Dusseldorf Alt Bier: The Style

Northern Dusseldorf German Alt Bier is a very tasty and
satisfying beer.
a loose translation of Alt Bier would be Old Beer.
It is said to be one of the oldest styles in Germany.
Rumored to be a beer before Germany had access to Lager yeast.
It is a lot like a big malty English
Bitter.

It tends to have much more hop bitterness than does an
English Bitter.

It's big on malt and how it is brewed.
Very few examples of Dusseldorf Alt Bier can be found in the US.

The only way that I have had Alt Bier is by brewing it myself.
It is a very tasty and easy beer for the homebrewer to make.
Normally this beer would be brewed using a decotion mash.
However you can make a very good Alt Bier by using single infusion mashing.

Gravity for Alt Bier is between 1.046 - 1.056 original gravity.
Most are hopped between 25-40 IBU's, All dependent upon the gravity.Always hopped with German noble hops.
These usually being Spalt, Hallertau Mittelfrau and sometimes Tettnanger.

Typically made with a Pils base and colored with roasted malt or dark crystal. May include small amounts of Munich or Vienna malt. Noble hops. usually made with an attenuative ale yeast.

This is one beer that you don't want to steer wrong yeast wise.
My suggestion is Wyeast 1007 German Dusseldorf Ale.
It gives it the perfect big creamy head.
Also the perfect degree of malt flavour.

Subtle malty, sometimes grainy aroma. Low to no noble hop aroma. Clean, lager character with very restrained ester profile. No diacetyl.
Fairly bitter yet balanced by a smooth and sometimes sweet malt character that may have a rich, biscuity and/or lightly caramelly flavor. Dry finish often with lingering bitterness. Clean, lager character sometimes with slight sulfury notes and very low to no esters. Very low to medium noble hop flavor. No diacetyl.

Most Altbiers produced outside of Dusseldorf are of the Northern German style.
Most are simply moderately bitter brown lagers. Ironically "alt" refers to the old style of brewing
(i.e. making ales), which makes the term "Altbier" somewhat inaccurate and
inappropriate.
Those that are made as ales are fermented at cool
ale temperatures and lagered at cold temperatures (as with
Dusseldorf Alt).

If you can find them commercial examples would be, DAB Traditional, Hannen Alt,
Grolsch Amber, Alaskan
Amber, St. Stan's Amber, Schmaltz' Alt

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