Beer, ale and Malt Liquor: old British beer styles

Beer, ale and Malt Liquor

old British beer styles

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Preamble
A Beginning First, I'll you how it all started. With McMullen's AK. A mild. I grew up in the brewing town of Newark-on-Trent. Between school and university, I had a summer job in the last remaining brewery, formerly James Hole & Co., but then romantically called John Smith's (Newark). Already a real ale drinker, the prospect of working in a keg-only plant didn't excite me much. Filling kegs - I didn't dare tell any CAMRA friends about my traiterous occupation. All I day I squirted bright beer into oversized tin cans. Sometimes it was Old Tom; others it was IPA or lager. But the overwhelming majority was Hole's AK. Their standard bitter.
Hole's AK Bitter Beer The story I had always been told, was this: AK stood for Arthur King, former head brewer at Hole's and father of the beer. It seemed logical enough. Later, I discovered this explanation demonstrated the brevity of popular memory. So if Hole's AK was named after a former head brewer, why would Mc Mullens have a beer with the same name? A beer which, even more confusingly, was a light mild. Was it just coincidence? Or were the two in some obscure way connected? What did AK really mean? Any answers? These are the questions that prompted my initial interest in beer names and their history. What follows are the answers. And the answers to a load of other questions I thought up on the way. AK is an obsession for me. Not just for beer reasons. AK were also my father's initials. As a beer, it had represented the pinnacle of Newark's brewing tradition. It's unsurprising that those two letters had such a particular resonnace for me. Have I learned AK's real meaning? Read the rest and find out. You don't want me to spoil the ending, do you?

Introduction
Understanding old brewing texts There are two main obstacles to understanding brewing in the past: changes in the langauge and changes in the methods of classification. To help us around them, I will explain how British beers were classified by brewers, governors and drinkers in centuries past. I will also provide precise definitions of the words they used. I will consider here only the 18th and 19th centuries. The past is not only a a foreign country, but one where a foreign language is spoken. Without a good understanding of the language used and the specific meaning of certain important words, especially where these differ subtly from modern usage, it's impossible to make any useful analysis of original sources. 18th century English must be treated as a foreign language. And one for which dictionaries are not readily available. Considering the length of time they survived with essentially the same meaning, it's surprising how much confusion the general classifications of British beeer have caused. We like to think of the modern world as a much more orderly place than that the 18th century. It would be expected that, in the scientific times of today, classifications were more consistent, definitions more precise. In the case of British beer the opposite is true. The looseness of current terminology forms a veil of imprecision through which it is difficult to interpret old texts without the utmost care. Why it's so important Not yet convinced? Here are e a couple of examples to illustrate my point. These are the texts of two old advertisements from the Tennant Brothers Brewery in Sheffield. The first reads "Brewers and Bottlers of fine Ales & Stout since 1840". What does "fine Ales" mean exactly? I must have seen this expression thousands of times on old brewery mirrors and windows, yet, like everyone else, I totally misunderstood its meaning. Fine is not used as a synonym for good; it means clear. The word, as both an adjective and noun, was used very specifically by the brewing industry in realtion to the clarification of beer. That's why finings are so called. My second example is "Tennant Brothers, Ale, Porter and Bitter Beer Brewers". A modern drinker is likely to interpret "Porter" and "Bitter Beer" as referring to specific products. What the brewer is really trying to tell us is that he makes beers of all the three general types (or families of styles) current at the time. It's more than likely that there was no product called "Bitter". I will explain this system of classification in more detail below.

18th Century Classifications

Beer
heavily-hopped. The two main subtypes were:

Keeping Beer - strong and inteded to be kept for long periods (9-12 months). Different types of keeping beer were:
- March Beer - a beer brewed at the end of the best brewing season
- October Beer - a beer brewed at the beginning of the best brewing season
- Amber Keeping Beer - brewed from amber malt
- Butt Beer - beer aged in large barrels or butts. Porter and stout were brown butt beers.
Small Beer - a low-alcohol drink for immediate consumption

Ale
lightly-hopped. It varied in strength, but was always weaker than the strongest Keeping Beers. Ales were usually drunk as soon as they had cleared, after about 3 or 4 weeks in the cask. The main subdivision was on the colour of the malt used:

Brown Ale - brown malt
Amber Ale - amber malt
Pale Ale - pale malt

Malt Liqour the generic term, encompassing both beer and ale. (Malt Drink was also used.)
(Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736 p.38-43)

Beer type	Bushels malt min	Bushels malt max	Malt yield/bushel	lbs/barrel min	OG min	lbs/barrel max	OG max	Average OG	FG	Calc. ABV
Intire small beer Brown malt	1.33	1.6	6.3	8.4	1023.26	10.08	1027.91	1025.58	1004	2.8
Amber Malt	1.33	1.6	7.62	10.16	1028.13	12.19	1033.76	1030.95	1004	3.51
Pale malt	1.33	1.6	8.13	10.83	1030.01	13	1036.01	1033.01	1004	3.78
Common Brown Ale	4.57	5.33	6.3	24.21	1067.06	28.25	1078.24	1072.65	1030	5.5
Strong Brown Ale (Stitch)	6.4		6.3	33.89	1093.89			1093.89	1052	5.35
Amber Ale	6.4		7.62	41	1113.57			1113.57	1052	7.95
Pale Ale	6.4		8.13	43.74	1121.15			1121.15	1052	8.96
October strong beer Pale malt	8	8.89	8.13	54.67	1151.43	60.74	1168.26	1159.85	1055	13.86
Stout Butt Beer Brown malt	8	8.89	6.3	42.37	1117.36	47.08	1130.4	1123.88	1055	8.92
Source: “London And Country Brewer” 1736, page 42, recommended quantites malt for 1 barrel (36 gallons) of beer Notes: Yield per bushel my estimate. Assumes making Small Beer wiyh the third mash. Final gravities based on Richardson's readings.

