In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Holsten Pils being imported was between 4.5% and 4.9%, probably very similar or identical to the product on sale back home in Hamburg-Altona.
Invites the thirsty panto-goer to enjoy a “high-gravity and Star, mainly known for doing the funny voices on Hancock’s Half Hour) (starring Tommy Steele, and Kenneth Williams, who was not yet a big This advert from a 1958 programme for the pantomime “Cinderella” But it was not the same beer that later became a top seller. Holsten Pilsner had been sold in Britain since the 1950s. How did this marginal speciality beer come to be one of the biggest brands in the British beer market in the 1980s? But according to legend, German Diät-Pils beer was also the inspiration for the (in its own terms) groundbreaking Miller Lite, when John Murphy, the president of Miller, encountered it on a business trip. Here we haveĪn almost identical label used by Henninger of Frankfurt (above) andĪlthough some drinkers who weren't diabetic enjoyed the particularly dry finish of these beers, it remained a niche. Pils was the brand much more than the particular brewery. Diät-Pils was the brand, with the actual brewery in second place. The members of the D-Pils consortium – Holsten of Hamburg Wicküler, Wuppertal Spaten, Munich – at least initially shared common branding for the product. Imitators in the East went the whole hog and labelled themselves Diabetiker-Pils. In West Germany, these low-carb beers were marketed as “Diät Pils” or just “D-Pils”. In some other countries, diabetics might have just been told to avoid beer, but that was clearly not thought of as an option in beer-drinking Germany. These were typically products which you considered you had to have in your range, but did not sell in great quantities: things like alcohol-free beer, Malzbier (a very sweet non-alcoholic product thought suitable for children), or the not yet fashionable wheat beer.īrewers benefited from being able to offer these products, without having to promote beers from a direct competitor.įrom around the early 70s onwards, one of these niche products was a particularly highly attenuated beer, which as a result was very low in carbohydrates and thus seen – in the nutritional understanding of the time – as suitable for diabetics. In the 1960s and 70s it was quite common for German brewers to form a sort of consortium to brew a particular beer.
How to understand this bizarre phenomenon? Put on a Krautrock LP and accompany me to 1970s Germany, as we ask: What is a Diät Pils anyway? For a generation, drinkers believed that a Pils was a strong bottled lager with gothic type on the label. There were competing products, but if you asked for Pils in the 1980s you would generally be given a bottle of Holsten Diät Pils. Nor was it the rather lighter version of it popularised by Dutch and Belgian brewers. It wasn’t a hoppy golden lager modelled on the intensely bitter beer pioneered by Josef Groll at Pilsner Urquell. But the term was understood much more narrowly in 1980s Britain by most beer drinkers. Isn’t Pils, or a bastardised descendant of it, the most popular beer style in the world? Pilsner Urquell Christmas limited editions have always had a big success being sold-out quickly and last year we dedicated a part of its revenue to a charity that we support in the long-term,” says Vladimir Pribil, Design Manager at Plzensky Prazdroj.Strange question, I know. “Compared to the previous editions we have further increased the packaging uniqueness by using special printing techniques from which I would mention a premium wax alike resin printing effect made on the neck label by MCC Lucca, Italy. This was achieved using a striking resin label placed on top of the PS neck label for a majestic finishing touch. An exclusive 1L bottle of Pilsner Urquell was developed for the Christmas edition of 2019 and the challenge for MCC was to further enhance the label. Pilsner Urquell’s objective is always to exceed their previous edition. This limited edition looked very fancy, but the following year had to be bigger and better. In 2018, Multi-Color created a pressure sensitive neck label with a bronze powder effect. That’s why they have a great habit of creating a yearly Christmas Special, which gives added value to the bottle. Pilsner Urquell is not just an ordinary pilsner, it is a classy beer.