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.