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.