As usual. my source is the Whitbread Gravity Book. But this is where things get a little weird. Because I've seen a couple of these beers from the other side of the fence. Having taken a look at some Heineken and Amstel brewing records from around this period, I was aware of the "special" versions brewed for the UK market.
The beers in the table fall very neatly into two groups. Beers, like Heineken, brewed especially weak for the British market. And beers left at their original strength. This is a dichotomy that, to some extent, still exists in the UK. Though the pissy versions are now usually brewed in the UK. Only one beer has a gravity between 1032 and 1041. Stella, of all things. Which in 1961 was only 3.5% ABV.
Imported Lager | ||||||||||||
Year | Brewer | Country | Beer | Style | Price | size | package | FG | OG | Colour | ABV | attenuation |
1963 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Pilsner | Pils | 21d | half pint | bottled | 1005.2 | 1029.9 | 7.5 | 3.09 | 82.61% |
1963 | Heineken | Holland | Lager | Lager | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1008.4 | 1030 | 6 | 2.70 | 72.00% |
1961 | Tuborg | Denmark | Pilsner | Pils | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1005.6 | 1030.2 | 12 | 3.08 | 81.46% |
1963 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Pilsner | Pils | 19d | half pint | can | 1005.4 | 1030.2 | 8 | 3.10 | 82.12% |
1962 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Danish Pilsner | Pils | 19d | half pint | bottled | 1008 | 1030.4 | 8 | 2.80 | 73.68% |
1963 | Schou | Norway | Export Lager | Lager | 17d | half pint | bottled | 1003 | 1030.4 | 6 | 3.43 | 90.13% |
1961 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Danish Pilsner | Pils | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1007.2 | 1030.5 | 7.5 | 2.91 | 76.39% |
1963 | Elbschloss | Germany | Ratsherrn Lager | Lager | 24d | half pint | bottled | 1006.3 | 1030.5 | 13 | 3.03 | 79.34% |
1961 | Heineken | Holland | Lager Beer | Lager | 18d | half pint | bottled | 1006.3 | 1030.6 | 4.5 | 3.04 | 79.41% |
1961 | Amstel | Holland | Amstel Lager | Lager | 18d | half pint | bottled | 1006.1 | 1030.9 | 9.5 | 3.10 | 80.26% |
1961 | Oranjeboom | Holland | Dutch Pilsner | Pils | 18d | half pint | bottled | 1006.9 | 1031.1 | 9.5 | 3.02 | 77.81% |
1959 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Pilsener | Pils | 21d | half pint | bottled | 1009.1 | 1031.2 | 15 | 2.76 | 70.83% |
1963 | Tuborg | Denmark | Pilsner | Pils | 21d | half pint | bottled | 1007 | 1031.5 | 12 | 3.06 | 77.78% |
1963 | Oranjeboom | Holland | Pilsner Lager | Pils | 21d | half pint | bottled | 1005.9 | 1031.6 | 7.5 | 3.21 | 81.33% |
1961 | ZHB | Holland | Export Pilsner Lager | Pils | 18.5d | half pint | bottled | 1005.9 | 1032 | 8 | 3.26 | 81.56% |
1961 | Pilsner Urquell | Czech | Pilsner Urquell | Pils | 17d | half pint | bottled | 1010.9 | 1032.5 | 10 | 2.70 | 66.46% |
1961 | Brasseries Artois | Belgium | Stella Lager | Lager | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1005.7 | 1035.4 | 6 | 3.71 | 83.90% |
1961 | Patzenhofer, Berlin | Germany | Patz Lager | Lager | 21d | half pint | bottled | 1007.5 | 1041 | 7.5 | 4.19 | 81.71% |
1963 | Union (Dortmund) | Germany | Pilsner | Pils | 22d | half pint | bottled | 1006.7 | 1042 | 9 | 4.41 | 84.05% |
1961 | Holsten | Germany | Holsten Lager | Lager | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1008.1 | 1044.1 | 7 | 4.50 | 81.63% |
1960 | Lamot | Belgium | Pilsor Lager | Lager | 18d | half pint | bottled | 1007.5 | 1044.4 | 7 | 4.61 | 83.11% |
1963 | Fosters, Melbourne | Australia | Export Lager | Lager | 27d | half pint | bottled | 1003.9 | 1045.4 | 8 | 5.19 | 91.41% |
