Dutch beer during WW II

I'm off travelling again. Nothing really beer-related. It's my annual trip to Folkestone with Mikey. Which, obviously, will involve a degree of beer-drinking.

Every trip necessitates queueing up a good few posts. And what better way to generate posts than to consult my massive gravity spreadsheet. I first stared collecting gravities more than 20 years ago. The first iteration had maybe 50 entries. Now, it's just shy of 25,000. Most of which - 21,600 - are from the UK. It's an incredibly handy resource.

Anyway, I digress. I thought that it might be interesting to compare Dutch beers of WW II with the German ones we looked at yesterday. All of the beers I have analyses of would be confusing. Instead, I've plumped for those of two largest breweries from Holland's two largest cities: Amstel from Amsterdam and Oranjeboom from Rotterdam.

Though gravities had fallen below their pre-war strength, until the end of 1941, you could still find a beer of around 3% ABV. Not long into 1942, that dropped to 1.5% ABV at most. SO pretty much a waste of time, other than for hydration.

Note that there was much more than just Pils being brewed. With Dark Lagers both at full-strength (Münchener) and lower-gravity (Donker Lagerbier). 

Amstel beers during WW II
Date	Year	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
19th Mar	1941	Donker Lager	Donker Lagerbier	draught	1030.7	1006.7	3.10	77.99%	6.80
18th Feb	1941	Licht Lagerbier	Licht Lagerbier	draught	1036.3	1006.7	3.79	81.41%	0.40
28th Dec	1941	M	Münchener	draught	1029.2	1010.9	2.35	62.67%	8.00
28th Jan	1941	Pils	Pils	draught	1041.4	1009.0	4.16	78.34%	0.48
30th May	1941	Pils	Pils	bottled	1039.6	1006.9	4.24	82.55%	0.40
5th Jun	1941	Pils	Pils	draught	1033.6	1006.7	3.46	80.17%	0.42
5th Dec	1941	Pils	Pils	draught	1029.2	1007.9	2.73	72.85%	0.45
18th Dec	1942	M	Münchener	draught	1014.5	1002.9	1.51	80.14%	2.50
18th Dec	1942	Pils	Pils	draught	1014.7	1003.7	1.41	74.83%	0.42
26th Jan	1943	Lager	Licht Lagerbier	draught	1010.1	1002.5	1.01	75.01%	2.80
25th Jan	1943	Pils	Pils	draught	1014.6	1003.3	1.46	77.13%	0.42
Source:
Rapporten van laboratoriumonderzoeken naar producten van Heinekenbrouwerijen in binnen- en buitenland en naar producten van andere brouwerijen held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number 834 - 1794.

 

Oranjeboom beers during WW II
Date	Year	Beer	Style	package	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
19th Mar	1941	Donker Lager	Donker Lagerbier	draught	1030.1	1008.9	2.75	70.62%	6.80
17th Sep	1941	Donker Lager	Donker Lagerbier	draught	1025.0	1007.7	2.26	69.10%	10.00
30th Dec	1941	Dortmunder	Dortmunder	draught	1030.4	1005.4	3.24	82.27%	0.50
18th Feb	1941	Licht Lagerbier	Licht Lagerbier	draught	1030.9	1006.6	3.13	78.79%	0.48
17th Sep	1941	Licht Lagerbier	Licht Lagerbier	draught	1026.0	1005.2	2.71	79.86%	0.35
17th Sep	1941	M	Münchener	draught	1034.9	1007.1	3.61	79.67%	12.50
30th Dec	1941	M	Münchener	draught	1033.9	1007.1	3.43	78.96%	12.50
28th Jan	1941	Pils	Pils	draught	1040.6	1009.5	4.00	76.64%	0.52
30th May	1941	Pils	Pils	bottled	1032.5	1009.5	2.74	70.76%	0.60
17th Sep	1941	Pils	Pils	draught	1034.2	1005.7	3.66	83.22%	0.52
2nd Jan	1942	Belegen Gerste	Gerste	draught	1021.9	1006.1	2.01	72.14%	10.00
18th Dec	1942	Belegen Gerste	Gerste	draught	1011.9	1003.0	1.18	75.07%	4.80
2nd Jan	1942	Pils	Pils	draught	1030.7	1005.0	3.29	83.60%	0.55
26th Jan	1943	Belegen Gerste	Gerste	draught	1011.9	1003.6	1.07	69.87%	5.00
Source:
Rapporten van laboratoriumonderzoeken naar producten van Heinekenbrouwerijen in binnen- en buitenland en naar producten van andere brouwerijen held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number 834 - 1794.