Brewing Schöps – a legendary beer style from Wrocław

It’s official. The media have been informed about the progress of the Schöps project aimed at recreating one of the most legendary Polish beers: the famous Schöps from Wrocław. The works have been in progress since July 2015.

The first trial brew has been completed in cooperation with an international team. The beer will make its debut at the EBC Symposium – a European meeting of scientists and technologists taking place in Wrocław in September 2016. This is the way to promote the most characteristic beer style from Wrocław and the city itself!

For two centuries Schöps was considered as the leading beer in this part of Europe. The production of the beer brewed from hop pines, wheat grain and good quality water started about 1550. As the symbol of Wrocław, the beer brought fame to the city. Brewed since the mid-18th century, the beer played a significant role in the lifestyle and diet of the city residents. No wonder, chroniclers, historians and poets were proud of Schöps as the best quality drink.

“Before lagers gained in popularity in Silesia, numerous top-fermenting beers had been brewed in here. With time, however, they were replaced by lagers. As craft beers, and in particular strongly hoppy IPA styles, enjoy increasing popularity, I believe it is important to go back to beers that used to be brewed by our ancestors. Those included low alcohol content beers ideal to quench thirst as well as rich beers recommended by doctors for medical purposes. One of such unforgettable beer styles is a strong wheat beer style brewed in Wrocław known as “The Wrocław Ram.” Today Browar Stu Mostów has taken the challenge to recreate a true legend. This Wrocław-based beer enjoyed great popularity not only in the Polish Kingdom. I’m pleased this project has started. I’d be more than happy to help as this project is of a great importance to me. I’ve been researching the history of the Wrocław brewing industry for years, and honestly the history starts with Schöps.” – writes Andrzej Urbanek, our partner, expert in brewing industry and the history of Wrocław breweries, who has been doing research on forsaken beer styles in the archives of Lower Silesia and Germany.

The beer will make its debut in September during the EBC Symposium, a meeting of the experts in brewing technology and industry. The event will gather many brewers, technologists, scientists and producers of brewing technology. Scheduled for 18-22 September 2016, the Symposium will have a positive impact on the sector and promote Wrocław among the beer industry in Europe.

The project timeline:

• the project was started in July 2015 in Wrocław by: Arletta and Grzegorz Ziemian and Mateusz Gulej, brewmaster at Browar Stu Mostów, and John M. Brauer, EBC Executive Officer, The Brewers of Europe in Brussels.
• Browar Stu Mostów looking for partners interested in recreating the Wrocław style among brewers and malt producers in Germany, extensive research on the style in archives;
• establishing cooperation with Roland Andre, technical director at Distelhäuser Brauerei, one of the most renowned breweries in the world, and the support of Andrzej Urbanek, an expert in the brewing industry and history of the Wrocław breweries, who lives in Nuremberg, and a long-term enthusiast passionately studying the archives of Lower Silesia and Germany;
• designing the recipe – slogan: “hops from Poland, malts from Germany, water from Lower Silesia”;
• trail brew – 13 November 2015 at Distelhäuser Brauerei; team consisting of: Mateusz Gulej, Grzegorz and Arletta Ziemian – Browar Stu Mostów; Roland Andre, technical director and production head at Distelhäuser Brauerei; John Brauer, EBC Carsten Zufall, the head of EBC Brewing Science Group;
• analytic and sensory evaluation – December 2015 and March 2016 (footage planned);
• evaluating the outcomes and preparing comments or suggestions;
• brewing Schöps in Wrocław planned for the second half of July 2016 (conference planned) ;
• debut and presentation to brewmasters from Europe, guests of the European Brewery Convention, and members of the Brewing Science Group – 20 September 2016 at Browar Stu Mostów.