1961 | Holsten | Germany | Pilsner Lager | Pils | 20d | half pint | bottled | 1000.8 | 1045.5 | 7 | 5.59 | 98.24% |
1963 | Holsten | Germany | Pilsner | Pils | 22d | half pint | bottled | 1006.7 | 1046.1 | 6 | 4.92 | 85.47% |
1961 | Vandenheuvel | Belgium | Ekla Lager | Lager | 18d | half pint | bottled | 1009.8 | 1046.7 | 6.5 | 4.61 | 79.01% |
1961 | Carlton United Breweries, Melbourne | Australia | Fosters Export Beer | Lager | 24d | half pint | bottled | 1005 | 1047.3 | 7.5 | 5.29 | 89.43% |
1963 | Swan Brewery Co. Ltd., Pert W. Australia | Australia | Swan Lager | Lager | 27d | half pint | bottled | 1006.6 | 1048.1 | 7 | 5.19 | 86.28% |
1961 | Swan Brewery Co. Ltd., Pert W. Australia | Australia | Swan Lager | Lager | 24d | half pint | bottled | 1006.2 | 1048.3 | 7.5 | 5.26 | 87.16% |
1963 | Desnoe & Geddes | Jamaica | Red Stripe Lager | Lager | 16.25d | half pint | can | 1010.2 | 1048.5 | 6 | 4.79 | 78.97% |
1961 | Desnoe & Geddes | Jamaica | Red Stripe Lager | Lager | 21d | half pint | can | 1010 | 1049.2 | 6 | 4.90 | 79.67% |
1963 | Tatra | Poland | Zywiec Lager | Lager | 26d | half pint | bottled | 1006.9 | 1051.4 | 9.5 | 5.56 | 86.58% |
1961 | Hackerbräu | Germany | Hackerbräu Light | Lager | 33d | half pint | bottled | 1014.5 | 1051.7 | 8 | 4.65 | 71.95% |
1963 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Lager de Luxe | Lager | 27d | half pint | bottled | 1009.5 | 1052.1 | 8 | 5.32 | 81.77% |
1962 | Carlsberg | Denmark | Lager de Luxe | Lager | 24d | half pint | bottled | 1008.3 | 1052.8 | 8 | 5.56 | 84.28% |
1961 | Dortmunder - Hansa | Germany | Dortmunder Urtyp | Export | 30d | half pint | bottled | 1006.7 | 1053.7 | 9.5 | 5.88 | 87.52% |
1961 | Löwenbräu | Germany | Pale Bock Beer | Bock | 38d | half pint | bottled | 1015.4 | 1059.6 | 5.5 | 5.52 | 74.16% |
1963 | Löwenbräu | Germany | Pale Bock Beer | Bock, pale | 42d | half pint | bottled | 1013.7 | 1059.7 | 7 | 5.75 | 77.05% |
1966 | Tuborg | Denmark | Royal Brew | Lager | 42d | pint | bottled | 1010 | 1077.5 | 9 | 8.44 | 87.10% |
Source: | ||||||||||||
Whitbread Gravity Book |
I hope you're enjoying the summer of lager. Just wait until I start reporting on the Annafest and Fränkische Schweiz. Then the party will really kick off.
5 comments:
That label is hilarious! the bloke on it looks like that French actor, Louis de Funes, with a dodgy white wig....
Carlsberg Special Brew, still made I believe, is not mentioned. However, a similar-sounding beer of high gravity and appropriately described as Royal, is included as a Tuborg product.
I believe Carlsberg and Tuborg later merged and I wonder if Carlsberg Special Brew was the Tuborg beer re-named. Yet, I would think each brewery must have had an extra-strong specialty of this type.
Carlsberg Special Brew had a cult status in the 1970's. One of the established English authors who wrote occasionally on drink, possibly Alec Waugh, once wrote of having a drink after observing a health regimen for some time. I remember well his colourful description of swallowing an ice-cold Carlsberg Special Brew after such a hiatus, something about opening every sense and an explosion of flavour.
Gary
Pivni Filosof, he's one weird-looking chav. I love old labels.
Gary, Carlsberg Special Brew was originally brewed for Winston Churchill. He died in 1965, before Tuborg and Carlsberg merged. So I'm pretty sure Special Brew was a Carlsberg beer.
Tuborg and Carlsberg still have pretty much parallel lines.
I've always thought, but I don't know why, that Special Brew was a UK Carlsberg invention.
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