California Common: An American Brew for the Common Man

California Common is a New World beer style. In fact it is one of two classic styles that everybody agrees are genuinely American, the other being cream ale. California Common is an odd beer, essentially a lager that tastes more like an ale. Some people call it a hybrid beer; others are less genteel and call it a bastard. It is a quaffing brew for the common man and woman, a brew reminiscent of the rough and tumble days of the Alaska Gold Rush of the 1890s, when many of the mostly male inhabitants of San Francisco lined up on the docks waiting to be transported to the riches of the northern frontier.

Obviously, in those days before the Panama Canal, there was hardly enough “imported” beer available to satisfy the collective thirst of the disparate lot of prospectors, thrown together from all corners of the country, even the globe. Not surprisingly, enterprising publicans quickly filled the void by brewing their own beer on location, and because German immigrant brewers used to dominate American brewing, including California brewing, at the time, the brews these California pioneer brewers made were lagers . . . but lagers with a difference.

California Common, a can-do and make-do style

Before man acquired the technology to control the entire brewing process as well as the transportation network to make locales irrelevant, he could only make the beers nature allowed him to brew, and do so with local materials. In the cold winters of    Munich, for instance, near the foothills of the Alps, lager emerged, because only bottom-fermenting yeasts can work in such a climate. The Rhineland, by contrast, never got cold enough for lager brewing nor warm enough for ale brewing by the British way. The result was the cool-fermented Altbier and its blond cousin, the Kölsch. In the British Isles, on the other hand, warm-fermenting brews thrived, which resulted in a cornucopia of ale styles from the blondest pale ale to the darkest stout.

In far-away California, however, it was much warmer and the brew equipment was primitive. According to the Anchor Brewing Company Website, the California brew scene was run mostly by German-born entrepreneurs in the 19th century. They had such names as Behlmer, Böse, Freyer, Garms, Hage-mann, Hansen, Lurmann, Schleemann, Schröder, Schwarz, Thode, Veen, Win-deler and Wunder. True to the tradition of their native land, they used lager yeast, probably hauled in from the Eastern seaboard. As for grain and hops, they probably used whatever happened to become available on the local market. From these ingredients, they made their beers in flat open fermenters. Even after the invention of refrigerated beer vats in Munich in the 1870s, such technologies were not yet available in the pioneer outposts at the Golden Bay.

Whichever lager yeast these early brewers might have used initially, it is likely that it mutated rapidly in the unusual, non-lager-like environment. Not surprisingly, the character of the San Francisco brews began to reflect the character of their times and circumstances. The result was a beer, which, though bottom-fermented, tasted more like an ale, probably with plenty of fruitiness and butter-scotch flavor.

Initially this brew from the steamy shores of San Francisco was called “steam beer.” It is not clear where the name came from, but according to one fanciful theory, the cask-conditioned California brews of the 1890s gave off plumes of “steam” when their bung holes were opened prior to tapping. Another theory suggests that the name relates to the early steam engines installed in some California breweries. As these steam-equipped breweries proudly bragged about their modern machinery in their promotions, their brews came to be known as “steam beer.”

Whichever is the true explanation, for legal reasons, the descendants of these beers are now universally called California Common, because “Steam” has since become a trademark owned by the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco. The steam beer style had nearly faded into oblivion by the 1960s. Fewer and fewer breweries bothered to make it, while generic mass lagers were capturing an ever-increasing market share. It was then that Fritz Maytag purchased one of the last steam breweries — namely Anchor. This brewery was founded in the 1850s by two German immigrants. In 1896, it had fallen into the hands of two German-born steam brewers, Otto Schinkel and Ernst Baruth. After several changes in ownership, Fritz Maytag acquired the brewery in 1965, just before it was to be closed down, and he turned it into one of the biggest success stories of the American craft brew revival.

A tale of an accidental California Common

It is not surprising that a beer style with the history of the California Common has a fairly broad range of specifications (see California Common by the numbers on page 17). Numer-ically, a California Common is hard to pin down and different experts, including the Association of Brewers Beer Style Guidelines, use marginally different ranges for the different variables. But there is no point in arguing, because we know the original merely in broad strokes. For instance, the color range of a California Common may be quite wide, from light to darkish-amber. Modern versions are generally pale-amber to copper. The alcohol content by volume can vary at least from a low of around 4.5% to a high of around 5.5%. The composition of the grain bill, too, is very unspecific.

A quick glance at the printed and posted literature confirms that a great number of brews have been labeled California Common, even though they could have been called something else by virtue of their ingredients. A case in point is the following tale of a pub brew that started out as German lager but ended up as a California Common:

A while back, a pub-brewer friend of mine called me up to ask me if I could pop over for a taste test. He had made a Munich Helles with all the right ingredients and he felt the beer had great promise. Half-way through the primary fermentation, however, something had happened over night. Perhaps there was a power failure. Nobody knows, but when he showed up in the cellar the following morning, his Helles lager was at the comfortable ale temperature of 68 °F (20 °C) and the beer was almost completely attenuated. “I thought I should get a second opinion,” he said despondently, “before I pour it down the drain.”

