Let's Brew Wednesday - 1940 Heineken Licht Lagerbier

No surprise that Heineken’s session Pale Lager has also had its strength cut in November 1940. And, like all the other beers, this was achieved by adding water before fermentation.

Not sure what the point was in that. I could understand if they had diluted it post fermentation. That’s what some UK brewers did around the end of WW I for reasons of yeast health. Too low a gravity wort not giving yeast enough food to develop properly.

Like the Pils, the grist is extremely simple, consisting solely of pilsner malt. Though there were three different types of it.

Two types of hops were employed, Sa and Bacha, both from the 1939 harvest. I’m pretty sure the former were Saaz and the latter I think were from Yugoslavia.

1940 Heineken Licht Lagerbier
pilsner malt	6.50 lb	100.00%
Hallertau 90 mins	0.25 oz
Hallertau 60 mins	0.33 oz
Saaz 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1029
FG	1007
ABV	2.91
Apparent attenuation	75.86%
IBU	13.5
SRM	2.5
Mash double decoction
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	48º F
Yeast	WLP830 German Lager

 

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

Heineken (Rotterdam) grists in 1941

The grists hadn’t really changed since 1940. The beers are still all malt, save for a little caramel colouring. This is a real contrast with the UK, where by this point all brewers had been forced to use some unmalted grain. The move wasn’t just about preserving grain supplies. Labour shortages meant that there was limited malting capacity.

I’m not sure why the kleurmout and caramel have been dropped from Beiersche. I would have expected that they would struggle to get the colour dark enough without those two elements. According to the brewing records, it is a little paler, but only by a small amount. Probably too little for drinker to notice.

Heineken (Rotterdam) grists in 1941
Date	Beer	Style	lager malt	Kleur-mout	broei-mout	Caramel-mout	litres Kleur
17th Jul	Pils	Pils	100.00%
16th Jul	Donker Lagerbier	Donker Lagerbier	90.50%	1.50%	6.00%	2.00%	24
17th Jul	Licht Lagerbier	Licht Lagerbier	100.00%
15th Jul	Pils	Pils	100.00%
16th Jul	Beiersche	Münchener	91.88%		6.09%	2.03%
Source:
Heineken brewing record held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number 834 - 1760.

Dutch Pils before WW II

Access to the Heineken Gravity Book has prompted me to expand the section about the Netherlands in "Blitzkrieg!". I'm finding it a useful insight into what happened on the other side of the conflict. In some ways it's a mirror image of what happened in the UK. While in Holland things went downhill quickly after the summer of 1942, in the UK beer strengths remained the same in the second half of the war. Unlike in WW I.

Heineken Pils was about dead on average for Holland. Though there was a surprising degree of variation amongst rival beers, especially in terms of ABV.

The gravities are mostly pretty similar – there’s only 0.66º Plato between the highest and the lowest. Yet, due to huge variance in the degree of attenuation, there’s a difference of over 1% ABV. Due to crappy attenuation, Phoenix Pils was barely over 4% ABV. Hardly stronger than Heineken Lagerbier.

Dutch Pils before WW II
Date	Year	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
14th Dec	1939	Amstel	Amsterdam	11.87	2.20	5.10	82.17%	0.58
14th Dec	1939	Oranjeboom	Rotterdam	11.81	2.42	4.93	80.26%	0.68
14th Dec	1939	Phoenix	Amersfoort	11.45	3.59	4.08	69.61%	0.49
14th Dec	1939	ZHB	Den Haag	11.85	3.58	4.30	70.77%	0.52
14th Dec	1939	Drie Hoefijzers	Breda	11.94	3.12	4.64	74.77%	0.43
14th Dec	1939	Van Vollenhoven	Amsterdam	11.69	3.08	4.51	74.54%	0.85
14th Dec	1939	Grolsch	Groenlo	12.01	2.82	4.81	77.36%	0.53
30th Jan	1940	Bavaria	Lieshout	12.11	2.22	5.36	82.38%	0.5
		Average		11.84	2.88	4.72	76.48%	0.57
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.