Theses are the strengths of ales and beers brewed from brown malt in the 1730's:

Type	lb/barrel	sg	Gallon	Quart (in pub)
Stout Butt-Beer	36	1100	10d - 13.3d	3.75d - 5d
Stitch	32	1089		8d
Starting Butt-Beer	29	1080	7d	2.75d
Common Brown Ale	21-27	1058-1075	5.625d	2.1d
Intire Small Beer	9.5	1026	2.66d	1d
Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736 Notes: Calculated from the brew lengths (number of barrels per quarter of malt). These figures are based on: brewing with brown malt 55 lb extract per qtr. malt; brewing 2 barrels small beer per qtr at 9.5 lb/barrel (1026) from the same mash.

You will note that the differentiation between beer and ale had remained unchanged since the introduction of hops in the 16th century. Whilst ales had also adopted the use of hops, the quantity used was so much smaller as to make them readily distiguishable from heavily-hopped beers. In general, beers were hopped at about 4 times the rate of the corresponding ale:

Beer type	lbs hops per hogshead	lbs per 36 gallons
Strong Brown Ale	1 (48 gallons)	0.75
Pale Ale	1.25 (48 gallons)	0.94
October or March Brown Beer	3 (54 gallons)	2
October or March Pale Beer	6 (54 gallons)	4
Source: "London & Country Brewer", 1736, p.73: Notes: It's clear that the Pale Ale described here has little in Common with that of the 19th century. The description of brewing "Stock Beer" in "The Brewer" (p.37) is very similar to that of October or March Pale Beer in "London & Country Brewer".

There is another important fact to consider: the distinction between beer and ale was to some extent defined in law. Before the 1819 Weights and Measures Act when a standard barrel size was introduced, in London a barrel of beer was 36 gallons, but a barrel of ale only 32. (Outside London both, ale and beer had been in barrels of 34 gallon until 1819.)

As a modern person, accustomed to modern usage, I've found it surprisingly hard whilst writing this piece not to lapse into using the term beer generically. It's indicative of the difficulty of removing ourselves from our contemporary context.

You will have noticed that there is no mention of Porter in the above. That's because the source used is describing the situation at about precisely the time Porter suddenly appeared. Information dating from the end of the century, indicates that, at least from a Weights & Measures point of view, Porter was a beer. It was filled into 36 gallon barrels.

Here are some ale and beer strengths from around 1760:

Beer type	Bushels malt min	Bushels malt max	Malt yield/bushel	lbs/barrel min	OG min	lbs/barrel max	OG max	Average OG	FG	Calc. ABV
Keeping small beer	1.4	1.6	8.63	12.08	1033.45	13.8	1038.23	1035.84	1004	4.15
Common small beer	1.5	1.7	8.63	12.94	1035.84	14.66	1040.62	1038.23	1004	4.47
Porter	2.9	3.5	6.88	19.94	1055.23	24.06	1066.65	1060.94	1016.62	5.76
Strong Brown ale	2.9	3.5	6.88	19.94	1055.23	24.06	1066.65	1060.94	1022.16	5.01
Amber Ale*	4.5	5.3	8.25	37.13	1102.84	43.73	1121.12	1111.98	1050.32	7.97
Amber Ale				31.22	1086.49	36.78	1101.87	1094.18	1034.75	7.71
Small Beer (half barrel)				11.8	1032.69	13.9	1038.5	1035.6	1004	4.12
Pale Ale*	4.5	5.3	8.63	38.81	1107.51	45.71	1126.62	1117.07	1054.77	8.04
Pale Ale				32.64	1090.42	38.45	1106.5	1098.46	1038.5	7.77
Small Beer (half barrel)				12.34	1034.18	14.53	1040.25	1037.21	1004	4.33
Burton strong ale*	7.1	8	6.88	48.81	1135.21	55	1152.35	1143.78	1051.52	12.12
Strong Ale				41.05	1113.72	46.26	1128.14	1120.93	1051.52	9
Small Beer (half barrel)				15.52	1042.98	17.48	1048.43	1045.71	1004	5.46
Source: Combrune "Theory and Practice of Brewing" 1762, his recommended quantites malt for 1 barrel (36 gallons) of beer . Notes: * For the Amber Ale, Pale Ale and Burton Strong Ale, the first row shows the whole mash being used. The 2nd and 3rd rows show the more likely situation in practice, where a barrel of small beer is also made from the mash. I have calculated pounds per barrel, OG and ABV based on the amount of malt specified by Combrune.

Obadiah Poundage's letter of 1760 gives dome fascinating insights into the development of Porter. Just a shame it's mostly been so badly interpreted.

Technological advances

There were some major technological advances in 18th century British brewing:

the thermometer (1760)
the hydrometer (1770)
the atemperator (1780)

These are the results of some of Richardson's early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770's:

Beer	SG	FG	attenuation	ABV
Strong ale	1110	1052	58	7.2%
Common ale	1075	1025	50	6.3%
Porter	1071	1018	53	6.6%
Table beer	1040	1004	26	3.4%
Source: “A History of Beer and Brewing” Ian S. Hornsey, 2003 p.436. Notes: ABV my calculation from the gravity drop.

Industrialistion

In the second half of the 18th century brewing began to be operated on an industrial scale in London. Before the development of railways, this was only possible in a city of London's size.

