Sudanese Beer

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

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.


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


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.


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%

By may 1942 the sugar content of the beer has increased but the same OG is achieved.


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%.

 

Nothing ruins a good speculative discussion like facts!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.