Heineken Pils and Whitbread PA across WW II

With all the information I now have for Heineken, I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast what happened to beer in the UK and Holland during the war years.

But how can you make a fair comparison? Isn't it like comparing apples and armadillos? Well, not totally. Because when all the nastiness began.Heineken and Whitbread had beers which, despite being in different styles, were remarkably similar in strength: Heineken Pils and Whitbread Pale Ale. 

Comparing the two beers tells you a lot about the differing experiences of brewers and drinkers in the two countries.

In the first three years of the war. the OG of Whitbread PA fell fell around 10º. Or around 20%. A not inconsiderable fall. But after that it remained at the same level until war's end.

Across the channel, over the same period, the gravity of Heineken Pils fell almost 40%. With the ABV dropping below 3%.

It's interesting to see what happened when things were getting back to normal in 1949. Heineken Pils had bounced back to its pre-war strength. While Whitbread PA was weaker than it had been during the war.

The same occurred across Continental Europe, with beers returning to their old strengths. While in the UK, beers had been permanently weakened.

Heineken Pils and Whitbread PA OG across WW II
	Dec 1939	Nov 1940	Jan 1941	Jul 1941	Sep 1941	Jun 1942	Jan 1943			Oct 1949
Heineken Pils	1047.8	1039.2	1034.7	1032.9	1028.8	1029.2	1029.2			1049.9
	Sep 1939	Nov 1940	Feb 1941	Jul 1941	Oct 1941	Jun 1942	Apr 1943	Feb 1944	Apr 1945	Oct 1949
Whitbread PA	1048.2	1044.1	1042.9	1042.5	1042.5	1038.6	1038.5	1039.1	1039.4	1036.2
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112 and LMA/4453/D/01/117.
Heineken brewing records held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document numbers 834 - 1759, 834 - 1760 and 834 - 1761.

Heineken Pils and Whitbread PA ABV across WW II
	Dec 1939	Nov 1940	Jan 1941	Jul 1941	Sep1941	Jun 1942	Jan 1943			Oct 1949
Heineken Pils	4.70	3.88	3.43	3.20	2.80	2.80	2.80			4.70
	Sep 1939	Nov 1940	Feb 1941	Jul 1941	Oct 1941	Jun 1942	Apr 1943	Feb 1944	Apr 1945	Oct 1949
Whitbread PA	4.79	4.05	3.69	4.10	4.10	3.72	3.84	3.78	3.89	3.40
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112 and LMA/4453/D/01/117.
Heineken brewing records held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document numbers 834 - 1759, 834 - 1760 and 834 - 1761.