The largest brewery already produced a very respectable 91,000 hectolitres in 1748. Thirty years later, there were 6 breweries each pumping out more than 100,000 hl.annually. By the end of the century, Whitbread had taken the lead and broken the 300,000 hl barrier. To put this into context, in the 1790's the largest Mumich brewery maanged less than 4,000 hl.

These are more detailed figures the big London breweries:

Output in hectolitres
	1748	1758	1776	1782	1787	1792	1797	1799
Barcaly Perkins (Thrale)	58,262	53,352	123,397	140,253	172,821	195,569	231,737	223,063
Whitbread	-	105,722	167,093	199,824	239,429	291,308	314,220	332,549
Truman, Hanbury	64,480	90,829	135,834	151,218	155,964	159,565	191,805	191,150
Sir W. Calvert Felix Calvert	91,156	90,011	137,635	149,909	149,909	113,577	114,723	114,723
John Calvert	87,720	101,139	165,456	180,185	214,389	204,734	166,602	159,074
Meux, Reid (Reid and Co)	-	-	35,677	70,372	81,337	128,470	156,128	279,361
Hammond-Gyfford-Shum-Coombe -Delafield	-	-	132,561	135,507	148,763	173,803	196,060	192,459
Parsons-Goodwyn-Hoare	63,826	51,879	-	76,427	108,668	95,739	151,873	133,380
Total for largest breweries	365,444	492,932	897,653	1,103,696	1,271,280	1,362,764	1,523,146	1,625,759
Source: "The Brewing Industry in England 1700-1830" by Peter Mathias, 1959, page 551

(I have more complete figures in this spreadsheet.)

19th Century Classifications

19th Century Brewing
English breweries were modern, well-organised and technically proficient by the middle 1800's. William Loftus describes how they brewed in the 1860's in some detail.

There were three families of styles:

Bitter Beers
Ale
Porter

I'll try to explain them, as best I can, in what follows. I make no pretence of understanding exactly what all the letters - X, A, K, etc - used to denote different types of beer meant. But there are definite patterns. Ones which I think help us understand modern British beer styles and, more importantly, the relationships between them.

Bitter Beers
heavily-hopped. As the century progressed, IPA spawned numerous variations. By 1900, most breweries had at least two or three "Bitters" in their range. Beers generally assigned to this family are

Name	Description	Designation
Stock Beer	strong and inteded to be kept for long periods (9-12 months)	KK, KKK, KKKK
Pale Ale	a confusing designation used for a pale, highly-attenuated beer. Though these were called Pale Ale within the brewery, by the late 19th century drinkers usually referred to such beers as "bitter".	PA, IPA, EIPA
Light Bitter	light (or "mild") bitter beers. Often callen "Luncheon" or "Dinner" Ales, or simply "Bitter Ale" or "Bitter Beer".	AK, BB, BA, LBA, AKA

English beer names taken from old advertisements

Pale Ales
This is how IPA was brewed in the 1860's.

At the start of its rise to fame, IPA was one or two price classes (2d or 4d a gallon) higher Porters or Ales of the same gravity. The premium price is a sure sign of its renown. As other styles gradually weakened, a trend which hardly touched IPA and EIPA, the price differential was eroded to nearly nothing.

PA, the son still living at home with his parents, was less immune to the pressure of higher taxation. Its strength was whittled down from 1066º in 1860 to 1048º in 1914. Then things got serious. Strategies designed to conserve raw materials during WW I and WW II, encouraged brewers to slash the gravities of popular beers the most. By the 1950's most Pale Ales (Young's, for example) had become the standard Bitters of 1036º we know today.

AK
The weakest members of this family, AK and BB, for example, were amongst the lightest Victorian beers. Even the basic X Ale was stronger. The gravity of AK dropped more than any other style in the 1800's, with the possible exception of Porter. At least some of this was accountable to a change in public taste away from heavy beers.

Stock Beer
Stock Beer was a strong Beer which was matured for many months or years and then blended with young beers or ales to give them the aged flavour. It was called Stock because a stock of it was kept in the brewery. It was rarely sold just by itself (I've only found a product called Stock Ale or Beer a couple of times in old brewery price lists).

The "aged" taste, as was discoverd when it was isolated in 1903 by the Dane Niels Hjelte Claussen (who worked at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen), came from the action of Brettanomyces. Experiments in Britain the early 1900's showed that when a finished pasteurised beer was innoculated with Brettanomyces it acquired the typical aged taste within 10 to 14 days. The application of this technique would have made the production of Stock Beers much quicker and more reliable. Except that the demand for such beers had all but evaporated by the start of the 20th century.

This is a paper presented to the Institute of Brewing in 1904 by Claussen explaining the role of Brettanomyces in the production of Stock Beers (reproduced with permission from the Journal of the Institute of Brewing).

Pure Yeast Cultures
In "Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" (H. Lloyd Hind, London, 1940, pages 800-802) there's another interesting passage about Hansens work with single-cell yeast strains. It discusses experiments at the Worthington brewery in Burton in the 1880's brewing beer with pure strains. The conclusion was that pure strains did not produce better than mixed strains and ib fact had some disadvanatges during secondary fermentation, such as conditioning more slowly in the cask and producing beers which did not age well. It was not recommened for use in beers that were to be kept more than 6 weeks after racking. It says that at the time (1940) only a handful of British brewers used pure strains.