 

German beer in WW II

I've been spoilt by the Whitbread Gravity Book. It provides such a wonderful window on UK beer for a big chunk of the 20th century. There's even a fair amount of foreign beer mixed in, mostly imported Lagers. But it leaves some big holes.

While there's a smattering of German beers from before and after the war, for obvious reasons there's nothing for the years of the conflict. Short of getting my hands on a cache of brewing records from German breweries, I didn't see any way I could fill in that gap. But, thanks to Heineken, I can.

Because Heineken was so keen on keeping an eye on the products of competitors that they didn't let a little thing like a world-spanning conflagration get in the way of their industrial espionage. Before the horridness kicked off, they weren't just checking up on Dutch rivals. Having a big trade in the Far East, they were also spying on colonial brewers.

That all stopped after the German occupation. They did, however, analyse beers from one other country: Germany.

Where they acquired these beers is unclear. From adverts in Dutch newspapers, I know that German beer was available in some pubs in Holland. The ones frequented by the Germans and their local fascist mates. I'm guessing that somehow Heineken acquired some samples via this route. Not sure why they were so interested in German beer, as it wasn't really un direct competition with their products.

You can see that the war had impacted the strength of German beer. Especially bearing in mins this was the stuff brewed for the German armed forces. Civilians back home had to endure far more watery beer. Though it's around the same strength as the beer Heineken was brewing for the Dutch market. In June 1941 Heineken Pils was 10º Plato, early in 1942, 7.6º Plato.

If the Paulaner and Dortmunder Kronen from 1941 look suspiciously similar, it's probably because they are the same beer. It's noted that they were both bottled by the same bottler.

German beer in WW II
Date	Year	Brewer	Town	Beer	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
6th Mar	1941	Dortmunder Union	Dortmund	Dortmunder	11.54	3.18	4.35	73.35%	0.52
6th Mar	1941	Dortmunder Union	Dortmund	Pilsener	10.03	2.83	3.73	72.59%	0.48
6th Jun	1941	Paulaner	Munich	Helles	9.86	2.46	3.83	75.78%	0.52
6th Jun	1941	Dortmunder Kronen	Dortmund	Dortmunder	9.86	2.46	3.79	75.78%	0.52
9th Jun	1941	Dortmunder Union	Dortmund	Dortmunder	10.09	2.21	4.06	78.78%	0.48
5th Aug	1941	Schultheiss-Patzenhofer	Berlin	Pilsener	10.66	2.39	3.76	78.31%	0.5
27th Jan	1942	Janssen	Hamburg	Export Tafelbier	11.31	3.12	4.24	73.30%	0.4
27th Jan	1942	Dressla	Bremen	Export	8.35	1.83	3.35	78.65%	0.28
27th Jan	1942	Bavaria Brauerei	Altona	Pils	10.01	2.02	4.11	80.46%	0.4
27th Jan	1942	Schultheiss	Berlin	Helles	8.24	2.56	2.90	69.63%	0.4
27th Jan	1942	Schloss-Cabinet	Berlin	Export	8.16	2.22	3.04	73.44%	0.3
29th Jan	1942	Bavaria Brauerei	Altona	Export	8.00	1.79	3.18	78.18%	0.35
29th Jan	1942	Bavaria Brauerei	Altona	Export	8.03	1.67	3.25	79.73%	0.45
30th Jan	1942	Holsten	Bremen	Export	10.04	2.28	4.03	77.99%	0.3
30th Jan	1942	Beck	Bremen	Export	8.62	2.24	3.26	74.67%	0.3
13th Mar	1942	DAB	Dortmund	Export	7.31	2.06	2.70	72.41%	0.58
13th Mar	1942	Dünckler & Rüppert		Export	7.27	1.85	2.75	75.10%	0.38
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.

