Tuesday 23 November 2021

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.



4 comments:

Thom Farrell said...

Why did European ABV rebound and British did not? Rationing?

Michael Foster said...

This is really fascinating. I'd like to see historians try to dig into how the Brits were able to keep the gravity of their beers higher; I assume support from America and the lack of an occupying force were the major causes, but what was the bigger cause? Just how much of the drop can we attribute to one or the other? The study of beer historically sounds a bit frivolous, but it's things like this that really help us understand just how devastating the war was.

Ron Pattinson said...

Thom Farrell,

good question. Brewers in the UK had gravity restrictions for quite a while after the end of the war. And very high taxes. Probably a combination of the two. And drinkers getting used to weaker beer.

Ron Pattinson said...

Michael Foster,

simple answer: supply of raw materials. And a political will to use a part of the food resources to keep beer at a reasonable strength.