India Ales
When brewed	Package	Export/Home	Price/hogshead (in shillings)	Price/gallon (in pence)	OG	FG	lbs/barrel	Proof spirit %	ABV
1844	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1044.69	1005	16.13	8.82	5.04
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1054.18	1013	19.56	9.15	5.23
Not known.	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1047.18	1006	17.03	9.15	5.23
April 1845	Bottle	Export	60	13.33	1048.35	1004.25	17.45	9.8	5.6
1845	Cask	Export	60	13.33	1048.35	1004.25	17.45	9.8	5.6
Not known.	Bottle	Home	60	13.33	1049.93	1004.25	18.02	10.15	5.8
1844	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1053.75	1006.5	19.4	10.5	6
1844	Bottle	Export, India	60	13.33	1053.82	1005	19.43	10.85	6.2
1845	Cask	Export	63	14	1049.6	1005.5	17.91	9.8	5.6
April 1845	Bottle	Export	63	14	1055.23	1003.25	19.94	11.55	6.6
Jan 1846	Bottle	Export	65	14.44	1061.95	1005.25	22.36	12.6	7.2
Not known.	Bottle	Export	66	14.67	1054.4	1004	19.64	11.2	6.4
Not known.	Cask	Home	81	18	1059.25	1012	21.39	10.5	6
April 1845	Cask	Home	81	18	1053.75	1006.5	19.4	10.5	6
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1054.83	1006	19.79	10.85	6.2
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1058.8	1005.25	21.23	11.9	6.8
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1058.55	1005	21.14	11.9	6.8
March 1845	Bottle	Home	81	18	1060.13	1005	21.71	12.25	7
Not known.	Bottle	Export	81	18	1058.38	1003.25	21.07	12.25	7
April 1845	Bottle	Export	81	18	1058.88	1003.75	21.25	12.25	7
Not known.	Bottle	Export	81	18	1061.28	1003	22.12	12.95	7.4
Not known.	Cask	Export, India	84	18.67	1061.98	1010	22.37	11.55	6.6
Dec. 1844	Cask	Export	84	18.67	1060.38	1005.25	21.8	12.25	7
Mar 1846	Bottle	Export	90	20	1052.25	1005	18.86	10.5	6
Jan 1846	Cask	Export	90	20	1054.83	1006	19.79	10.85	6.2
Jan 1846	Cask	Home	90	20	1055.33	1006.5	19.97	10.85	6.2
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1062.4	1012	22.53	11.2	6.4
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1062.65	1012.25	22.62	11.2	6.4
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1064.23	1012.25	23.19	11.55	6.6
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1065.55	1012	23.66	11.9	6.8
1844	Bottle	Export	90	20	1067.28	1009	24.29	12.95	7.4
Not known.	Cask	Export, India	90	20	1066.28	1008	23.93	12.95	7.4
Feb 1845	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1068.53	1010.5	24.74	12.95	7.4
1844	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1070.1	1010.25	25.31	13.3	7.6
Jan 1844	Bottle	Export, India	90	20	1067.61	1007.75	24.41	13.3	7.6
Not known.	Bottle	Export	90	20	1068.93	1007.5	24.88	13.65	7.8
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1069.18	1007.75	24.97	13.65	7.8
1845	Cask	Export	90	20	1068.93	1007.5	24.88	13.65	7.8
Not known.	Bottle	Export, India	95	21.11	1067.1	1007.25	24.22	13.3	7.6
Not known.	Cask	Export	95	21.11	1069.43	1008	25.06	13.65	7.8
*Source:* “Scottish Ale Brewer”, by W.H. Roberts, Edinburgh, 1847, pages 171 and 173 *Notes:* 1 hogshead = 54 gallons 1 shilling = 12 pence

Ale
The descendent of Britain's pre-hop brews, Ales were still considerably more lightly-hopped than Bitter Beers. Most breweries made several, their relative strength indicated the number of X's in their name.

Name	Description	Designation
Mild Ale	ales of varying strength meant to be drunk young	X, XX, XXX, XXXX
Strong Ale	high-strength ale, usually aged	XXXXX, XXXXXX, SA
Old Ale	like the stronger milds, but aged	XXXX, XXXXX
Stock Ale	high-strength, aged ale blended with young ale to add the "aged" flavour	XXXK, XXXXK

English beer names taken from old advertisements

The weakest Old Ale was basically the same brew as the strongest Mild Ale, just more heavily-hopped and aged. Long storage in oak vats infected with Brettanomyces produced the "English taste" demanded by drinkers in the early part of the century. Later, the public shifted its affections to younger, weaker brews. By 1900, most Ale was drunk "mild".

Griffin Brewery Ale grists
	1839 X	1839 XL	1838 XX	1839 XXX	1839 KK	1839 KKK
pale malt	99.75	99.76	100	100	100	100
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
black malt	0.25	0.24	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.08	2.19	3.12	3.75	3.97	5.12
hops (lbs/qtr)	6.97	6.85	8.8	8	10	10.67
gravity (lbs barrel)	26.5	28.5	32	38	32	38
gravity (OG)	1073	1079	1089	1105	1089	1105
barrels wort	131	125	141	128	141	125
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	89.01	89.06	90.24	81.07	80.57	79.17
Source: Brewing books of the Reid Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Barclay Perkins Ale Grists
	1869								1880
	X	XX*	XXX*	T*	KK	KK	KKK	KKKK**	X	XX*	KKK
pale malt	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	86.01	89.32	81.34
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
sugar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.99	10.68	18.66
hops (lbs)	538	1004	260	316	2438	2302	2768	1020	2396	535	5357
hops (lbs/barrel)	1.94	4	5	4	5.73	7.24	8	10	2.12	4.98	8.1
hops (lbs/qtr)	6.73	10.46	12.09	15.8	14.34	18.27	15.38	18.89	7.61	13.38	18.8
gravity (lbs barrel)	21.7	28.7	33.5	20.5	30.3	28.6	33.6	38.3	21.62	28.35	32.6
gravity (OG)	1060	1080	1093	1057	1084	1079	1093	1106	1060	1079	1090
barrels wort	277.9	251	52	79	425.2	317.8	346	102	1141	107.5	661.75
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	75	75	80.9	79.9	75.2	72.1	68.4	72.1	78.3	76.2	75.7
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: X = Mild Ales (sold young) K = Keeping or Stock Ales * party-gyled with X ** party-gyled with KK KKK was brewed just once in 1880

Porter
Porter was the generic term used to cover all porters and stouts. Here's how Porter was brewed in the 1860's.

