Amsterdam April 2026

I wander around a few Amsterdam pubs. 

 

Let's Brew - 1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale

I’m not exactly sure when Youngs dropped their Mild. Sometime between 1983 and 1986. Then, in 1996, there was an attempt to revive it. I have three examples from that year, and all three are different.

This is the weirdest of the bunch. Being parti-gyled with Oatmeal Stout. Making this, effectively, a watered-down Stout. Not wanting a huge quantity of Mild – this batch was just 39 barrels – it made sense to parti-gyle it. Though Winter Warmer would have been a more sensible choice.

The grist is rather odd for a Mild, containing both roast barley and flaked oats. It must have been quite different in character from the 1980s version. Were there still any Mild drinkers around who remembered the earlier beer? There must have been, as the beer had only been gone for a decade or so.

There were two types of English hops, as in most of their beers. I’ve increased the amounts to get the right bitterness level. 

1996 Youngs Best Malt Ale
pale malt	5.50 lb	78.97%
roast barley	0.50 lb	7.18%
flaked oats	0.50 lb	7.18%
glucose	0.33 lb	4.74%
molasses	0.125 lb	1.79%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.14%
Fuggles 70 min	1.50 oz
Goldings 10 min	0.50 oz
OG	1031
FG	1008.5
ABV	2.98
Apparent attenuation	72.58%
IBU	25
SRM	15
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	78 minutes
pitching temp	61.5º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

Listen to brewer John Hatch explain how they brewed at Youngs in the 1990s.  

Beer in the DDR (part 4)

Still more of my DDR beer talk slides.

Kicking off with a nice drawing of a Steinecker brew house. Though I'm not sure if any brewery had enough hard currency to buy such a system. Most brewing equipment was manufactured in the DDR. There were some occasions, though, when some was imported from West Germany. Usually, because there wasn't the capacity to produce it in the DDR.

We then continue with boiling and hopping rates. Not much to say about that. Obviously, beers like Pilsner were amongst the most heavily hopped.  Porter was the beer which received the most hops. Which made sense, as it was both very strong and  a beer.

Fermentation follows. As most beers were bottom-fermented, the temperature was pretty low.

Lagering was mostly in horizontal tanks. Though from the 1980s some of the larger breweries started to install conical fermenters where beer was both fermented and lagered. Full-strength beers were lagered for three to six 

The shelf-life of bottled beers was mostly shorter than the lagering time. Just 8 days for Helles.I remember Eisenach Helles not being particularly stable. You wouldn't want top walk back from the shops too slowly in case it had gone off before you got hoe,.

We finish by starting to look at DDR beer styles. 

 

Beer in the DDR (part 3)

Yes, more slides from my DDR talk.

There's more stuff about the DDR hop industry. Including information about how hops were used. Showing how much hop extract could be used. And the small quantity of aroma hops used. Mostly in the posher types of beer.

Then there's some stuff about mashing. Fun fact: the DDR Helles mashing scheme is very similar to how Budweiser was brewed in the 1990s. Both have a rice cereal mash that is used as a decoction. How odd is that?

  

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1996 Youngs Wheat Beer

In the 1990s, Youngs brewed a wide range of beers. Including some which weren’t very traditional. At least, not traditional British styles. This wheat beer being a good case in point.

It’s a rather odd beer. Exactly what type of wheat beer were they aiming for? The coriander is very much Witbier rather than Weizen. And using lager yeast to ferment it is very much against the Reinheitsgebot, which only allows wheat in top-fermenting beer. On the other hand, it’s fermented warm, despite using lager yeast. I’m confused.

The grist is pretty simple, just lager and wheat malt. With slightly more of the former. So, sort of Reinheitsgebot.  Except for the lager yeast, obviously.

Half of the coriander was added to the kettle, the other half to the hop back. Not sure why there were the two additions. Interestingly, there was only one hop addition, at the start of the boil. A single type of English hops was used.

1996 Youngs Wheat Beer
lager malt	4.75 lb	52.72%
wheat malt	4.25 lb	47.17%
ground coriander	0.01 lb	0.11%
Fuggles 67 min	1.125 oz
OG	1041
FG	1007
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	82.93%
IBU	15
SRM	2.9
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	67 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 2042 Danish lager

 

Charles Guerrier interview part two

I talk to Charles Guerrier some more about beer in Asia.

 

Beer in the DDR (part 2)

 Time for the second lot of DDR slides. Lots of tables. I love tables. Especially ones stuffed full of lovely, plump numbers.

 

A note about the hop growing. The first hops were planted in 1950 by Sudeten Germans expelled from Bohemia. Initially the hops were all Saaz. In the 1960s, Northern Brewer was introduced and eventally accounted for around 90% of the cultivated area.

Beer in the DDR (part 1)

I gave a talk at the Heimbrau Convention about brewing in the DDR a couple of weeks ago. A couple of people requested that I publish the slides. 

So here they are.. At least the first 10 slides. The other 345 slides will follow.

 

Dutch Beer Challenge 2026

You may have seen my video report on my day out in Rotterdam. Here's the boring, old wordy version.

Mostly, I judge in exotic places: Brazil, Chile, Singapore. Rarely in Europe. Even in my country of residence. Why is that? Because I rarely get invited and don't go hunting invitations. As I do for bits of South America I'd like to visit.

The last couple of years I have been invited to the Dutch Beer Challenge. And, despite it being in Rotterdam, I have accepted. Though, living in Amsterdam, I do feel obliged to slag off Rotterdam every now and again. It's part of our culture. Having said that, Rotterdam was the first city I lived in when I moved to Holland. When was that? Way back in the 1980s. Almost forty years ago. Where does the time go?

