I've been wondering what the hell that stood for

N.A.C and N.M.C. They kept coming up in the minutes of the C.B.K. (the Dutch brewers' organisation). Two organisations connected with the grain trade in some way. 

They both come up repeatedly in the minutes. Searching on the internet didn't get me very far. It didn't help that N.A.C. is the name of a Dutch football team. After around 50 pages, they're finally spelled out fully:

"It will also be useful that the C.B.K. is being expanded. Until now, its task was mainly limited to the malting barley supply, which meant that the C.B.K. had to deal almost exclusively with the Nederlandsche Akkerbouw Centrale and the Nederlandsche Meelcentrale. However, the agricultural orientation of these institutions can clash with the industrial character of brewing. It is therefore desirable to contact the Industry Department of Economic Affairs. During a meeting they appeared to be very favourable of the organizational structure of brewing.

The intention is that the company refers to the Dutch authorities and does not follow the German authorities.

In Germany, where the brewing is strictly organized according to the Führerprinzip, barley and malt stocks at breweries are kept small; moreover, the beer gravity is limited, first to the maximum of 10.3% and now probably 7%. "
Minutes of the management of the CBK on 7th June 1940, held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number Document 31121-1, page 360.

 Akkerbouw = agriculture and meel = flour. The associations of farmers and grain dealers, I suppose.

This was just after the German invasion  and occupation of the whole country om 17th May. Hence the reference to the Germans. This was the first meeting of the C.B.K. after that. A mere three weeks later. 

They did have a lot to discuss. And not just the reduction in strength of German beer. 10.3º Plato is a bit over 4% ABV. 7º Plato most likely just 2,8% ABV.

Though they were already talking about reducing the strength of Dutch beer. Not everyone was for it.

 "IV. RAW MATERIALS SUPPLY.
BEER GRAVITY REDUCTION
Mr Stikker points out that it may be necessary to lower gravity in order to make raw materials last as long as possible. That reduction in gravity will therefore have to apply to imported beer. This can be achieved if the Distribution Grid is switched on; this also happened with the spirits regulation. Importation cannot become involved in a private law arrangement of the C.B.K..

Mr. de Groen asked whether it would not be better to wait with a reduction in gravity. The speaker considers it desirable to process the raw material available into beer, which is best done in the form of beer with a high gravity.

Mr Stikker explains the reasons why it is better to consider reducing the gravity now. The speaker explained the stock position, which can bridge a certain period in the event of a gravity reduction by, for example, 20%. Efforts will of course also be made to obtain new domestic or foreign raw materials for breweries.

Mr. Zylker, like Mr. de Groen, considers it desirable to process malt into as much beer as there is coal available for. However, one will have to prepare for the reduction in gravity, but not yet make it known to the outside world.
Minutes of the management of the CBK on 7th June 1940, held at the Amsterdamse Stadsarchief, document number Document 31121-1, page 360.

Just so you know who everyone was:

Stikker: Heineken
de Groen: Klok (Grolsch)
Zylker: Oranjeboom 

 I suspect some brewers feared the Germans would take their stock of malt and wanted to turn it into beer as quickly as possible.

A bit sneaky keeping the cut in strength secret.

B.I.C. didn't get a mention, sadly. Still no idea what that stands for.

Other Dutch Lagers in 1943

I'll be honest with, you won't be getting that many words from me today. It's a lovely sunny day and Have an appointment with my mates Will and Lucas in Butcher's Tears in an hour. No time for any fancy word-spinning.  Looking forward to a few pints, though.

I feel very comfortable at Butcher's Tears as they have lots of space outside. No rubbing shoulders with the next table. The beer's not bad, either. They quite often have a Mild, too. Only a 15-minute walk away. Perfect, really.

On with the post. Lots of tables stuck together by the occasional sentence. Relating to lagers brewed towards the end of the war.

If you thought the Pils set looked as watery as hell, wait until you see this lot. None manage to crawl much over 1% ABV. Yeah, party time! The slightly below average degree of attenuation doesn’t help the alcoholic qualities, but I suppose helped to leave them with at least a little body.

Dutch Licht Lagerbier in 1943
Date	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
25th Jan	Drie Hoefijzers	Breda	2.87	0.77	1.05	73.40%	0.58
26th Jan	Bavaria	Lieshout	3.02	1.05	0.98	65.51%	0.48
26th Jan	Amstel	Amsterdam	2.62	0.66	1.01	75.01%	2.8
26th Jan	Heineken	Rotterdam	2.85	0.71	1.08	75.30%	0.26
26th Jan	Kruis van Bourgondie		2.94	0.86	1.05	71.00%	0.62
27th Jul	Heineken	Amsterdam	2.85	0.79	1.01	72.51%	0.32
27th Jul	Heineken	Rotterdam	2.88	0.93	0.98	67.96%	0.38
	Average		2.86	0.82	1.02	71.53%	0.78
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.

It’s much the same story with the dark type of Lagerbier – low gravity, weedy ABV. And an even worse degree of attenuation. And a couple of examples which are barely even dark. Why would you bother drinking stuff as dilute as this? I guess because there was no alternative.

Dutch Donker Lagerbier in 1943
Date	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
25th Jan	Grolsch	Groenlo	8.22	1.74	3.33	79.38%	12.5
25th Jan	Van Vollenhoven	Amsterdam	3.06	1.07	1.01	65.31%	10.8
26th Jan	Bavaria	Lieshout	3.44	1.24	1.11	64.27%	5.8
26th Jan	Kruis van Bourgondie		3.21	1.10	1.08	66.03%	14.5
26th Jan	Heineken	Rotterdam	2.96	1.01	0.98	66.15%	6.2
27th Jul	Heineken	Amsterdam	2.87	0.91	0.98	68.54%	4.8
27th Jul	Heineken	Rotterdam	3.04	1.39	0.78	54.58%	8.5
	Average		3.83	1.21	1.32	66.32%	9.01
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.