Name	Description	Designation
Porter	the bottom-end, draught beer	XP, XXP
Stout	the porter equivalent of an XX ale	X
Double Stout	the porter equivalent of an XXX ale	XX
Triple Stout	the porter equivalent of an XXXX ale	XXX
Brown Stout	the name applied to the first stouts, brewed from brown malt. Some breweries (mostly in London) stuck to this name even after they had stopped using brown malt.	BS
Double Brown Stout	the stronger version of Brown Stout	DBS
Russian Stout	The strongest member of the Stout family

English beer names taken from old advertisements

The strength of Porter and Stout
Early London Porters were strong beers by modern standards. Early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770's recorded Porter as having an OG of 1071° and 6.6% ABV. Increased taxation during the Napoleonic War pushed its gravity down to around 1055°, where it remained for the rest of the 19th century. The huge popularity of the style prompted brewers to produce Porters in a wide variety of strengths. These started with Single Stout Porter at around 1070°, Double Stout Porter at 1085°, Triple Stout Porter at 1095° and Imperial Stout Porter at 1100° and more. As the 19th century progressed the Porter suffix was gradually dropped. British brewers, however, continued to use Porter as the generic term for both Porters and Stouts.

Griffin Brewery

	1844			1867			1877
Beer type	OG (lbs/barrel)	OG	hops (lbs/barrel)	OG	OG	hops	OG	OG	hops
Regular Porter	21.8	1060.1º	2.75	20	1055.4º	2	21	1058.2º	2.25-2.5
Crs.	21	1058.2º	3.75	20	1055.4º	2	21	1058.2º	3-3.25
Crs. Export				22	1060.9º	4.5	22	1060.9º	5
Com. Sea	22	1060.9º	3
S	26.5	1073.4º	3.75
S Crs.	27	1074.8º	4.8	25	1069.3º	4.5	26	1072º	4-4.25
S Export							27	1074.8º	6.25
SS	31.5	1087.3º	4.56
SS Crs.	31.5	1087.3º	5.75	30	1083.1º	4.25	30.5	1084.5º	4-4.25
SSS	35	1097º	6	34	1094.2º	6
SSS Crs.				34	1094.2º	6	34.5	1095.6º	6-6.25
SSS Export							35	1097º	7.5
Source: Brewing books of the Reid Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: Reid brewing logs from 1837-1838

The move from Brown to Pale malt
The large London Porter breweries pioneered many technological advances, such as the use of the thermometer (about 1760) and the hydrometer (1770). The use of the latter was to transform the nature of Porter. The first Porters were brewed from 100% Brown Malt. Now brewers were able to accurately measure the yield of the malt they used, it was noticed that Brown Malt, though cheaper than Pale Malt, only produced about two thirds as much fermentable material. When the malt tax was increased to help pay for the Napoleonic War, brewers had an incentive to use less malt. Their solution was to use a proportion of Pale Malt and add colouring to obtain the expected hue.

When a law was passed in 1816 allowing only malt and hops to be used in the production of beer (a sort of British Reinheitsgebot) they were left in a quandry. Their problem was solved by Wheeler´s invention of patent malt in 1817. It was now possible to brew Porter from 95% Pale Malt and 5% patent malt, though most London brewers continued to use some Brown Malt for flavour.

