In Search of the Authentic Taste of Medieval Beer
How did beer taste in the Middle Ages, and is it possible to brew an authentic medieval beer that also appeals to modern taste buds? That’s what Krenkerup Brewery and the Medieval Center have worked together to find out.
In the Middle Ages, beer was a staple beverage. Everyday beer was weak, around 1–3% alcohol, smoky, flat, and would quickly turn stale or sour, so it had to be consumed fresh. Slightly better was the so-called Svende-øl, but even that was still an everyday beer that likely wouldn’t appeal to modern palates.
Monks were the first to truly innovate beer, and the brewing techniques they developed for making stronger and more flavorful beer – often for festive occasions – gradually spread during the Middle Ages to farm brewers and professional brewers in market towns. This high-quality beer became known as Godtøl ("Good Beer").
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As brewing technology advanced, beer improved significantly and became "big business." The Hanseatic cities and South German metropolises began setting quality standards for their beer, and the Hanseatic cities established the first commercial breweries, which exclusively used hops as a flavoring agent. By the 14th century, beer innovation had spread from the monks to the brewers in Germany’s large cities. The Hanseatic town of Einbeck developed Bock—a beer with an unprecedented combination of strength and refreshment—while in Franconia, early versions of Kellerbier and Rotbier emerged. These new German beer types became highly exclusive trade commodities in the 13th and 14th centuries, especially as the onset of the Little Ice Age made winemaking more difficult in parts of Europe.
In a market town like the Medieval Center’s fictional medieval city Sundkøbing, a wealthy merchant would have traded and enjoyed some of this exclusive German beer.
Together with Krenkerup, the Medieval Center set out to design an authentic beer in the style of exclusive German export beer from the year 1400. Beer history enthusiast and Medieval Center director Andreas Bonde, along with Krenkerup’s brewmaster Sebastian Fleck, spent the winter crafting an authentic medieval beer with modern drinkability.
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"It wasn’t an easy task," says Andreas Bonde Hansen, adding: "All medieval beer was to some extent smoky and dark, and much of it was also flat, sour, cloudy, and low in alcohol. To modern taste buds, it would be a rather strange experience. Fortunately, as the Middle Ages progressed, the monks and brewers in the Hanseatic cities and South German metropolises made significant leaps in beer quality – developing beer that more closely resembles our modern brews. We ultimately decided on a Dunkel Kellerbier, a semi-dark beer style that originated in Nuremberg in the 14th century. Around the year 1400, it was a highly exclusive drink and a refreshing precursor to modern beer. We added a slight twist of smoked malt to maintain authenticity – but only just enough to ensure that everyone can enjoy it."
Krenkerup Brewery is one of the most uncompromising breweries in the Nordic region. They brew beer using grain from their fields on Lolland. Barley from Lolland has been highly sought after for malting and brewing for centuries. Since Krenkerup Manor dates back to 1367 – and was once home to real knights who drank beer – the collaboration between the Medieval Center and Krenkerup to develop a medieval beer was an obvious choice.
The history of beer
In the Beginning, There Was Only the Sour and the Smoky.
Beer has accompanied humanity since the Neolithic era. Some even claim that beer was the reason people started farming. While this theory remains unproven, even today, some hunter-gatherer tribes are known to enjoy fermented beverages made from grains, plants, and fruits.
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The earliest beer likely resembled what we now call spontaneously fermented beer—such as Sour Ales or Lambic. The history of beer remains surprisingly underexplored, and it is unclear exactly when people learned to make top-fermented beer (which we associate with many Belgian beers, modern ales, and wheat beers). However, current research suggests that monks in the 11th century were the first to master this type of yeast fermentation.
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Ancient beer was most likely all spontaneously fermented and may have been a hybrid between cider and beer, where fruit and grain fermented together.
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Herttel Pyrprew, Mendel Band I (1425), folio 20v
It is also unknown when malted grain was first used. To brew beer as we know it today, grains must release enzymes, starch, and proteins. One way to achieve this—while also generating flavor and nutrition—is through malting: allowing the grain to sprout, dry, and roast. The modern malting method, where grain is roasted in a drum with hot air, was developed in England in the 18th century. Before that, all malt was roasted over an open fire or in wood-fired ovens, which meant that beer had a smoky flavor and a dark color to varying degrees.
