Monday 24 August 2015

Dutch Lager Styles 1870 - 1960 (part twelve)

Post WW II

This is when the real transformation of Dutch brewing took place. After 1955, with Heineken increasingly successful in the American market, Dutch exports and production soared. Between then at 1970, beer output more than quadrupled.

Dutch beer output 1946 - 1970
year output (hl) year output (hl) year output (hl)
1946 1,873,000 1955 2,321,000 1963 4,408,000
1947 1,852,000 1956 2,485,000 1964 4,965,000
1948 1,514,000 1957 2,733,000 1965 5,402,000
1949 1,336,000 1958 2,941,000 1966 5,695,000
1950 1,413,000 1959 3,398,000 1967 6,571,000
1951 1,603,000 1960 3,552,000 1968 6,849,000
1952 1,611,000 1961 3,802,000 1969 7,841,000
1953 1,832,000 1962 3,965,000 1970 8,772,000
1954 1,978,000
Source:
European Statistics 1750-1970 by B. R. Mitchell, 1978.

Pils came to dominate the Dutch market, with some of the older styles such as Licht and Donker  Lager disappearing, the latter replaced by Oud Bruin. Münchener, a stronger dark Lager, gradually faded into extinction in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Heineken Rotterdam beers in 1949
Bier OG Balling FG Balling app.degree attenuation % ABV Colour hops (gm/hl)
Pils for UK 8.05 2.7 66.46% 3 0.48 143.9
Münchner 12.7 5.6 55.91% 4.9 14 147.1
Oud Bruin 8.15 3.6 55.83% 3.1 19 116.3
Pils 12.2 4 67.21% 4.7 0.8 214.8
Pils. Export 12.15 3.9 67.90% 4.7 0.8 218.4
Bok 16.35 6.3 61.47% 6.5 19 171.3
Source:
Heineken brewing records held at the Amsterdam Stadsarchief

Two new Pils versions were introduced: a low-strength one for the UK and a slightly tweaked full-strength one for the USA. All Heineken beers contained adjuncts: maize and sugar in everything plus caramel and colouring in the dark Lagers.




Dutch Lager styles around 1960

This comes from a booklet distributed by the Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor:

Dutch Lager styles around 1960
Beer OG (Plato) ABV Description
Pilsener 11 - 12 5% Golden yellow and clear.
Münchener 11.5 - 12.5 5% Less heavily hopped than Pils with a full taste
Donker Lager (Oud Bruin) 8 - 9 3.50% Artificially sweetened
Bokbier 16 6.50% Warm robin-red colour, creamy head and special aroma
Dortmunder 11 - 12 5% Fuller but less heavily hopped
Stout 16 6.50% Especially nourishing.
Source:
"Het Bier is Weer Best", Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, ca. 1960.

It’s pretty much the same styles as are around today, except Münchener has disappeared and Meibok has become a new seasonal beer.

The last reference I can find to Münchener in Heineken’s advertising is from 22nd October 1965. It must have disappeared soon after that.

It’s surprising that Heineken’s Donker Lager survived WW II, being advertised until about 1955.

Heineken’s leading position in the Dutch market was cemented in 1968 with the takeover of their main rivals, Amstel. The number of breweries continued to decline, falling from 85 in 1945* to a meager 19 in 1979**.

By the 1970’s, The Dutch industry was highly concentrated, dominated by a handful of large breweries – Heineken, Oranjeboom, Grolsch and Bavaria – making almost exclusively Pils. It was the low point of Dutch brewing.





* Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor
** Nederlands Etiketten Logboek, 1998.

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