In common with many other countries, Holland has seen a dramatic
concentration of its brewing industry in the course of the 20th
century. The giant
Heineken
concern, one of the largest brewing groups in the world, has the
lion's share o f the local market.
Grolsch, and
the Belgian mega-brewery
Interbrew account for
most of the rest, with the small number of long-established lager
breweries fighting for the scraps.
Concentration brought with it the inevitable accompanying
reduction in variety of style and flavor. By the late 1970's,
industrial pils had removed pretty well all vestiges of an indigenous
beer culture and accounted for something close to 99% of
production. Things have improved dramatically since then, in a
statistical sense, but pale lagers ranging from dull to positively
unpleasant still account for 90% or so of beer sold. In the larger
towns there is the choice of a witbier or amber ale, but stray
outside the conurbations of western Holland and your options will
be pilsner or pilsner most of the time.
Since the depressing days when the remaining independent
producers were slowly being picked off by Heineken and their
rivals, there has been a little improvement. From a low of around
20 in the early 1980's, the number of active breweries has shot up
to around the 40 mark. However, when you consider that this total
includes half a dozen brewpubs and that the largest of the new
micros brews less than 5,000 hl (compared to the 13,000,000 hl +
of Heineken), it makes you realize how little impact these changes
have really had on the the market.
A more important factor in the revival of interest in stylistic
diversity has been the stagnation then slow decline of beer sales
in Holland. Faced with a shrinking market, larger brewers have
been keen to get into the only area experiencing growth: special
beer (this means anything even slightly more daring than crappy
pale lager). Even though it accounts for less than 10% of the
total, it has been expanding quickly and offers companies a
greater profit margin than the highly competitive pils market.
Their attempts at brewing special beer have met with mixed results
and produced a few true monstrosities.
Holland
