Foreign beers analysed by Heineken

around the start of WW II, to be precise.

Remember me saying the other day that someday I might be arsed to harvest the Far East beers from Heineken's Gravity Book? Against all expectations, I actually did get off my arse and do the work.  At least the stuff from 1939 and 1940. For some reason there's then a big gap until 1946. I wonder why that might be?

I now realise that Heineken were financially involved in many of the breweries whose beers they analysed. The list from 1946 is longer than in the 1939 annual report.

Sint Servatius Bierbrouwerij N.V., Maastricht;
Polar N.V., Maastricht; (soft drinks)
Distilleerderij en Likeurstokerij P. Hoppe N.V., Amsterdam;
Van Vollenhoven’s Bierbrouwerij N.V., Amsterdam;
Brasserie Leopold S.A., Brussel;
N.V. „Cobra”, Amsterdam;
Malayan Breweries Ltd., Singapore;
Archipelago Brewery Cy. (1941) Ltd., Singapore;
N.V. Heineken’s Nederlandsch-Indische Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij, Soerabaja;
Nederlandsch Indische Glasfabrieken „Niglas” N.V., Soerabaja;
Heineken’s Curacaosche Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij N.V., Willemstad;
S.A. des Bières Bomonti & Pyramides, Cairo;
Crown Brewery S.A., Alexandrië;
Société Internationale de Brasserie (Interbra), Brussel;
Brasserie de Leopoldville Sté Cong, a r. 1., Leopoldville (Belgisch Congo);
Bouteillerie de Léopoldville Sté. Cong, a r. 1., Leopoldville (Belgisch Congo);
The Nigerian Brewery Ltd., Lagos;

minor investments:
Brasseries & Glacières de l’Indochine, Saigon;
Société des Brasseries du Maroc, Casablanca;
Société des Brasseries de l'Ouest-Africain (Soboa), Dakar;
Palestine Brewery Ltd., Rishon-le-Zion;
S.A. Brasseries de la Meuse, Parijs.
Heineken annual report 1946, page 5.

Pretty much all the beers are Pilsners with one exception: those from Singapore are all Stouts. Not sure why that was.

In addition to breweries with which Heineken was financially entangled, there are a few from others involved heavily in the export trade to the Far East: Tennent, Allsopp and Carlsberg. Plus, weirdly, a Swiss-owned brewery in Accra, Ghana, the oddly-named Overseas Brewery.

Foreign beers analysed by Heineken
Date	Year	Brewer	Town	country	Beer	Style	Colour	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
24th Jun	1939	Malayan Brewing	Singapore	Malaya	Tiger Stout	Stout	44	1088.0	1017.6	9.14	79.96%
24th Jun	1939	Archipelago Brewing	Singapore	Malaya	Lion Stout	Stout	66	1082.9	1012.0	9.25	85.54%
21st Nov	1939	Leopold	Brussels	Belgium	White Star	Export?	0.41	1056.0	1010.2	5.90	81.77%
21st Nov	1939	Leopold	Brussels	Belgium	Bock	Bok	0.37	1048.3	1008.8	5.09	81.85%
21st Nov	1939	Leopold	Brussels	Belgium	Pilsen	Pils	0.65	1028.5	1008.5	2.70	70.28%
21st Nov	1939	Leopold	Brussels	Belgium	Stout	Stout	30	1068.9	1023.3	5.95	66.16%
21st Nov	1939	Heineken	Soerabaja	Indonesia	Pils	Pils	0.42	1049.9	1009.7	5.15	80.46%
21st Nov	1939	Heineken	Soerabaja	Indonesia	Rex	Pils	0.32	1050.7	1009.6	5.29	81.10%
21st Nov	1939	Heineken	Soerabaja	Indonesia	Java	Pils	0.35	1050.4	1011.1	5.05	77.94%
27th Dec	1939	Bomonti & Pyramides	Cairo	Egypt	Stella	Pils	0.39	1051.2	1010.8	5.19	78.80%
27th Dec	1939	Bomonti & Pyramides	Cairo	Egypt	Pilsner	Pils	0.43	1048.3	1009.6	5.00	80.07%
3rd Jan	1940	Malayan Brewing	Singapore	Malaya	Tiger Stout	Stout	0.38	1049.4	1010.6	4.99	78.52%
3rd Jan	1940	Carlsberg	Copenhagen	Denmark	Pilsner	Pils	0.58	1049.7	1011.4	4.89	76.99%
3rd Jan	1940	Allsopp	Burton	UK	Pilsner	Pils	0.6	1044.1	1008.7	4.56	80.29%
3rd Jan	1940	Cascade	South Hobart	Australia	Special Lager	Lager	1.2	1049.8	1018.5	3.98	62.74%
17th Apr	1940	Allsopp	Burton	UK	Pilsner	Pils	0.62	1044.7	1008.6	4.64	80.72%
19th Apr	1940	Tennent	Glasgow	UK - Scotland	Pilsner	Pils	0.55	1049.2	1010.0	5.04	79.72%
19th Apr	1940	Overseas Brewery	Accra	Ghana	Club Lager	Lager	0.65	1050.7	1010.3	5.19	79.69%
19th Apr	1940	Carlsberg	Copenhagen	Denmark	Pilsner	Pils	0.6	1049.6	1011.8	4.93	76.26%
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.