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Just a quick table today. To give you an idea of the Lagers which were imported into the UK when restrictions were lifted in 1947.

As we've already learned, Dutch and Danish breweries were the quickest to return to the UK market. The speed with which they returned is all the more remarkable given that they were clearly brewing beers specifically for the UK. A quick glance at the OG is enough to prove that.

It's particularly easy to spot in the case of Tuborg and Carlsberg as I also have analyses for the standard export versions, which Whitbread had somehow purchased in Singapore. These are the strength that you expect forr a continental Lager: 4.5-5% ABV.

This is in contrast with the situation before WW II, when both the Carlsberg and Tuborg sold in the UK were the same strength as they were on the continent. I assume that the standard-strength version would have been too expensive for the UK market after the war.


Continental Lager returns
Year Brewer Beer Price per pint (d) OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation colour
1947 Barclay Perkins Draught Lager 26 1033 1006.4 3.46 80.61% 8
1947 Carlsberg Lager 1033 1008 3.24 75.76%
1947 Carlsberg Pilsner 1035.6 1008.5 3.52 76.12% 13.5
1947 ZHB Z.H.B. Lager 30 1032.4 1008.2 3.14 71.91% 11.5
1947 Tuborg Pilsner 1036.6 1009.1 3.57 75.14% 11.5
1948 Carlsberg Pilsner ex Singapore 1049.9 1011 5.06 77.96% 9
1948 Tuborg Export Beer ex Singapore 1043.9 1009.4 4.49 78.59% 9
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.


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