Griffin Brewery (Reid) Porter and Stout grists
	1844/1845								1867							1877
	Rg	Crs	Com. Sea	S	S Crs	SS	SS Crs	SSS	Rg	Crs	Crs. Exp.	S Crs	SS Crs	SSS	SSS Exp.	Rg	Crs	S	SS	SSS
pale malt	83.14	80.55	81.02	82	81.29	85.88	85.73	83.07	83.31	83.11	39.26	40.24	86.17	39.92	23.93	84.37	87.46	58.21	86.19	39.92
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	41.73	40.24	0	39.67	54.93	0	0	28.14	0	39.67
brown malt	13.86	14.99	14.73	14.06	14.52	10.81	10.92	13.52	11.26	11.29	14.94	14.45	10.28	17.86	18.57	10.08	9	10.1	10.27	17.86
black malt	4	4.46	4.25	3.94	4.19	3.31	3.34	3.41	5.42	5.59	4.07	5.07	3.54	2.55	2.57	5.56	3.54	3.54	3.54	2.55
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.83	3.76	3.03	3.76	4.92	4.55	6.15	5.83	1.92	2.5	4.42	4.27	4.2	6.09	7	2.16	2.99	4.27	4.2	5.83
hops (lbs/qtr)	11.61	15.67	12.96	12.05	15.77	11.62	14.92	12.66	9.16	11	15.47	13.16	10.23	12.66	12.86	8.47	11.67	13.16	10.22	12.66
gravity (lbs barrel)	21.8	21	22	26.5	27	31.5	31.5	34	20	20	22	25	30	34	34	21	21	25	30	34
gravity (OG)	1060	1058	1061	1073	1075	1087	1087	1094	1055	1055	1061	1069	1083	1094	1094	1058	1058	1069	1083	1094
barrels wort	459	866	462	359	333	347	330	139	952	879	224	818	648	133	257	392	234	818	648	139
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	89.34	87.43	94.11	84.94	86.45	80.37	76.43	73.84	95.2	87.9	77	77.1	73.12	70.66	62.41	82.32	81.9	77.1	73.05	73.84
Source: Brewing books of the Griffin Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: Rg = Regular Porter Crs = Keeping Porter S = Single Stout SS = Double Stout SSS - Triple Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Griffin Brewery (Meux, Reid & Co) brewery grists
	1839 IPA	1839 BPA	1839 Porter	1838 KP	1837 BSt	1838 KBSt	1838 EBSt	1837 DBSt
pale malt %	100	100	80.39	82.88	77.78	78.4	77.78	78.13
amber malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt %	0	0	14.95	13.46	18.39	18.35	18.39	17.86
black malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt %	0	0	4.66	3.66	3.83	3.25	3.83	4.02
hops (lbs/barrel)	5.88	5.61	2.09	4.13	4.61	5.15	5.32	4.86
hops (lbs/qtr)	26.6	22.67	10.23	16.44	14.04	16.23	17.16	11.23
gravity (lbs barrel)	20.55	20.17	22.14	21.46	26.71	25.98	25.74	30.38
gravity (OG)	1057	1056	1061.32	1059	1074	1072	1071	1084
barrels wort	452	303	392	398	320	331	339	208
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	92.9	81.5	108.4	85.4	81.4	81.9	83.1	70.2
Source: Brewing books of the Griffin Brewery, held at the City of Westminster archive. Notes: KP = Keeping Porter BSt = Brown Stout KBSt = Keeping Brown Stout EBSt = Export Brown Stout DBSt = Double Brown Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Anchor Brewery (Barclay Perkins)

In the early decades of the 19th century, Barclay Perkins was not just the largest brewery in London, but the largest in the world. It brewed on a massive scale. Look below at the size of their 1812 brews - 1200 barrels (around 2,000 hl) or more. That's more than many micros brew in a year.

Barclay Perkins Porter and Stout Grists
	1805							1812						1851					1856								1862
	BSt	EI	FSt	Table	TT	Hhd	PSt	BSt	EI	FSt	Table	TT	Small Ale	BSt	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd	Bst	BSt K	BSt ex	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd	Fst	BSt	EI	IBSt	TT	Hhd
pale malt %	55.05	54.85	67.2	68.13	56.23	54.85	100	48.27	58.28	58.72	65.46	61.72	100	68.05	73.8	63.58	85	85	65.34	65.34	65.34	77.65	63.79	86.38	84.87	76.72	65.19	76.44	66.11	80.19	81.19
amber malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.39	0	0	11.48	0	0	10.66	4.45	10.8	0	0	11.49	11.49	11.49	0	11.15	0	0	0	11.11	0	11.26	0	0
brown malt %	44.95	45.15	32.8	31.87	43.77	45.15	0	37.33	41.72	41.28	23.06	38.28	0	18.74	18.41	23.05	12.12	12.12	20.18	20.18	20.18	19	22.4	10.54	12.1	19.55	20.91	19.93	19.79	14.78	14.47
black malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.54	3.35	2.58	2.88	2.88	2.99	2.99	2.99	3.35	2.66	3.09	3.03	3.73	2.79	3.63	2.83	5.03	4.34
hops (lbs/barrel)	3.45	3.8	3.02	0.68	1.87	2.69	3.98	3.97	3.82	3.29	0.25	2.53	2.9	6.22	4.47	9.04	3.25	4.29	6.56	8.14	8.14	4.68	10.12	3.1	3.69	4.54	8.33	4.6	10.02	4.32	5.66
hops (lbs/qtr)	8.04	12.38	11.68	4.31	6.27	8.95	8.67	9.43	12.89	12.19	2.14	9.63	14.23	13.44	16.88	15.75	13	16.38	14.4	17.9	16.25	17.05	15.86	12.72	15.46	19.54	17.9	18.08	15.58	22	25.45
gravity (lbs barrel)	25.05	19.53	16.59	11.18	18.98	17.37	28.69	25.27	18.97	17.28	9.21	18.67	15.75	28.49	21.72	30.59	20.52	21.91	33.5	33.5	33.5	22	38.7	21.9	21.5	22.2	32.4	22.6	36.03	20.1	21
gravity (OG)	1069	1054	1046	1031	1053	1048	1079	1070	1053	1048	1026	1052	1044	1079	1060	1085	1057	1061	1093	1093	1093	1061	1107	1061	1060	1061	1090	1063	1100	1056	1058
barrels wort	537	685	734	414	856	349	261	831	759	1187	1217	1217	1278	648	907	523	1037	990	615	615	615	1310.8	227.25	1067	1088	1421	623	1354	443	1374	990
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	58.48	63.7	64.08	71.23	63.7	57.75	62.41	60	64	64.08	80.1	71	77.42	61.6	82.1	53.32	82	83.6	73.3	73.3	73.3	79.8	60.3	89.7	89.8	95.4	67.1	88.8	56	97	97
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: BSt = Brown Stout TT = Porter (don't ask me what it stands for) IBSt = Imperial Brown Stout (later Barclays Imperial Russian Stout, then Courage Russian Stout) PSt = Pale Stout % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

