Brunswick Mum

Brunswick Mum (German: Braunschweiger Mumme, Latin: Mumma Brunsvicensium or Mumia, French: Mom de Bronsvic), is a dark beer originating from Brunswick in Germany, which ranges from weak to strong depending on the brewing method.^[1] It was one of the first black beers recorded in history.

History

Mum originated in the Late Middle Ages.^[2] The composition gave the beer a long shelf life that allowed a wide distribution; mum became the most important export from Brunswick and, in the early modern period was shipped to places such as India and the Caribbean. The drink is still sold in Brunswick where since autumn 2008, for the first time in about 200 years, it is produced in alcoholic variants.^[3] Nowadays, an alcohol-free malt extract is also sold as doppelte Segelschiff-Mumme.^[4]

According to an 18th-century source, a cask of Brunswick mum cost between 40 and 100 rixdollars.^[5]

Composition

The 17th-century author David Kellner describes mum as being held in high esteem for its strength, taste and brown color.^[6] The three types of mum (Schiff-Mumme, Stadt-Mumme, Erndte-Bier) mentioned by Kellner are solely composed of barley-malt and hops. It is said that the strongest variety had an almost syrupy consistency, known as Schiffsmumme or doppelte Mumme.^[7]

In contrast to German sources is mum in English literature from the early modern period an unhopped strong wheat-beer, made with the addition of various aromatic herbs.^[8] The oldest English recipe seems to be published 1682 in The Natural History of Coffee, Thee, Chocolate, Tobacco by John Chamberlayne and is said to be recorded in Brunswick.^[9]

The recipe calls for seven bushels of wheat-malt, one bushel of oat-malt and one bushel of ground beans to make 63 gallons of mum. Eggs are added to prevent the beer from becoming sour. Variations of this recipe are published by later authors, for instance John Nott.^[10]^[a]

Elisha Coles in An English Dictionary (1677) states that mum is "a kind of Physical Beer made (originally) at Brunswick in Germany, with husks of walnuts infused".^[12]

Notes

↑ "Mum, if it be right Brunswick; is a hearty strengthning liquor; and may safely be used sometimes, by such as require strong drink; whose bodies do like, and agree well with it. But our English Mum is not comparable to it; and disparageth the other, being too often sold for Brunswick."^[11]

References

↑ "Die Braunschweiger Mumme". Archived from the original on 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
↑ "Mugwort - Muscovy yarn". British History. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
↑ Braunschweiger Mumme-Meile
↑ "Braunschweiger Mumme". www.braunschweig.de (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2026.
↑ de Ovalle, Alonso; Monson, William; Baldeus, Philip (1745). A Collection of Voyages and Travels 3rd ed. Vol. 3. Translated by Anonymous. London: Printed by Assignment from Messrs. Churchill. p. 596.
↑ Kellner, David (1690). Hochnutzbar und bewährte Edle Bierbrau-Kunst (in German). Leipzig / Gotha: Augustus Boëtius. p. 138.
↑ Becker, Johann H. (1822). Versuch einer allgemeinen und besondern Nahrungsmittelkunde (in German). Vol. 2. Stendal: Franzen und Grosse. p. 576.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
↑ Bickerdyke, John (1965). The Curiosities of Ale and Beer. London: Spring Books. pp. 172–173.
↑ Chamberlayne, John (1682). The Natural History of Coffee, Thee, Chocolate, Tobacco. London: C. Wilkinson. pp. 32–33.
↑ Nott, John (1723). The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary. London: C. Rivington.
↑ Maynwaringe, Everard (1683). The Method and Means of Enjoying Health, Vigour, and Long Life Adapting Peculiar Courses for Different Constitutions, Ages, Abilities, Valetudinary States, Individual Proprieties, Habituated Customs, and Passions of Mind. London: Dorman Newman. p. 119.
↑ Coles, Elisha (1677). An English Dictionary Explaining the Difficult Terms that are Used in Divinity, Husbandry, Physick, Phylosophy, Law, Navigation, Mathematicks, and Other Arts and Sciences. London: Printed for Peter Parker.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

External links

Official website of Nettelbeck KG, the last mum-brewery
Chambers, E. (1741). Mum. In Cyclopaedia 4th ed.
Krünitz, G. J. (1773). Braunschweiger Mumme. In Oeconomische Encyclopädie
Julius Stinde: Zwei Veteranen des Bierstaates (1880) about mum and gose
About mum in The Curiosities of Ale and Beer (originally published 1889) by John Bickerdyke
Of Brunswick Beer, or Mum in The Art of Brewing 2nd ed. (1834) by David Booth

[12] "Mum, if it be right Brunswick; is a hearty strengthning liquor; and may safely be used sometimes, by such as require strong drink; whose bodies do like, and agree well with it. But our English Mum is not comparable to it; and disparageth the other, being too often sold for Brunswick."^[11]

[1] "Die Braunschweiger Mumme". Archived from the original on 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2024-04-22.

[2] "Mugwort - Muscovy yarn". British History. Retrieved 2010-03-24.

[Meile-3] Braunschweiger Mumme-Meile

[4] "Braunschweiger Mumme". www.braunschweig.de (in German). Retrieved 19 April 2026.

[5] Ovalle, Alonso; Monson, William; Baldeus, Philip (1745). A Collection of Voyages and Travels 3rd ed. Vol. 3. Translated by Anonymous. London: Printed by Assignment from Messrs. Churchill. p. 596.

[Kellner-6] Kellner, David (1690). Hochnutzbar und bewährte Edle Bierbrau-Kunst (in German). Leipzig / Gotha: Augustus Boëtius. p. 138.

[7] Becker, Johann H. (1822). Versuch einer allgemeinen und besondern Nahrungsmittelkunde (in German). Vol. 2. Stendal: Franzen und Grosse. p. 576.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

[Bickerdyke-8] Bickerdyke, John (1965). The Curiosities of Ale and Beer. London: Spring Books. pp. 172–173.

[Chamberlayne-9] Chamberlayne, John (1682). The Natural History of Coffee, Thee, Chocolate, Tobacco. London: C. Wilkinson. pp. 32–33.

[Nott-10] Nott, John (1723). The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary. London: C. Rivington.

[Maynwaringe-11] Maynwaringe, Everard (1683). The Method and Means of Enjoying Health, Vigour, and Long Life Adapting Peculiar Courses for Different Constitutions, Ages, Abilities, Valetudinary States, Individual Proprieties, Habituated Customs, and Passions of Mind. London: Dorman Newman. p. 119.

[13] Coles, Elisha (1677). An English Dictionary Explaining the Difficult Terms that are Used in Divinity, Husbandry, Physick, Phylosophy, Law, Navigation, Mathematicks, and Other Arts and Sciences. London: Printed for Peter Parker.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

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