Thankfully, I can get to Rotterdam without needing to go into the centre of Amsterdam.Which I always try to avoid, if I can. It being a pure tourist hellhole currently. Even better, from Amsterdam Zuid I can get a fast train. One that uses the high-speed line. Saving me a massive 15 to 20 minutes.

Amsterdam Zuid is busy. Unsurprisingly, as it's commuting time. I'm in plenty of time for my train, giving me a chance to inspect how the rebuilding of the station is coming along. The new platforms for the metro look about done. While the train platforms are still very much under construction. I'm just looking forward to when the motorway is put underground. Currently, the platforms are jammed inbetween the tow carriageways. Leaving the impression of standing in the central divider of the motorway. Noisy traffic rushing past on either side.

The train is packed. Though I mange to grab a seat after Schiphol. I used to travel quite a lot by train. Not for work, but at the weekend. Dragging the kids on outings to all corners of the Netherlands. Including dragging them into pubs for a few frenetic drinks before bundling them back onto the train. Now they're older, these excursions have finished. And most of my travel is much further afield.

The No. 1 tram takes me through the incoherent jumble of the city centre and its "iconic" architecture to the east of the city. Where more fragments of the city's past erupt between the shiny modern blocks. My destination is the stadium of Excelsior, Rotterdam's third football club. At least it isn't Fejenoord.*

Judging is taking place in the bar inside one of the stands. Plenty of judges are already there when I arrive. Including quite a few I know. Not from Holland. Rather from judging in South America. I'm such a jet-setter. There's time for some chatting before the work starts.

I'm on a table with one Belgian and three Dutch judges. Meaning much of our discussions are in Dutch. Which is novel for me. It's usually English all the way when I'm judging.

We're on a lucky table and kick off with a flight of 17 non-alcoholic beers. My favourite. How often do I drink non-alcoholic beers voluntarily? Never. Only when I'm judging. If I don't want an alcoholic drink, I'll go for something else. Though I might consider an alcohol-free Catharina Sour.

They are improving, non-alcoholic beers. Clearly the technology has advanced considerably in the last 25 years. They even manage to taste pretty much like beer. Most of them.

We trundle along at a decent pace, getting through two-thirds of our allocated beers before lunch. Making the afternoon quite relaxed. Giving us plenty of time to savour the Barley Wines and Pastry Stouts. Finishing in plenty of time.

When judging is done, a bus whisks us off to De Koperen Kat brewery in Delft. In an industrial area to the south of the centre. We're early and have to hang around outside for a while.

It's a new brewery to me. Showing how terribly out of touch I am with the Dutch beer scene. It occupies a small corner of a much larger industrial building. Compact is how I would describe it.We're given a beer to keep our hands busy while we're given a short introduction to the brewery.

I get chatting to a very interesting bloke who works for Westmalle. And another who worked for several decades at Rodenbach. Always fun to meet new people. Especially ones from iconic Belgian breweries.

Our evening meal is very, er Dutch. For me, broodje kroket and chips. What can I say? It's filling.

I'm recommended D'oostPorter. Which is a Porter, surprisingly. A rather strong one, at 8.5% ABV. And rather nice. So nice, that I drink four of them. Full of roasty goodness.

The bus calls in at Delft station before heading back to Rotterdam. I get off there, as it's closer to home.

Finding the station entrance is a challenge. The station has been moved underground and the old building is now a restaurant. The new station is hidden under a council building. And has a very Alphaville vibe.

It's quite a while until the next train to Amsterdam Centraal. Luckily, there's one earlier going to Venlo via Schiphol. Calling at Amsterdam Zuid.

When I'm almost home, there's a sound of breaking glass behind me. Something has been thrown - or shot - at the bus, shattering a window. The couple sat behind me, right next to the break, look pretty shaken up. The bus pulls up just before the next stop, and we're told to wait for the next bus. Fortunately, it's my stop. No need to wait for another bus.

What was that? I don't think a stone, as there wasn't one inside the bus. My guess is an air rifle pellet.

What an unusual end to the day.



* My Dutch team is Sparta, the other Rotterdam club. For various complicated and irrelevant reason which I won't go into here.



Delftse Stadsbrouwerij De Koperen Kat
Schieweg 15, 
2627 AN Delft.
https://www.dekoperenkat.nl/ 

 

The video report. 

 

Let's Brew - 1995 Youngs DD

Now this is a confusing one.  A Pale Ale with a brevity about halfway between Ordinary and Special Bitter. What the hell was it? What was it called? Was it cask, keg or packaged?

The batch size was much smaller than for the standard draught beers, only 92 barrels, compared to 400 barrels or more. So clearly not one of their biggest sellers.

The grist is significantly different from the two draught Bitters, being all malt. There’s no flaked torrefied barley and no sugar. Also, no enzymic malt, which is interesting. Instead, it’s just pale and crystal malt.

The hops, however, are exactly the same as in the other Pale Ales: three English types. Though they are boiled for a little longer, 108 minutes rather than 70 minutes. In this case, I’ve only had to increase the hopping rate by about 25% to attain the bitterness level in the brewing record. 

1995 Youngs DD
pale malt	9.50 lb	95.00%
crystal malt 150 L	0.50 lb	5.00%
Fuggles 108 min	2.00 oz
Goldings 10 min	0.50 oz
OG	1043
FG	1009.5
ABV	4.43
Apparent attenuation	77.91%
IBU	30
SRM	11
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	108 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

 

Listen to brewer John Hatch explain how they brewed at Youngs in the 1990s.