litres per year"7, showing that the role of imports remained much the same.
Foreign beer was no great threat to Zeeland brewers in the eighteenth cen
tury, unlike imports from Holland which had always been a danger for their
sales. The greatest threat in the eighteenth century was falling consumption
of beer. The situation was bad enough that in 1749 Middelburg, to facilitate
an increase in beer consumption so said the town authorities, decided to drop
excise taxes on the sale of beer by 50%. The decrease in tax applied to differ
ent types of beer but only to beers brewed inside Middelburg-*. The decrease
in tax did not stem the deterioration in the market for beer and the change in
tax rates did nothing to alter the protectionist tendencies of the tax structure.
In Zeeland as elsewhere regulation of brewers and brewing was stricter
and repetition of legislation more frequent in the eighteenth century, that de
spite or because of the decline in the industry. At Flushing the brewers' rule
book was filled with regulations on the sale of beer from the countryside in
the town and on the return of beer casks. Brewers' casks had been the subject
of provincial government edict in 1629, in 1660 and again in 1739, the goal
being standardization. The rules changed little. The repetition strongly sug
gested a frustration with the failure of the legislation to change the practices
they were designed to attack. A call in 1692 for those in arrears of their an
nual contribution to the Flushing brewers' guild to pay up indicates an ebbing
of incomes as well as confidence in the organization. The explanation in
1720 for decline was the sale of imported beer by shippers in the streets and
abuse of the rules on casks. The coopers' guild was called on to join the
brewers in enforcing existing rules. Again in 1736 the brewers' guild asked
the town to expand regulations to stop the fall in sales and decline of their
trade. The complaints had a familiar ring, as the petitioners acknowledged.
There were new ideas, though, in addition to the usual calls for enforcement
of the rules on casks and imports from the countryside. All the beer porters
were to be forced to join the brewers' guild and to be kept from smoking in
the breweries as well as from bringing their dogs with them. Druggists and
shopkeepers were to be prohibited from selling hops, something already leg
islated by the province of Zeeland in 1716. The brewers also complained
about difficulties in getting the coal they needed. The difficulties arose be
cause of the high import duties and the lack of personnel to handle the sacks.
By that date Zeeland brewers had given up on peat it would seem as their
principal source of heat and turned to more efficient coal. The town govern
ment responded in 1739 to some of the brewers' requests, saying among
other things that brewers could not smoke while making beer. Brewers grew
even more vigilant about getting their casks back. This brought brewers into
conflict with other workers, such as guilds of coopers, over regulation. The
brewers' guilds often took a leading role in such disputes, and petitioned
governments for the enforcement of rules on the quality of cooperage69.
67. GAV1, Archieven der gilden: inv.nr. 134 [19 Jan.. 1758J, [1761-, 1761|.
68. Ordonnantie op den Bier Excys, 1-3.
69. GAVI. Archieven der gilden: inv.nr. 134 [9 Feb.. 1755, 7 March. 1755]: C.C.J. Grönloh, 'De
brouwerij in Amsterdam van 1700 tot 1800'. Universiteit van Amsterdam. Unpublished doctor
aalscriptie. Economisch Historisch Seminarium, nr. 117, 1936. 19-20.