Indeed, the beer tasted like an overly fruity, diacetyl-laden, estery ale. It was raw and unpleasant. Yet, I thought it would be a shame to toss out 10 U.S. barrels (almost 12 hectoliters) of beer if they could be saved. I suggested that he just go ahead and consider the accident a premature diacetyl rest. I recommended that he pull down the tank temperature again, cap the tank for conditioning, and let the brew mature for a few weeks. This gave him the idea to perhaps rename the brew California Common.

The characteristics of the brew that eventually emerged, after some aging, from the mysterious mishap indeed matched the California flavor profile. A California Common was not what he had planned to make, but it’s what he ended up with — and three weeks later, the brew was on the pub’s beer menu under that very name. It was very popular with the customers and was gone in no time. My friend had accidentally replicated on a small scale what probably happened in San Francisco in the 1890s on a large scale.

The point of this tale is not that a California Common is a mere mistake made palatable by aging. Rather, it shows that the characteristics of different beer cultures, when fused together, can produce a brew that may appear unlikely at first glance but yield surprisingly pleasant taste experiences in the end. In a sense, the California Common as the first truly American beer style is a fusion brew, with elements borrowed from several brewing traditions. If America is a melting pot, perhaps the California Common can be regarded as a melting glass.

Ingredients and process

In spite of the broad style definition of the California Common, there are a few guidelines for ingredients and process that the brewer must adhere to in order to make the resulting brew authentic. For instance, formulate the brew so that the mouthfeel is medium, neither viscous nor thin. This means no unmalted grain in the mash tun and no poorly attenuating yeast in the fermenter.

Considering where the grain would most likely have come from in San Francisco at the end of the 19th century, a California Common is perhaps most authentically brewed with grains that are indigenously American. A good portion might have even been 6-row malt. Modern homebrewers, of course, do not have such supply limitations. For the cleanest taste, use a top quality pale ale malt as a base grist. Even a Pils malt is suitable, as my friend’s happenstance Helles/Common proved. Adding some Munich malt gives the brew some color and body. For a very pale California Common, you can use caramel Pils malt instead of Munich malt. For a deep-amber brew, add some crystal malt at a color rating of no more than 60 °Lovibond/SRM. Avoid darker malts because you are only after color, not roastiness, which is not part of the California Common’s flavor profile.

For the straight extract brewer, California Common is rather user friendly. Simply mix a standard, unhopped pale ale malt with a standard, unhopped dark ale malt. You can vary the proportions depending on the desired color and flavor profile of your California Common. In our recipe the dark ale liquid malt extract (LME) accounts for about 20% of the malt.

While the upfront perception of a California Common relies more on maltiness than hoppiness, the finish should have a pronounced American-style hop-aromatic component. In theory, therefore, we must choose a bittering hop that is not overpowering and an aroma hop that has legs. In practice, American, British and Continental European hop varieties all seem to be found in a California Common. However, because we are looking at California Common more
as a classic beer style than an experimental inspiration, I have chosen Cluster for both bittering and aroma in our recipe. It is a hop variety with an alpha-acid level of about 6%.

Cluster is the most traditional choice, because it was one of the most ubiquitous hop varieties grown from coast to coast in the United States in the 19th century. The genetic origin of Cluster is not known but it is probably a cross between a cultivated English and a wild American variety. If you prefer a more contemporary American flavor, you can utilize such spicy Northwest types as Galena for bittering and Willamette for aroma. For a more edgy, assertive California Common, of course, you can always use the floral, aromatic Cascade.

Anchor actually uses their own strain of yeast for their Steam. This yeast strain is distinctive and good tasters can distinguish it for its unique aroma. Nonetheless, there have been yeasts developed that closely resemble Anchor’s and these are widely available to homebrewers.

Given the historical roots of California Common, its yeast should be a lager variety that has adapted to the relatively high ambient fermentation temperatures that prevailed in San Francisco in the 19th century. Perhaps the most common strains are Wyeast 2112 California Lager and White Labs WLP 0810 San Francisco. Both strains ferment wort to the California style within an optimal temperature range of roughly 58–65 °F (14–18 °C). It is a fair guess that the diacetyl levels in today’s California Common brews are lower than they must have been most of the time in the 1890s. However, if you do wish to accentuate your Common’s fruitiness, by all means, ferment your beer at 72 °F (22 °C).

Also, a California Common should be well carbonated. Use a generous amount of priming agent, perhaps as much as 11/2 cups of light dry malt extract for 5 gallons (19 L). If the brew is to be served out of a Cornelius keg, dispense it cool, at a pressure of 15–20 psi (1–1.4 atmospheres).