Barclay Perkins
	1899/1900					1910
	BS	RDP	SDP	XLK	PA	BS	BS ex	RDP	OMS	XLK	EIP Ex	PA
pale	50.8	51.34	59.33	70.43	70.48	47.82	56.3	49.59	46.58	75.25	66.94	86.24
amber	11.36	11.49	6.41	0	0	11	14.07	11.64	11.87	0	6.53	0
brown	6.24	6.36	8.87	0	0	6.28	6.57	6.26	9.47	0	10.72	0
black	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast	5.08	3.71	3.33	0	0	5.62	6.08	5.66	8.21	0	6.77	0
C (chocolate malt?)	8.02	8.04	4.33	0	0	8.13	0	7.76	0	0	0	0
oats	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.41	0	3.65	0	0	0
rice	0	0	0	10.84	10.82	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
maize	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.02	0	0
sugar	18.49	19.07	17.74	18.73	18.7	21.16	15.57	19.08	20.21	18.73	9.03	13.76
hops (lbs)	376	326	147	400	112	232	480	264	240	270	204	192
hops (lbs/barrel)	3.19	2.79	2.57	2.16	4	2.69	4.03	2.54	1.83	1.48	3.39	3.11
hops (lbs/qtr)	8.87	8.84	8.32	10	16.45	7.73	12	8	7.5	7.5	11.91	12
gravity (lbs barrel)	27.44	22.67	24.01	19.31	21.69	27.29	27.51	23.47	19.21	16.93	20.1	21.69
gravity (OG)	1076	1063	1067	1054	1060	1076	1076	1065	1053	1047	1056	1060
barrels wort	118	117	57.3	185	28	86.3	119	103.75	131	182	60.25	61.75
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	76.4	78.3	78.3	89	88.2	76.7	81.6	76.9	78.4	85.6	80.4	83.7
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: BS = Brown Stout BS ex = Brown Stout (Export) RDP = Porter (Running?) SDP = Porter (Stock?) OMS = Oatmeal Stout PA = Pale Ale XLK = god knows, seems to be some sort of light Bitter or Luncheon Ale % of each malt calculated from weight (pounds) not volume (quarters). As darker malt is lighter per quarter (approx 250 pounds per quarter) than pale malt ( approx 320 pounds) the ratio would be different if calculated from the number of quarters.

What does this tell us?
Barclay's Imperial Stout label

These figures demonstrate that the BJCP-defined difference between Porter and Stout - that Stout is roasty and Porter isn´t - is total bollocks. Or at least that wasn´t the case in 19th century London. If anything, it was the other way around in the case of Barclays. The 1862 Porter (5%) had almost twice as much roasted malt as the Stout (2.8%).

In 1805 the Stout was just a scaled-up version of the Porter. In 1812 the difference was that the Stout had 15% amber malt, while the Porter had none. In 1851 and 1862, not only did the Stout have amber malt but around 50% more brown malt than the Porter. By 1862, the Porter was more heavily-hopped, with 22 pounds per quarter to the Stout's 18.

Nor is there any significant difference in the hopping levels (best seen in the pounds of hops per quarter of malt) between the two. In 1815 both Porter and Stour were hopped at around 9.5 pounds per quarter. In 1851, both had around 13 pounds of hops per quarter of malt.

The table shows well the change in Porter grists over the course of the century, with the percentage of brown malt falling and later the use of roast malt for colouring purposes.

Whitbread

Whitbread Porter and Stout grists
	1805			1844						1873				1904
	Porter	S	SS	Porter	KP#	S*	S Exp	SS&	SSS&	Porter	XpS	SS	SSS	Porter	C~	CS	S*	SS@	SSS#
pale malt	79.24	79.24	66.12	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	81.21	94.48	80.19	84.24	83.86	y	83.11	83.11	y	62.98	62.98
amber malt	0	0	19.33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.12	21.12
brown malt	20.76	20.76	14.55	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	18.79	0	14.78	11.82	12.55	y	9.98	9.98	y	11.36	11.36
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.52	5.03	3.94	3.59	y	6.91	6.91	y	4.54	4.54
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0		0	0
total	216	216	216	199	173	199	199	26	199	138	270	200	176	134	206	206	74	417	58
hops (lbs)	2259	2248	2261	2298	1977	252	4340	302.72		1607	3288	2705	2451	818	832.31	1245	954.7	3744	602
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.83	3.12	3.9	2.94	2.94	4.06	6.89	5.41		2.65	5.81	4.55	6.81	1.42	2.98	1.46	4.13
hops (lbs/qtr)	10.46	10.41	10.47	11.55	11.46	11.56	21.81	11.46	11.49	11.64	12.18	13.53	13.93	6.09	12.07	6.04	12.96	10.42	10..42
gravity (lbs barrel)	18.5	19	21.9	23	22.1	28	27.5	32	36	21.4	25.3	27.8	33	19.4	20.1	20.28	27.07	31.23	34.3
gravity (OG)	1051	1053	1061	1064	1061	1078	1076	1089	1100	1059	1070	1077	1091	1053	1056	1056	1075	1087	1095
barrels wort	798	720	580	781	672	62	630	56	56	607	566	595	360	577	279	852	231	863	270
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	67.1	70.4	69	91.4	90.8	93.8	93.6	90.8	90.5	79.7	80.9	76.4	70	83.3	81.3	83.9	84.9	75	75
Source: Brewing logs from the Whitbread archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: * party-gyled Porter # party-gyled with SS & party-gyled with KP @ party-gyled with SSS ~ party-gyled with CS In 1805 every single brew had exactly the same ingredients, the only difference between Porter , S and SS being the volume of beer produced.

