either barrel aged, kegged, or bottled to preserve it, and you can of course bottle or keg condition it for a bit of added carbonation.
Remember, just because something is “primitive” does not mean it is not amazing and should not be continued.
Just as lovers of California common beer.
Cheers!
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