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Malt is the primary flavor component in beer, but in the later Middle Ages, high-quality malt became a highly sought-after commodity. Today, hops play a crucial role in beer, but in ancient times, other flavorings were used, such as yarrow or bog myrtle. Early beer was generally packed with herbs and berries.
Ølbrygning på Middelaldercentret, sommer 2024.
Medieval beer
The Middle Ages saw an unprecedented wave of beer innovation.
One of the Middle Ages’ greatest intellectuals, Hildegard von Bingen, described the beneficial properties of hops in beer as early as the 11th century. Around the same time, monks began controlling top fermentation, laying the foundation for the monastic brewing tradition that still characterizes much of Belgian beer today.
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In general, monks produced the best beer up until the late 13th century. They were skilled farmers and craftsmen with extensive knowledge of grain quality, which enabled them to brew beer that was both stronger and milder than the everyday beer brewed on farms. Over time, farm brewers learned the monks' techniques, creating the Godtøl ("Good Beer") that continued to be brewed for celebrations and holidays up until the 19th century.
However, from around the year 1300, medieval Europe underwent dramatic changes. A combination of the Little Ice Age and major plague epidemics led to labor shortages in cities and a growing demand for food exports to regions that could no longer sustain themselves. By the 14th and 15th centuries, the elite was no longer just knights and wealthy monasteries but also merchants and craftsmen in urban centers. The greatest developments in brewing now took place in cities, particularly in German metropolises such as Nuremberg and Hamburg.
In the South German cities and Hanseatic trading hubs, entirely new brewing techniques emerged, making German beer one of the most sought-after commodities. Beer became a crucial part of early German export economies and played a key role in the highly profitable trade of herring, beer, beeswax, and more—making the Nordic and Baltic regions one of Europe’s most important trade areas.
Treatise on the Vices
Courtesy British Library (Shelfmark: Add. 27695)
Handel med Middelaldercentrets skibe Agnete og Sophie.
Various Danish kings in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance attempted to control and restrict the import of both German beer and malt (reasoning that if one couldn't afford imported beer, perhaps they could brew good beer themselves using high-quality German malt). Yet, these restrictions only heightened awareness of where the best barley for malting could be grown. Over time, people discovered that Funen, Lolland, and central and southern Zealand had the ideal soil for this purpose. From the 17th century onward, cities like Køge and Kerteminde flourished as Denmark’s major malt export harbors.
Hvilke øl drak man så i Middelalderen, og hvordan smagte det?
De færreste øl havde fået et navn i Middelalderen. Man kunne altså ikke gå ind på en beværtning og bede om en Belgisk Brune eller Pale Ale. Fra omkring 1300 begynder der dog at opstå en bevidsthed om og efterspørgsel efter specifikke slags øl.
Man drak meget øl i middelalderen. Det gjorde man fortrinsvis af ernæringshensyn. Laver man byg om til øl, giver det nemlig rigtigt meget næring på literen - langt mere end f.eks. brød. I nogle byer har en dårlig vandkvalitet og det faktum at øl koges under mæskning, også bidraget til øllets udbredelse, men da de fleste mennesker boede på landet, og da nogle byer havde ordentlige vandforsyninger, er dette perspektiv på ølforbruget ofte stærkt overdrevet. Hverdagsøllet var på 1-2%, mørkt, grumset, røget og krydret med, hvad man lige havde for hånden.
Dette står i skærende kontrast til det øl der udviklede sig i (særligt de tyske) købstæderne i 13- og 1400-tallet. Nok var øllet stadig mørkt og til en vis grad røget - det var først med moderne maltnings opfindelse i England i 1700-tallet, at man lærte helt at tage farve og røg ud af malten. Men de tyske malt-magere arbejdede løbende på, at gøre maltene lysere, mindre røget og lettere i smagen, samtidigt med, at øllet beholdt sin styrke. I middelalderen udviklede man nemlig smag for øl, der var læskende, men stadig ‘effektfulde’. Hansestæderne brygmestre begyndte derfor konsekvent at bruge humle (og kun humle) i krydringen af deres øl, og hansaens øl fik ryg for at smage friskt og være af høj kvalitet.
