Let's Brew - 1909 Whitbread 2PA

I thought I may as well give you Whitbread's whole range of Pale Ales. No need to thank me, It's just my job.

Below PA in the strength hierarchy was the not very inspiringly named 2PA. Today, it would be about as strong as Bitter gets. Sadly, it wasn’t to be around for much longer. It was discontinued in 1916 and never reappeared.

It hadn’t been around all that long, only appearing in 1888, a good two decades after PA. It was brewed in far greater quantities, though: in 1909, 40,063 barrels to PA's 9,939 barrels. Making it far more likely for you to come across it down the pub.

Which has me wondering: was it a Stock Ale? Were I pushed, I’d go for it being semi-Stock, aged for maybe a couple of months after racking. The gravity just looks too high for it to be a running beer.

No need to mention anything about the recipe, it having been parti-gyled with the PA whose recipe I recently posted.

1909 Whitbread 2PA
pale malt	8.75 lb	79.55%
no. 1 sugar	2.25 lb	20.45%
Goldings 90 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1054.5
FG	1017
ABV	4.96
Apparent attenuation	68.81%
IBU	56
SRM	7
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

 

Dutch Beer production by type 1938 - 1954

I know. More numbers. But some of them are just so juicy. How could I leave them on the vine?

One large change – which was either precipitated of accelerated by the war – was in the type of beer being produced and consumed.

Rather surprisingly, the most popular class of beer pre-war was Lagerbier. That is, either Pale or Dark Lager of 3.5% ABV. The equivalent of Pale or Dark Mild, these were the beers consumed in draught in the cafés of the large cities in the West of Holland: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag. Heavy beer – the 5% ABV Pils and Münchener – sold in rather lower quantities, but was more popular in the provinces.

The other two classes were far less popular. Extra Heavy was Bokbier. As this was only available for a couple of months a year, it’s no surprise its sales were modest. Its high price doubtless played a role, too. The Intermediate class of beer was only produced by a limited number of breweries. As the name implies, it was halfway in strength between Lager and Heavy.

Sales of Lagerbier collapsed after the war, as did those of the Intermediate class. It’s quite likely that the rise of Pils was connected to rising living standards with drinkers upgrading to Pils. Something similar happened in the UK with a move from Mild to Bitter. Eventually, Lagerbier totally disappeared.

By 1950 Heavy Beer, which at that point was almost all Pils, claimed more than 80% of sales. It would only go on to consolidate its position as most popular style in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving Holland a virtual monoculture.

Bokbier – after an initial post-war burst of enthusiasm – settled back down to around 1% of the market. Perhaps drinkers had just been thrilled to get their hands on a properly strong beer again.

Dutch beer production by type 1938 - 1954 (hl)
Year	Lager	Intermediate	Heavy	Extra heavy	Total
1938	663,650	30,303	565,189	10,214	1,269,336
1939	747,458	32,986	605,576	12,091	1,398,111
1946	668,838	18,077	1,090,303	12,188	1,789,406
1947	388,834	9,731	1,191,739	8,998	1,599,302
1948	257,986	7,915	1,020,550	23,499	1,309,950
1949	174,240	6,717	807,996	18,822	1,007,775
1950	166,471	6,894	880,865	14,232	1,068,462
1951	160,244	6,732	901,933	13,744	1,082,653
1952	161,328	4,592	945,166	13,423	1,124,509
1953	188,973	2,965	1,078,995	12,486	1,283,419
1954	198,588	1,789	1,195,980	14,139	1,410,496
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, page 39.

Dutch beer production by type 1938 - 1954 (%)
Year	Lager	Intermediate	Heavy	Extra heavy
1938	52.28%	2.39%	44.53%	0.80%
1939	53.46%	2.36%	43.31%	0.86%
1946	37.38%	1.01%	60.93%	0.68%
1947	24.31%	0.61%	74.52%	0.56%
1948	19.69%	0.60%	77.91%	1.79%
1949	17.29%	0.67%	80.18%	1.87%
1950	15.58%	0.65%	82.44%	1.33%
1951	14.80%	0.62%	83.31%	1.27%
1952	14.35%	0.41%	84.05%	1.19%
1953	14.72%	0.23%	84.07%	0.97%
1954	14.08%	0.13%	84.79%	1.00%
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, page 39.

 

Beer consumption per capita 1937 - 1954

As well as lots of lovely Dutch numbers, the archive document also fills in some gaps in general European statistics. Like beer consumption.

I can't recall ever seeing numbers which cover this period. The ones I have only cover from the 1970s onwards, This set shows quite a different picture to the later one.

No shock that Belgium is up there at the top. Nor that the UK was quite high. The big shocker is Ireland, which in the last few decades has always been in the top ten. Shocking to think that they used to rank below Sweden and Switzerland.