Let's Brew - 1941 Heineken Beiersch

Note that this example was brewed in early 1941 and belongs really with the late 1940 set. Especially as it’s a watered beer. Meaning that it was brewed at 12.5º Plato and then diluted down to 10º Plato prior to fermentation.

At least it still has a reasonable gravity, even with the watering. Stronger than most of the beer on sale in the UK at the time. It wouldn’t last much longer.

The recipe remains the same as in 1939, though, due to the watering down, there’s less of everything. Nothing much more to say, really.

All of the hops were a single type of Hallertau from the 1939 harvest.

1941 Heineken Beiersch
pilsner malt	7.75 lb	89.18%
caramel malt 60 L	0.25 lb	2.88%
caraamber	0.50 lb	5.75%
carafa III	0.09 lb	1.04%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.10 lb	1.15%
Hallertau 90 mins	0.125 oz
Hallertau 60 mins	0.33 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1039
FG	1010
ABV	3.84
Apparent attenuation	74.36%
IBU	15
SRM	14.5
Mash double decoction
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	48º F
Yeast	WLP830 German Lager

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

Dutch Bok in 1939

Heineken's Gravity Book is coming in dead handy. The only downside is that it's delaying the release of "Blitzkrieg!". So much good material that I just can't resist including it. Of course, I have to harvest the numbers first.

Heineken’s Bok was one of the stronger examples. I was surprised to see that those of some competitors were under 6% ABV.

The Phoenix example in particular kooks understrength for the style, both in terms of gravity and ABV. The Drie Hoefijzers beer has an ABV only a touch higher, but at least it’s 16º Plato. I’m surprised at the variation in gravity. I would have expected them all to be 16º-16.5º Plato.

Even more of a shock are the colours. Or one of the colours, I should say. Assuming that they’re using the Brand scale, there shouldn’t be anything paler than 12, which is the equivalent of 79 EBC. Drie Hoefijzer’s looks to be too pale for the style.

The rate of attenuation is mostly under 70%, which I guess isn’t unusual in a full-bodied beer like Bok.

Dutch Bok in 1939
Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
Van Vollenhoven	Amsterdam	16.27	5.26	5.94	69.04%	13
Heineken	Amsterdam	17.46	5.71	6.30	68.77%	13.8
Heineken	Rotterdam	17.59	5.23	6.65	71.67%	13.5
Oranjeboom	Rotterdam	17.63	5.98	6.28	67.59%	14
Drie Hoefijzers	Breda	16.17	5.75	5.56	65.87%	8.5
Phoenix	Amersfoort	15.14	4.78	5.51	69.69%	14
ZHB	Den Haag	17.37	6.29	5.99	65.33%	16
Average		16.80	5.57	6.03	68.28%	13.3
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.

Meibier in 1939

I’m not sure how many breweries participated in the Meibier experiment, but at least six did. Of these six, five were located in the Randstad, that is the large cities in the West of Holland. The exception being Grolsch, which was close to the eastern border with Germany.

The ones for which I have analyses all look generally similar to each. They’re generally towards the lower end of the recommended gravity range, all but two being under 16º Plato. The attenuation is a little lower than for Pils, leaving them mostly at around 6% ABV, though ZHB’s example is a little less than that.

There is a fair bit of variation in the colour. I’m not exactly sure which colour scale Heineken was using. But in other analyses, Pils is around 0.4-0.5, Donker Lagerbier 7.5 and Münchener 10.3, and Bok 13-16. Meaning even the palest Meibiers were darker than Pils, but the darkest were still far short of being brown.

