Sudanese Beer

Talk Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by TappaKeggaBrew, Mar 6, 2016.

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  1. TappaKeggaBrew

    TappaKeggaBrew Pundit (935) Apr 30, 2009 Virginia

    I was fascinated when I read "Spoiled by War" in the March edition of Beer Advocate Magazine, but also saddened to think of beer joining countless human victims as a casualty of the Sudanese civil war - even though White Bull was the sort of pale lager that would (unfortunately) cause many craft beer drinkers to turn up their noses, it was a source of national pride, not to mention employment.
    After reading the article, I began wondering about how beer production and quality may have suffered in other wars, and in particular, how American, British, and especially German beers were affected during World War II. If any of your staff reporters are up to the task of doing the research for such an article, I can promise you at least one enthusiastic reader.
     
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  2. KJ2013

    KJ2013 Initiate (0) Apr 14, 2013 Pennsylvania

    I know that Belgium Trappist beers suffered greatly during the French Revolution due to monasteries being forced to close and the monks having to flee. As for the world wars, well shit the germans love to drink so I wouldn't be surprised if much of that carried on as usual.
     
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  3. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,790) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Visitors to third-world countries are limited in what they can safely drink in order to avoid months of amoeba related illness, or worse. In my trips to Niger, we were advised to drink only sealed bottled water, Cokes, and beers. The embassy greeted us at the airport and presented us with a case of bottled water each, since unscrupulous vendors would refill bottles with unsafe tapwater. The beer selection in the late 80's was Biere Niger, Heineken, and another regional beer I can't recall the name of. Though it was pretty poor, we mostly drank Biere Niger though the locals took it as a point of pride if they could offer a guest in their home a Heineken. It's unfortunate that war can destroy many industries, but reducing the availability of safe drinks is a health issue, even if it's beer.
     
    #3 bbtkd, Mar 6, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2016
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  4. Keene

    Keene Initiate (0) Sep 11, 2009 Washington

    Thanks for the suggestion, @TappaKeggaBrew, and I'm glad you found the article interesting. We aim to publish stories you wouldn't find elsewhere.

    Speaking of war and European breweries, I learned while researching one of my articles for The Oxford Companion to Beer that during World War I, occupying forces melted down Huyghe Brewery's original copper brew kettles for munitions.
     
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  5. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    AFAIK, WWII led to the UK brewing lower ABV session styles.
     
  6. Crusader

    Crusader Pooh-Bah (1,725) Feb 4, 2011 Sweden
    Pooh-Bah

    As it pertains to Germany they changed their tax laws on november 29th 1939 to where only two classes of beer could be brewed, a higher taxed class of 9-10.3% plato and a lower taxed class of 3-6.5% plato. As I understand it further restrictions were placed on brewing during the war but I am only familiar with the changes brought on by the onset of the war. During WW1 Germany had implemented restrictions on the original gravity as well, generating the production of dünnbier or thin beer, of low original gravity of around 6% plato.

    Below are some excerpts from Swedish brewing records from the years 1941 and 1942. The first image is from january 1941 where the brewery used nothing but malt and humle (malt and hops) to produce pilsner style beer of 9.5% OG. Important to note here is that since 1923 the class II could have a maximum OG of 10.5% plato and 4% abv.
    [​IMG]
    In February of 1941 the brewery has reduced the OG of the beer slightly to 8.9% and has added caramel malt in a separate column in an obvious attempt to produce a fuller bodied beer at a lower gravity, still producing pilsner style beers.

    [​IMG]
    By april 1941 the brewery has reduced the OG further to 8.1% and has added a colorant on top of the caramel malt.

    [​IMG]
    Here are some pictures of a different brewery journal where in March 1942 the brewery is still using nothing but malt and hops to produce an 8.2% low gravity pilsner style beer.

    [​IMG]
    By april 1942 the brewery introduces a column for sugar (an ingredient banned from use in the production of taxable beer since the early 1900s, only malt and hops could be used for taxable beer without a special permission). The OG of the beer is 8.2%
    [​IMG]
    By may 1942 the sugar content of the beer has increased but the same OG is achieved.
    [​IMG]

    The second world war thus reduced gravities in Swedish beer, and it also introduced adjuncts such as sugar which previous to the war had been illegal for use in higher gravity taxable beer (after the war adjuncts would be made legal generally and Swedish beer came to rely on imported corn for the adjunct used). By march 1943 the original gravity was reduced further through an agreement between the Swedish government and the Swedish brewing association to a maximum of 7%.

    [​IMG]
     
    #6 Crusader, Mar 11, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2016
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  7. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,790) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nothing ruins a good speculative discussion like facts!
     
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  8. TappaKeggaBrew

    TappaKeggaBrew Pundit (935) Apr 30, 2009 Virginia

    I'd heard the same thing from a beer shop owner in the UK, when I was there about 5 years ago. He said part of it had to do with keeping factory workers (who were supporting the war effort) from getting drunk and missing work. I wonder if rationing might have limited the brewers' grain supplies as well.
    Or course Britain didn't suffer anywhere near the level of destruction that Germany did; so I have to imagine that German brewing suffered from Allied bombing along with every industry, not to mention food shortages (that must have included grain and hops shortages).
     
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  9. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    At least one German brewery that was owned by a Jewish family was taken from the family, sold for a cut-rate price to someone in bed with the ****s, and continues to this day. I forget the particulars, but I remember an extended footnote from Michael Burleigh's history of **** Germany, done to illustrate the various steps the **** government used to strip businesses and property from Jews in the 1930s. I don't own the book, otherwise I'd provide page numbers.
     
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  10. pat61

    pat61 Initiate (0) Dec 29, 2010 Minnesota

    During World War I The Germans took a short cut through Belgium and stripped all of the copper out of the brewers to use for war goods.
     
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  11. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Food shortages didn't become critical in Germany until relatively late in the game. Albert Speer begged ****** to impose rationing, but ******, mindful of how the German government lost the support of the people in the latter days of World War I, when most farm workers had been drafted into the war effort and most of the remaining food went to the armed forces, refused to ever do so.
     
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