Interesting to see that Holland and the UK were the only countries to see a significant increase in consumption during the war years. Especially when compared to the three neutral countries in the tablem Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Beer consumption per capita 1937 - 1954
Year	Belgium	Luxemburg	UK	Denmark	Ireland	Sweden	Switzerland	Germany	Holland
1937	171	126	86	57	36	43	51	64
1938	168	132	86	58	33	45	51	70	25.3
1939	155	115	89	59	36	46	52	—	27.4
1940	—	87	88	48	36	40	59	—	33.4
1941	71	—	100	54	34	35	47	—	43.2
1942	62	—	101	50	33	32	33	—	39.1
1945	59	—	102	56	32	35	24	—	42.6
1944	58	—	107	62	42	45	20	—	34.2
1945	94	22	110	51	43	37	24	—	21.2
1946	129	71	104	65	48	38	27	—	32.0
1947	148	75	100	68	48	41	37	38	28.3
1948	155	67	94	71	40	40	37	22	22.9
1949	125	77	88	75	51	39	41	29	17.4
1950	118	87	82	72	49	38	42	37	18.2
1951	115	—	82	67	50	37	44	47	18.3
1952	118	—	82	65	54	38	49.7	52	18.9
1953	120	98	85	70	—	38.7	49.9	56.8	21.4
1954	120		81.8	70				58.9	23.5
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, pages 51 and 55.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1909 Whitbread PA

Here we are just before the great cataclysm of WW I. And Whitbread’s flagship Pale Ale is as muscular as ever, even a bit stronger than in 1881.

The grist is near identical 80% base malt, 20% sugar. Though in this later version, the malt is split between 25% pale malt (made from Smyrna barley) and 75% of the classier PA malt. As usual. Whitbread couldn’t be arsed to record the type of sugar, leaving me to guess No. 1 invert.

One major change, which isn’t immediately apparent is a lowering of the hopping rate. Down from 15 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to just 9 lbs. Unsurprisingly, this has a considerable impact on the calculated bitterness level, dropping from 94 IBU to 61.5 IBU. Three types of East Kent hops from the 1908 season graced the copper. Goldings seems a fair enough guess as to the variety.

As this was probably still a Stock Ale, aged for many months, the true FG would have been considerably lower than the racking gravity listed in the table.

1909 Whitbread PA
pale malt	10.25 lb	80.39%
no. 1 sugar	2.50 lb	19.61%
Goldings 90 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1062.7
FG	1019
ABV	5.78
Apparent attenuation	69.70%
IBU	61.5
SRM	8
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

It's that time of year again

Almost. Time to prepare your eggs and string as it's almost time for Drinkalongathon.

This year there's a twist - its going to be exactly the same as every other year. What could be more different and exciting than that?

More instructions will follow. But do prepare your string early in this pandemic year. You wouldn't want to wake up on the day and realise that you have no string. What a disaster that would be? Though obviously not as bad as finding yourself Islay-less.

I'm guessing I'll have to buy my own whisky again.

Not more Dutch numbers

Fancy some more Dutch beer statistics? I thought not. Bugger you, that's what you're getting. The title is just a blatant lie. Or as I prefer to put it, my own personal interpretation of the truth. Everyone is at that sort of crap nowadays, why shouldn't I join in. The truth has become a rather tenuous concept.

Just a load of numbers today. Because I'm lazy and have other things to be getting on with. Don't expect a huge amount of analysis.

Here's the absolute minimum. The consumption of all alcoholic drinks fell over the period covered. Beer by 58%, wine by 62% and spirits by a massive 75%. Though Dutch consumption of spirits was very high in the 19th century. Almost 10 litres per head is a shitload.

While spirits consumption was already in sharp decline in the Edwardian period, it was WW I which really put a dent in the beer numbers. The reason was quite simple: they ran out of malting barley and simply couldn't brew any more beer than they did. Beer, at least until 1954, never fully recovered.

Except, these number stop before the big turnaround as Dutch drinkers regained their love of beer. Its popularity rose in the following decades,with consumption peaking at 88 litres per capita in 1988.