Meibier in 1939
Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
Grolsch	Groenlo	16.03	4.77	6.03	71.53%	0.85
ZHB	Den Haag	15.91	4.85	5.81	70.82%	0.92
Amstel	Amsterdam	15.66	4.35	6.03	73.43%	2.2
Oranjeboom	Rotterdam	15.78	4.44	6.05	73.09%	2.1
Van Vollenhoven	Amsterdam	16.43	4.95	6.13	71.20%	1.3
Heineken	Rotterdam	15.83	3.84	6.40	76.86%	2.1
Source:
Rapporten van laboratoriumonderzoeken naar producten van Heinekenbrouwerijen in binnen- en buitenland en naar producten van andere brouwerijen hels at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number 834 - 1794.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1940 Heineken Donker Lagerbier

Another example of Heineken’s weird period, when they to the old strength, but then watered it down, seemingly before fermentation. Enough to drop Donker Lagerbier under 3% ABV. I suppose it was just about intoxicating. Much like the weaker Mild Ales in the UK. I've adapted the recipe to take the watering into account.

Other than a touch of caramel, this is an all-malt beer, rice having been dropped from the recipe. I assume because of supply problems. Malt seems to have been reasonably available in the early war years. After the disaster in WW I, when imports of barley weren’t available, the Dutch started growing loads more during the interwar period.

The hops are a bit of a riddle again. One is, I think, described as “Sa” in the brewing record. Which I’m guessing is short for Saaz. The other is “Backa” which is what Vojvodina (in the North of Serbia) was called in German. Evidently, they have their own hop variety there. To be honest, there are so few hops you probably couldn’t tell what type they were anyway. Both were from the 1939 crop, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

1940 Heineken Donker Lagerbier
pilsner malt	5.75 lb	89.15%
caramel malt 60 L	0.25 lb	3.88%
caraamber	0.33 lb	5.12%
carafa III	0.05 lb	0.78%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.07 lb	1.09%
Hallertau 90 mins	0.25 oz
Hallertau 60 mins	0.33 oz
Saaz 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1029
FG	1007
ABV	2.91
Apparent attenuation	75.86%
IBU	14
SRM	11
Mash double decoction
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	48º F
Yeast	WLP830 German Lager

 

Mash in at 35º C (95º F)	5 minutes
Warm whole mash to 52º C (126º F)	20 minutes
Rest whole mash at 52º C (126º F) (protein rest)	15 minutes
Draw off first mash and without a rest bring to the boil	30 minutes
Boil first mash	10 minutes
The rest of the mash remains at 52º C (126º F)	40 minutes
Mash at 70º C (158º F)	25 minutes
Rest whole mash at 70º C (158º F) (saccharification rest)	30 minutes
Draw off second mash and without a rest bring to the boil	15 minutes
Boil second mash	10 minutes
Mash at 76º C (169º F) and mash out	20 minutes

Heineken (Rotterdam) beers in 1941

Just about as soon as 1941 kicked off, the strength of Heineken’s beers was reduced again. Initially, by just adding more water. They must have got bored with that method of brewing, because in the summer they just started brewing the beers to the lower gravities and didn’t bother with the watering.

Though the beers were a rather watery lot. Even the two strongest, Pils and Beiersch, were only just over 3% ABV.  While the weak ones weren’t even 2.5% ABV. Not really intoxicating at all.

They can’t have had any trouble getting hold of hops, as the hopping rate, at least in terms of hops per 100 kg of malt, increased. In the case of Pils, from 1.33 kg to 1.5 kg. Though, because the beers were now so watery, the rate per hectolitre did fall.

Unsurprisingly, given the reduced amount of malt being used, the colours are all a little paler.

Heineken (Rotterdam) beers in 1941
Date	Beer	Style	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	kg hops/ 100 kg	hops kg/hl	colour
17th Jul	Pils	Pils	5.47	1.63	2.00	70.56%	1.92	0.13	3
16th Jul	Donker Lagerbier	Donker Lagerbier	6.44	1.85	2.40	71.74%	1.20	0.10	14
17th Jul	Licht Lagerbier	Licht Lagerbier	6.44	1.85	2.40	71.74%	1.60	0.13	4
15th Jul	Pils	Pils	8.46	2.41	3.20	72.24%	1.50	0.16	4
16th Jul	Beiersche	Münchener	8.46	2.41	3.20	72.24%	1.22	0.13	14
Source:
Heineken brewing record held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number 834 - 1760.