Dutch Lager Styles 1870 - 1960 (part ten)

ZHB beers in 1937

Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant, 27th October 1937, page 4.

Brewed some different styles to Heineken: Oud Bruin, Stout and Dortmunder. But most were the same: Pilsener, Munchener, Extra Lager (the equivalent of Heinken’s Licht Lager) and Gerste Lager (equivalent to Heineken’s Donker Lager). It looks like all but the Stout were in two strength bands: 12º and 9º Plato. The Stout was probably 16.5º Plato.

Märzen
In the 1930’s there was a plan to introduce Märzen as a Spring seasonal. Tax increases in 1935 put the project on hold, but it was revived in 1939. The original idea had been for a beer with a gravity of around 16º Plato with a “Vienna colour” which would be available for a short time in the spring, possibly May.

When the idea was revived in early 1939, it was intended to release the beer just before Easter to help boost sales. The first date set was 24th March 1940. The price to be the same as for Bokbier, 40 guilders per hl, which implies a gravity of around 16º Plato.  It was to be pale in colour. In the first year, Bond van Nederlandsche Brouwerijen reckoned its members would sell around 5,000 hl each, a little less than the 6,000 – 7,000 hl they each sold of Bokbier.

Meibier
It was defined by Bond van Nederlandsche Brouwerijen as a beer of 15.5 – 16.5º Plato, colour 3-6 on Brandt’s colour scale, 40 guilders per hectoliter. It was produced by members in 1939, but was dropped in 1940 because of poor sales in 1939.  It looks like a forerunner of modern Dutch Meibok.

English brewers' visit to Holland

Another random Journal of the Institute of Brewing article that caught my attention. Or rather, which I went hunting for.

Accounts of British brewers' trips abroad are such great resources. They are the perfect reporters, both understanding the brewing process and fascinated by practices which differ from those in Britain. Sadly, this article doesn't contain that level of detail. But it does tell me where I can find it.

"ENGLISH BREWERS' VISIT TO HOLLAND

The eighth annual tour of foreign breweries organised and conducted under the auspices of The Brewers' Journal took place last June —the country visited being Holland. The party, numbering over thirty, included several members of the Institute and was easily the most notable so far, including as it did representatives from many of the largest breweries in England and Scotland.

The party were abroad for a week, making their headquarters in Amsterdam, and visiting, in addition, The Hague, Rotterdam and Amersfoort. At The Hague, the well-known "Z.H.B." brewery was visited. This brewery has a capacity for 92,000 barrels a year, of which the greater proportion is sold in cask. Messrs. Heineken's was the brewery visited at Rotterdam. This firm also has a branch in Amsterdam, and between them can turn out about 460,000 barrels a year. The party were received by Dr. Heineken and Dr. Mendlik, whom, it will be remembered, read a paper before the London Section in March of this year, and which was published in our July issue. The outstanding feature of this brewery was the brewhouse, which is one of the best seen on these tours.

At Amersfoort the party visited the Phoenix Brewery which, although smaller than the others, was most interesting. The capacity is about 40,000 barrels a year, and the point of special interest was that practically the entire output is exported. In Amsterdam, the Amstel Brewery was visited. As a single concern this is the largest in Holland, with a capacity of about 320,000 barrels a year. The maltings of this company are a fine example of the pneumatic system equipped with sixteen large Galland drums."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 43, Issue 5, September-October 1937, page 368 - 369.

I'm very grateful for those production figures. It helps put the Dutch industry into context. Amstel was the largest brewery with an annual output of just 320,000 barrels. That's quite modest by British standards. But Holland is a much smaller country and this is before Dutch breweries got heavily into exporting.

It would be interesting to know how much of Heineken's beer was brewed in Amsterdam and how much in Rotterdam. I assume they're referring to the 1930's brewhouse at Heineken, which is still intact. Very attractive it is, too.

Phoenix and ZHB were two of the older Lager breweries and it's a shock to see just how little they brewed.

I love stuff like this, details of the tax regime:

"The Excise Duty Holland in is charged at the rate of 1.50 guilders per degree—hectolitre, the charge being taken in the copper immediately before turning out. An allow ance of 4.2 per cent, is made for shrinkage in volume on cooling, but there is no allow ance for loss. The degree is 10° of specific gravity, so that the duty on a barrel at 1,048° would be about £1 6s 6d.
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 43, Issue 5, September-October 1937, Page 369.

I'd suspected tax awas paid on degree hectolitre because there's a column for that in Heineken's brewing records. In case you're interested, the tax in Britain on a barrel of beer with an OG of 1048 was £3 9s 9d, or more than two and a half times as much. ever  since WW I high taxation has been a feature of British brewing.

"The party was received with proverbial Dutch hospitality throughout the week, while the weather combined to make the tour one of the most successful on record. Readers interested will find a detailed account of the tour in the July and August issues of The Brewers' Journal.

Holland, in common with the rest of Europe, suffered in the depression some years ago, but trade is now on the upgrade, chiefly for export, as the Dutch can hardly be described as a beer-drinking nation. The beer, however, is good and has a distinctive flavour. There are not a large number of breweries outside the big cities, so that they have no Institute to compare with our own. Nevertheless, they have taken a prominent part in scientific research, and names which come readily to mind—Elion, Kluyver, Hartong and Mendlik—testify to the progressive nature of the industry."
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 43, Issue 5, September-October 1937, Page 369.

In the Brewer's Journal, eh? I'm sure I've got a bound copy of the 1937 issues. Must take a look in that.

Holland has fallen in and out of love with beer a couple of times over the last century. It's only really after WW II that beer-drinking properly took root. Somnething many Dutch don't realise.

Price fixing 1943

An illegal cartel. That's what they'd call it now.

These are the prices per hectolitre of draught beer:



Translation:

"2nd: Article 1.A of Chapter VII is replaced by:

Beer prices per barrel
----------------------
1.A The binding prices for member breweries for the beers mentioned in Chapter VI for draught beer are as follows:

Lager 24.80 guilders per hl
Pilsener or Münchener 34.65 guilders
Stout 51.30 guilders

with the understanding that the prices of the other types of beer mentioned in Article 1 of Chapter VI will be agreed on later, when it is necessary.

3rd: Article 3 of Chapter VII is read as follows:

Agent discount.
---------------
3.A this is:
per hl Lager a maximum of 4.15 guilders
per hl Pilsener or Münchener a maximum of 4.15 guilders
per hl Stout a maximum of 4.15 guilders

with the understanding that the discounts of the other types of beer mentioned in Article 1 of Chapter VI will be agreed on later, when it is necessary."

These are the breweries that agreed to it:

They'd never dare pull such a trick nowadays, would they?

Almost forgot the beer types featured. Beer styles, sorry. Must get my terminology right. Lager, Pilsener, Münchener, Stout. Interesting mix.

I must share the same brewers' proposals for introducing Märzen as a spring seasonal beer. Fascinating stuff. But I can't be arsed tot translate it at the moment. I'll do it later. Remind me if I forget. It's great stuff.