All of this is potentially good news for homebrewers. The temperature inside most homes (where many people tend to brew) closely resemble the climate of California throughout the year (from winter to summer). This being the case, we as homebrewers have the comfort of making California Common at (or very close to) room temperature while staying authentic to the style. No need to press-gang the family fridge into brewing service. The pantry or a dark basement corner will suffice!

Horst Dornbusch has been brewing ales and lagers since 1972, both as a homebrewer and, in the 1990s, as the owner of a brewing company. In 2000 he was awarded a Bronze Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado for his Dornbusch German Ale, an Altbier. When not busy brewing, he is a beer writer and contributes “Style Profile” to every issue of Brew Your Own.


Recipes

California Common
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.052  FG=1.012   
IBU = 35  SRM = 16  ABV = 5.2%

Ingredients
8.5 lbs. (3.8 kg) American 2-row
    pale ale malt (approx. 2.5 °L)
1.3 lb. (0.58 kg) Munich malt
    (10-20 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt
    (60 °L)
9.5 AAU Cluster hops (bittering)
    (1.6 oz./45 g of 6%
    alpha acid)
1.5 oz. (28 g) Cluster hops (aroma)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
Wyeast 2112 (California Lager or
    White Labs WLP0810
    (San Francisco Lager) yeast
1 cup dry malt extract (for priming)

Step by Step
    Start at 130 °F (54 °C) for a 30-minute rest and increase the mash temperature, using a combination of hot-water infusion and direct heat, to 152 °F (67 °C) for a 60-minute saccharification rest, then to 168 °F (76 °C) for the mash-out.  Recirculate your wort until it runs clear (about 15 minutes) and sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water until you reach a kettle gravity of about 1.047 (11.8 °P) to account for evaporation losses during the boil. Boil for 75 minutes. Add the bittering hops after 15 minutes and the aroma hops and Irish Moss after 70 minutes. After shutdown, let the brew rest for about 15 minutes. Then siphon the wort off the trub and heat exchange it to your preferred pitching temperature (see “Ingred-ients and Process,” in story), between 58 °F (14 °C) and 72 °F
(22 °C). Ferment for 10 days and rack. Allow an additional week for secondary fermentation. Rack again and prime for packaging. Let the brew condition and mellow in bottles or in a keg for another two to three weeks.

California Common
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.052  FG = 1.012   
IBU = 35  SRM = 16  ABV = 5.2%

Ingredients
6.25 lbs. (2.8 kg) pale ale liquid
    malt extract
1.3 lb. (0.58 kg) Munich malt
    (10-20 °L)
0.8 lb. (0.28 kg) crystal malt
    (60 °L)
9.5 AAU Cluster hops (bittering)
    (1.6 oz./45 g of 6% alpha acid)
1.5 oz. (28 g) Cluster hops (aroma)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
1 package Wyeast 2112
    (California Lager) or White Labs
    WLP810 (San Francisco) yeast
1 cup dry malt extract (for priming)

Step by Step
    Coarsely mill the 2.1 lbs. of specialty grains and place them into a muslin bag. Immerse the bag in cold water and heat slowly, for about 30 minutes to 170–190 °F (77–88 °F). Discard the bag without squeezing it and mix the liquid with about 4 gallons (15 L) of brewing liquor. Heat the liquor and stir in the liquid malt extract. Bring the dissolved malt extract to a boil. Boil for 75 minutes. Add the bittering hops after 15 minutes and the aroma hops and Irish Moss after 70 minutes. After shutdown, let the brew rest for about 15 minutes. Then siphon the wort off the trub and heat exchange it to your preferred pitching temperature (see “Ingredients and Process,” in story), between 58 °F (14 C°) and
72 °F (22 °C).
    Ferment for 10 days and rack. Allow an additional week for secondary fermentation. Rack again and prime for packaging. Let the brew condition and mellow in bottles or in a keg for another two to three weeks.

California Common
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.052  FG = 1.012   
IBU = 35  SRM = 16  ABV = 5.2%

Ingredients
6.25 lbs. (2.8 kg) pale ale liquid malt
    extract
1.66 lb. (0.75 kg) dark ale liquid malt
    extract
9.5 AAU Cluster hops (bittering)
    (1.6 oz./45 g of 6% alpha acid)
1.5 oz. (28 g) Cluster hops (aroma)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
Wyeast 2112 (California Lager) or
    White Labs WLP 0810
    (San Francisco) yeast
1 cup dry malt extract (for priming)

Step by Step
    Mix the malt extracts with your hot brewing liquor in the kettle. Bring the wort to a boil, and boil for 75 minutes. Add the bittering hops after 15 minutes and the aroma hops and Irish Moss after 70 minutes. After shutdown, let the brew rest for about 15 minutes. Then siphon the wort off the trub and heat exchange it to your preferred pitching temperature (“Ingredients and Process,” in story), between 58 °F (14 °C) and 72 °F (22 °C). Ferment for 10 days and rack. Allow an additional week for secondary fermentation. Rack again and prime for packaging. Let the brew condition in bottles or in a keg for another two to three weeks.