Another weird outlier in the set, this time from Grolsch. Some lucky devils got to drink a beer that was actually intoxicating. Heady stuff.

Weirdly Holland’s wateriest beer style, Oud Bruin, averaged out stronger than Licht Lagerbier.

Dutch Oud Bruin in 1943
Date	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
25th Jan	Van Vollenhoven	Amsterdam	3.70	1.20	1.30	67.90%	25
26th Jan	St. Servatius	Maastricht	2.84	0.62	1.15	78.37%	7
26th Jan	Gulpener	Gulpen	3.19	0.87	1.19	72.98%	12.2
26th Jan	Het Hert	Corurau?	3.00	1.07	0.89	64.61%	11.5
	Average		3.18	0.94	1.13	70.96%	13.93
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.

Surprised to see Gerste still being brewed at such a late date. Heineken had dropped theirs a couple of decades earlier.

Dutch Gerste in 1943
Date	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
26th Jan	Phoenix	Amersfoort	2.91	1.19	0.87	59.39%	0.8
26th Jan	ZHB	Den Haag	3.13	1.65	0.78	47.60%	1.8
26th Jan	Oranjeboom	Rotterdam	3.06	0.93	1.07	69.87%	5
	Average		3.03	1.26	0.90	58.95%	2.53
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.

Overall, the effect of shortages was to concertina all the different styles together, leaving very little difference between them in terms of strength.

Wasn't that both fun and informative? Not really. Well, not both.

Dutch Pils in 1943

By the time 1943 rolled around, the situation was getting pretty dire. Even Pils, which was the strongest beer produced during the war, was well under 2% ABV.

Not sure what was going on with the Leeuw sample. Perhaps it was old stock. What was the point of drinking such watery beer? I’d prefer to get half the volume of beer, but at double the strength. Then you’d at least get a little of the good alcohol effect.

Let’s add a little context by looking at the strength of beer in the UK in 1943. In 1943, average OG hit its wartime nadir. But that was still 1034.34º,  which would have left average strength at around 3.5% ABV. More than double the average for Dutch Pils.

However, there were beers a good bit stronger than that average, as a large percentage of the beer sold in Britain was3% ABV Mild Ale Here’s the set of Ales from a randomly selected UK brewery:

Whitbread Ales in 1943
Date	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
21st Jul	XX	Mild	1028.3	1008.0	2.69	71.73%
22nd Jul	IPA	IPA	1031.4	1005.5	3.43	82.48%
28th Apr	PA	Pale Ale	1039.2	1008.5	4.06	78.32%
22nd Jul	XXXX	Strong Ale	1042.8	1013.0	3.94	69.63%
Source:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/110.

I imagine Dutch drinkers would have ripped your arm off to get a beer of a heady 4% ABV.  

Dutch Pils in 1943
Date	Brewer	Town	OG Plato	FG Plato	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Colour
18th Dec	Amstel	Amsterdam	3.77	0.96	1.41	74.83%	0.42
25th Jan	Grolsch	Groenlo	4.28	1.12	1.60	74.17%	0.6
25th Jan	Amstel	Amsterdam	3.76	0.87	1.46	77.13%	0.42
25th Jan	Heineken	Rotterdam	4.02	0.66	1.71	83.80%	0.55
25th Jan	Bavaria	Lieshout	4.13	1.14	1.51	72.73%	0.48
25th Jan	Hengelo	Hengelo	3.70	1.21	1.26	67.63%	0.48
16th Feb	De Leeuw	Valkenburg	8.81	2.57	3.26	71.55%	0.4
27th Jul	Heineken	Amsterdam	3.86	1.42	1.23	63.58%	0.58
27th Jul	Heineken	Rotterdam	4.03	1.19	1.44	70.81%	0.58
	Average		4.48	1.24	1.65	72.91%	0.50
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.

Dutch IPA

IPA is getting dead mainstream in Holland. Several of the old Lager brewers make them

Heineken-owned Brand has an IPA and a Session IPA. The former is an OK beer. Not had the latter. On principle, as it costs more than the straight IPA, but us only half the strength. Where's the logic in that.

Heineken have yet another IPA in the Dutch market, in the form of Lagunitas. Do they brew it in Holland? It wouldn't surprise me.

Gulpener, quite a small Lager brewery, have a New England IPA, of all things.

Yesterday a beer in the cooler in Dirk van den Broek* caught my eye. Grolsch IPA. I couldn't remember seeing it before so I grabbed a couple of bottles.

I came down this morning and saw the two bottles were empty. I don't remember drinking those last night.

"Did you drink my Grolsch IPA, Andrew.

"Yes, Dad."

"At least tell me what you thought of it."

"I liked it."

Andrew got a taste for IPA while we were in the US. And also acquired a habit of hoovering up any booze we leave unattended.

Time to crack one open for myself. With a side sample for Dolores.

There's a bit of the grapefruit thing going on. Quite subdued. Not crap, by any means. Just inoffensive. I prefer a more in your face IPA. Like Sculpin. Grolsch IPA is also a bit weedy - just 5.5% ABV. Whilst Brand's is 7% ABV.

"What do you think, Dolores?"

"It's like the beers from Butcher's Tears. A bit like Green Cap."

"It does smell grapefruity, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but not too bad. Not my most favourite beer. But Drinkable." Dolores says, polishing off her sample. Praise indeed.



* A cheap and cheerful Dutch supermarket chain. Like Morrrisons, a bit.