I 1330erne opfandt man i området omkring Nürnberg det første undergærede øl. Indtil da havde man kun spontangæret øl (som vi kender fra f.eks. Lambic og Sour Ales) og overgær, som vi kender fra f.eks. Brown Ales eller Hvedeøl. Undergær forbindes ofte med pilsnere, men det er væsentlig ældre, omend de tidligste undergærede øl var væsentligt anderledes. De var mørkere og mindre karbonerede. De kaldtes Nürnberger Rotbier. Rotbier refererer til farven, man opfattede som rød i kontrast til de ellers fremherskende Baunbier og Weissbier. Den lysere (røde) farve kom af, at undergæren faldt til bunds, og man fik en klarere, renere og friskere øl end hvad man var vant til. Rotbier er også koldgæret og koldlagret, hvorfor den hurtigt kaldtes Kellerbier. Faktisk kan begrebet Kellerbier være ældre - den undergærede øltype er muligvis opstået fordi man koldlagrede øl i huler og kældre i Franken fra gammel tid.
Undergær kræver ekstremt stor temperaturstabilitet og høj hygiejne. Det var en hidtil uset kontrolleret måde at producere fødevarer på. Det er måske derfor, at det tog 300 år før end undergæringsmetoden fandte vej til Nordtyskland og 500 år før den kom til Danmark. Det er i hvert fald ikke nogen tilfældighed at det var i Nürnberg den blev opfundet. Dels har man i Franken - egnen omkring byen - nogle bjerghuler med netop den temperaturstabilitet man havde brug for, og dels var Nürnberg i 13- og 1400-tallet Europas absolutte hot spot for innovation. Metal-wiren, moderne minedrift, moderne ur-teknologi og det at bruge arabiske tal i bogføring var bare nogle af de ting der blev opfundet i Nürnberg i de år - udover altså det undergærede øl.
Nürnberger Rotbier var noget af det mest eksklusive man kunne drikke i slutningen af 1300-tallet - også i Nordeuropa. Både fordi øltypen kun bryggedes i Franken, men også fordi den kun kunne transporteres om vinteren - den skulle jo lagre koldt som sagt. Så om vinteres bryggede man Rotbier eller Kellerbier og om sommeren Braunbier eller Weissbier. Hvedeøl kendes fra oldtiden, men hvedeøllet som vi kender det i dag (om end lidt mørkere og mere røget) udvikledes på Sydtyske klostre i middelalderen, og blev ligeledes en del af de tyske byers eksportøkonomi i 13- og 1400-tallet.
En endnu mere eftertragtet og udbredt øl-innovation fra denne periode er Bock’en. Øllen blev med nogen sandsynlighed opfundet i 1378 i Einbeck i Nordtyskland. Grundlæggende lykkedes man med, at skabe en alkoholstærk højtidsbryg der var meget mere frisk og læskende, end hvad man var vant til. Øllen fik stor udbredelse af Hansestæderne og var et af deres fremmeste eksport-produkter. Den har nok i starten slet ikke heddet ‘Bock’, men nok nærmere en Einbecker. Navnet kan stamme fra, at Einbeck på sydtysk, senmiddelalderlig dialekt hedder Ainpöck, der er blevet til pöck og så til Bock. Det kan også stamme fra øltypens fremtrædende plads ved juletid, hvorfor der refereres til en julebuk - en tradition der allerede fandtes i middelalderens Tyskland.
Tysk og europæisk eksportøkonomi blev altså opfundet i denne periode. Og øl var et af de vigtigste produkter. Derfor blev det også vigtigt at kvalitetssikre produktet. Det bayeriske Reinheitsgebot - altså reglen om at øl kun må indeholde malt, vand, gær og humle - siges at være fra 1516. Men det kendes fra hele mange steder i Nord- og Centraleuropa fra tidligere. Til at starte med, handlede kontrol og certificering af ølproduktionen, at man ikke ‘spildte’ det bedste korn på øl-brygning, men hurtigt fandt de tyske brygmestre ud af, at systemet kunne bruges til at hævde kvalitetskontrol, men et eksportprodukt for hvilket kvalitet var så essentielt. Faktisk var det i nogle tyske byer således, at hvis en brygger bevidst sendte en dårlig bryg i handel, blev han straffet med døden, eller ved at han skulle drikke hele bryggen selv på én gang (ofte flere hundrede liter). En ganske korporlig fødevarekontrol var her på tærsklen til renæssancen født.
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