Beer in the DDR in he 1980s (part two)

More about the wonderful world of beer in the DDR. One of my favourite countries. Especially East Berlin, one of the most exciting cities I've ever visited. It's such a shame that there's only a parody version now. You can get an idea of what it used to be like here.

Some trends in beer were the same in both halves of Germany. Like the move from draught to bottled beer.

Favorite: bottled beer
As more beer is drunk, the proportion of bottled beer is also increasing. It is between 60 and 70 percent and shows an increasing trend. This is understandable, because drinking habits have also changed due to greater living comfort. As already mentioned, people like to drink their bottle at home. The breweries and the glass industry have to adapt to these new material and cultural needs. Filling systems with higher performance are required. The systems used in the GDR are able to fill 24,000 bottles per hour; further developments have already made it possible to fill up to 48,000 bottles per hour. It should be mentioned that people are not just drinking more beer. The Berlin State Beverage Office can also see an increasing trend in non-alcoholic specialties. But let's stick with beer, which is truly a people's drink and will remain so.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 50.

Though it was best to drink your bottles quickly. Most beer had a very short shelf-life. Not much more than a week. For Eisenacher Helles, even that was a bit of a stretch.

These are the official DDR beer types.

Browsing through the quality regulations
The GDR's quality regulations for beer recognize Einfachbier (Jungbier and Braunbier as well as Malzbier) with an original gravity of 2.9 to 3.1 percent. Counted as Schankbier was Weißbier, which unfortunately is only available regionally (Berlin, Jena) (original gravity 8.7 to 9.3 percent). Considered as Vollier are Helles (11 to 11.5 percent), Doppelkaramel (11.7 to 12.3 percent), Schwarzbier (11.7 to 12.3 percent), Diabetiker-Pils (11 to 11.5 percent), Deutsche Pilsner (12.5 to 13 percent) , Deutsche Pilsner Spezial (12.5 to 13.3 percent), Deutsches Pilsator (12.5 to 13 percent) and Märzenbier (13.7 to 14.3 percent). Starkbier, the light and dark Bock beers, have an original gravity of 15.7 to 16.3 percent, while the German Porter is the strongest at 17.7 to 18.3 percent, even though it is brewed very rarely.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, pages 50 - 51.

I realise that's not a complete list, as it misses out Dunkles. Not that I ever came across it. The same with Märzen. Though I've seen labels for both.

Where East and West Germany did differ was in the most popular styles. In the West, Pils was by far the most popular style, accounting for 57.5% of sales in 1989.*

The main share of production (at around 57 percent) in our breweries is Vollbier hell, which is commonly referred to as “helles”, followed by the Deutsche Pilsner with around 30 percent and Pilsner Spezial with around 8 percent. The other types of beer share the remaining percentage. For example, only 11,600 hectolitres of Porter are brewed in the GDR, a tiny amount considering the 23 million hectolitres of beer we produce overall. The few remaining percentages also include the so-called “AUBI”, the beer for drivers with an alcohol content that remains below one percent. It is mainly served where many motorists come, namely in motorway service stations. You hear different opinions from those who have already drunk it. Whether it will catch on remains to be seen. In any case, there are no experiences yet that could be generalized. Production is still limited and one thing is certain: everyone wants to try it at least once.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 51.

That's the first time I've seen any figure put on the quantity of Porter brewed in the DDR. Fuck all, really. Which  makes it odd that I actually did get to drink it once.

* Brauwelt nr. 46-47 (2006) page 1431.