Dutch consumption of alcoholic drinks 1875 - 1854
year	beer	spirits	wine
1875	33.3	9.37	2.45
1880	33.8	9.80	2.57
1885	33.7	9.16	2.20
1890	36.4	8.91	2.05
1895	39.6	8.68	1.90
1900	42.0	8.23	2.16
1905	40.4	7.42	1.82
1910	35.8	5.21	1.63
1914	37.9	5.55	1.05
1915	37.9	4.51	1.00
1916	36.9	4.75	1.50
1917		4.98	0.46
1918	10.0	3.23	0.38
1919	13.0	4.25	2.43
1920	17.5	5.16	1.59
1921	23.0	2.90	1.69
1922	24.6	2.81	2.02
1923	26.0	2.36	1.36
1924	25.1	2.21	1.68
1925	25.2	2.11	1.98
1926	25.8	2.03	2.12
1927	25.4	1.99	1.85
1928	27.8	1.91	1.83
1929	28.0	2.39	1.84
1930	27.5	2.54	1.71
1931	25.3	2.31	1.45
1932	21.6	1.97	1.13
1933	19.0	1.82	0.90
1934	17.5	1.61	0.91
1935	15.3	1.49	0.93
1936	14.0	1.44	1.05
1937	14.1	1.45	1.20
1938	14.9	1.46	1.14
1939	15.2	1.57	1.31
1946	19.1	1.27	0.54
1947	16.9	2.33	0.77
1948	13.6	3.18	1.09
1949	10.4	3.20	0.54
1950	10.9	2.95	0.50
1951	10.9	2.67	0.62
1952	11.3	2.23	0.51
1953	12.7	2.15	0.65
1954	13.9	2.31	0.92
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, pages 52 - 53.

Dutch beer consumption 1938 - 1954

I did warn you. Loads more numbers related to the Dutch brewing industry.

I can't help myself. When I come across such lovely plump. ripe numbers, I can't help but harvest them. It's a sickness.

Consumption per capita, which increased greatly during the war, fell back to below the pre-war level once the nastiness was over.

You may be asking yourselves: how is this possible when beer production was higher than in 1939? It’s because Holland was exporting considerable quantities of beer. By the 1950s, around 30% of total output. This offset Dutch drinkers falling out of love with beer.

Exports were far greater, both in absolute terms and in as a percentage of output after the war. Holland quickly transformed itself into one of the world’s major beer exporters. By 1950, it had gained the no. 1 spot.  A position it still held in the early 2000s.  

Dutch per capita beer consumption (litres)
year	total population	18-65 year olds	consumption
1938	8,684,082	5,119,701	25.30
1939	8,781,273	5,200,407	27.36
1940	8,878,611	5,278,522	33.42
1941	8,965,484	5,349,754	43.21
1942	9,041,986	5,410,625	39.11
1943	9,102,410	5,446,574	42.61
1944	9,174,432	5,476,661	34.20
1945	9,262,298	5,523,879	21.24
1946	9,423,480	5,595,678	31.98
1947	9,629,275	5,668,764	28.27
1948	9,800,155	5,739,485	22.85
1949	9,955,594	5,812,519	17.36
1950	10,115,527	5,886,761	18.17
1951	10,264,511	5,953,960	18.26
1952	10,581,987	5,995,624	18.91
1953	10,455,651	6,050,000	21.41
1954	10,550,737	6,100,000	23.50
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, page 51.

Dutch beer production 1930 - 1954

You're going to have to get used to these tables of Dutch statistics. There are going to be an awful lot more of them. No way I'm wasting the work I've spent harvesting them.

Overall, beer production held up surprisingly well, with the quantity in 1944 well above that of 1939. The numbers after 1940 are, however deceptive. Big cuts in gravity meant that in terms of º Plato hl, it was in reality well down. The majority of the beer produced in 1945 was after the liberation of Holland.

This is in contrast to the UK, where despite wartime restrictions, both the bulk quantity produced and degrees SG barrels increased. The latter can be observed by looking at the number of “standard” barrels – 36 gallons with an OG of 1055º. In 1939 18,364,156 standard barrels were brewed and in 1945 19,678,449. 

Surprisingly, at least some breweries continued to brew through the Hongerwinter (“Hunger Winter”) of 1944/45. Amstel in Amsterdam managed to produce a few thousand hectolitres each month January to April 1945.   Though this was far below their normal output level. By the end of the year the amount being brewed had shot up – 33,190 hl in December compared to 3,499 hl in January.

Despite this bounce back, total Dutch beer production in 1954 remained below that of 1930.

Dutch beer production 1930 - 1954
Year	hl	Year	hl
1930	2,280,000	1943	2,265,552
1931	2,105,000	1944	1,848,541
1932	1,807,000	1945	1,175,497
1933	1,609,000	1946	1,882,908
1934	1,512,000	1947	1,854,157
1935	1,575,000	1948	1,558,086
1936	1,262,000	1949	1,519,515
1937	1,298,000	1950	1,428,546
1938	1,580,868	1951	1,605,295
1939	1,508,591	1952	1,611,204
1940	1,757,978	1953	1,852,201
1941	2,247,191	1954	1,982,055
1942	2,076,092
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, page 17, held at the Amsterdam City Archives.