| Heineken Rotterdam production by type in 1929 | ||||
| type | no. of brews | size of brew (HL) | total amount | % of total |
| Licht | 95 | 440 | 41,800 | 14.46% |
| Donker | 48 | 770 | 36,960 | 12.79% |
| Bayerisch | 41 | 295 | 12,095 | 4.19% |
| Pils | 491 | 395 | 193,945 | 67.11% |
| Bok | 21 | 200 | 4,200 | 1.45% |
| total | 696 | 289,000 | ||
| Source: | ||||
| Heineken brewing record held at the Amsterdam Stadsarchief, document number 834-1754. | ||||
There’s been a massive change between 1911 and 1929, with Gerste disappearing altogether and Pils dominating production. Pils was around two-thirds of sales with Licht Lager a very distant second. It’s quite a transformation.
| Heineken Rotterdam beers in 1930 | ||||||
| Beer | OG Balling | FG Balling | app. degree attenuation | % ABV | Colour | kg hop/hl |
| Pils | 12.2 | 3.8 | 68.85% | 4.7 | 4 | 0.21 |
| Licht | 9.2 | 3 | 67.39% | 3.5 | 3 | 0.17 |
| Donker | 9 | 3.2 | 64.44% | 3.5 | 11 | 0.14 |
| Bayerisch | 13 | 5.45 | 58.08% | 5 | 14 | 0.17 |
| Bok | 17.6 | 8.45 | 51.99% | 7.1 | 15 | 0.19 |
| Source: | ||||||
| Heineken brewing records held at the Amsterdam Stadsarchief | ||||||
There are a few significant differences compared to 1911. The colour of Pils has fallen from 6 to 4, while Bayerisch has got slightly darker, going from 13 to 14. The gravity of Pils has fallen from 13.2 to 12.2 but as the FG has also fallen, attenuation and ABV remain similar. The hopping rates are pretty much unchanged.
Gerstebier has disappeared, seemingly replaced by a dark version of Lagerbier.
The sales of all types of beer went into steep decline in the early 1930’s due to the Wall Street crash. Output declined from 2,319,000 hl in 1929 to 1,609,000 hl in 1933 - a fall of 31%. This is how much sales fell at various breweries in the first five months of 1933 compared to the same months the previous year:
| Fall in sales of Lagerbier and Fijnbier 1932 - 1933 | |||
| Brewery | Lager | Fijn | Total |
| H.B.M. (Heineken) | 7.26% | 12.83% | 11.09% |
| Amstel | 10.46% | 16.44% | 13.72% |
| van Vollenhoven | 15.31% | 15.23% | 15.28% |
| Z.H.B. | 14.54% | 20.12% | 17.32% |
| Oranjeboom | 13.59% | 22.52% | 18.64% |
| Source: | |||
| Letter from Amstel to the Bond van Nederlandsche Brouwerijen held in the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, doscument number 204 - 35. | |||
By Fijnbier, I think they mean full-strength Lagers like Pils. Sales were falling off a cliff. How to explain that? The letter-writer suspected it was due to Lagerbier being passed off as Pils in pubs.
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