Truman, Hanbury and Buxton (Black Eagle Brewery)

Truman Porter and Stout grists
	1850
	Runner	Country Runner	M Keeping	Bottling Keeping	Export Keeping	Running Stout	M Keeping Stout	Export Stout	Double Stout	Keeping Double Stout	Imperial
pale malt	93.63	89.43	88.91	80.03	80.03	92.9	80.03	80.03	81.96	81.96	81.96
amber malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
brown malt	6.37	10.57	11.09	19.97	19.97	7.1	19.97	19.97	18.04	18.04	18.04
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
total malt (qtrs)	240	110	280	280	240	270	280	280	110	110	110
hops 1846	52.04	0	0	0	0	13.59	0	0	0	0	0
hops 1847	27.35	50.51	48.06	0	0	54.08	50.57	0	35.97	0	0
hops 1849	20.61	49.49	0	0	0	32.33	0	0	64.03	0	0
hops 1850	0	0	51.94	100	100	0	49.43	100	0	100	100
hops total (lbs)	2372	1456	3914	5220	5156	3303	3651	5375	1470	1473	1463
hops (lbs/barrel)	2.63	4.05	3.53	5.42	5.02	4.25	4.31	8.15	6.8	6.23	8.2
hops (lbs/qtr)	10.97	14.65	14.91	19.23	22.28	13.13	13.95	20.03	14.16	13.99	13.79
gravity (lbs barrel)	23.54	25.62	23.65	23.83	20.58	29.49	27.97	31.99	34.54	34.29	35.8
gravity (OG)	1065	1071	1066	1066	1057	1082	1077	1089	1096	1095	1100
barrels wort	999	398	1184	993	1066	835	906	688	229	247	185
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	98	92.7	100	84.5	91.4	91.2	90.5	78.6	71.9	77	64.1
Source: Document B/THB/C/52 in the London Metropolitan Archive

From "stale" to "mild"
Until about 1800, all London Porter was matured in large vats (often holding several hundred barrels) for between six and eighteen months before being racked into smaller casks to be delivered to pubs. It was discovered that it was unnecessary to age all Porter. A small quantity of highly aged beer (18 months or more) mixed with fresh or "mild" Porter produced a flavour similar to that of aged beer. It was a cheaper method of producing Porter, as less beer needed to be stored for long periods. The normal blend was around two parts young beer to one part old.

After 1860, as the popularity of both Porter and the aged taste began to wane, Porter was increasingly sold "mild". In the final decades of the century many breweries discontinued their Porter, though continued to brew one or two stouts. Those which did still persist with Porter brewed it weaker and with fewer hops. Between 1860 and 1914 the gravity dropped from 1055° to 1040° and the hopping rate from two pounds to one pound per 36 gallon barrel. It was a mere shadow of the beer which had once been so respected and admired.

The disaster of 1917
During the First World War in Britain, shortages of grain led to restrictions on the production of strong beer. Less strict rules were applied in Ireland allowing Irish brewers such as Guinness to take advantage and dominate the bottled Stout market. However, most English breweries continued to brew draught stouts until Second World War and beyond. They were considerably weaker than the pre-war versions (down from 1055º-1060° to 1040-1042°) and around the strength that Porter had been in 1914. Porter, with its srength slot now occupied by Single Stout, slowly withered away. The last English Porters were brewed around 1940.

A couple of Stouts remained part of a brewery's portfolio, even when Porter had gone. A new type of low-gravity, bottled Stout appeared, equivalent to Light Bitter. But strong Stout didn't disappear - many varities were brewed until WW I. A few - like Courage Russian Stout or Bass P2 - managed to survive even that.

English beer names, strengths and wholesale price 1860 - 1900.

Transcripts of of interviews with publicans and brewers conducted by socioliogist Charles Booth provide a fascinating glimpse into London pubs in the 1890's.

19th Century British Beer Styles and their Strengths

			1860		1880		1900
	Name	Price	lbs per barrel	o.g	lbs per barrel	o.g	lbs per barrel	o.g
Ale
X	Mild Ale	1s	22	1060.94	20	1055.4	19	1052.63
XX	Mild Ale	1s 2d	24	1066.48	22	1060.94	20	1055.4
XXX	Mild Ale	1s 4d	26	1072.02	24	1066.48	22	1060.94
XXXX	Mild/Old Ale	1s 6d	28	1077.56	26	1072.02	24	1066.48
XXXXX	Strong Ale/Burton	1s 8d	30	1083.1	28	1077.56	26	1072.02
XXXXXX	Extra Strong Ale	2s	36	1099.72	34	1094.18	32	1088.64
Porter
XP	Porter	1s	20	1055.4	20	1055.4	19	1052.63
XXP	Porter	1s 2d	22	1060.94	22	1060.94	21	1058.17
X	Single Stout	1s 4d	24	1066.48	24	1066.48	23	1063.71
XX	Double Stout	1s 6d	26	1072.02	26	1072.02	26	1072.02
XXX	Triple/Extra Stout	1s 8d	28	1077.56	28	1077.56	27	1074.79
	Imperial Stout	2s	34	1094.18	34	1094.18	30	1083.1
	Russian Stout	2s 6d	40	1110.8	40	1110.8	36	1099.72
BS	Brown Stout	1s 4d	24	1066.48	24	1066.48	22	1060.94
DBS	Double Brown Stout	1s 6d	26	1072.02	26	1072.02	24	1066.48
Bitter Beer
AK	Light Bitter Ale	1s	20	1055.4	18	1049.86	17	1047.09
AKA	Bitter Ale	1s 2d	22	1060.94	20	1055.4	19	1052.63
AKK	Bitter Ale	1s 2d	22	1060.94	20	1055.4	20	1055.4
BB	Bitter Ale	1s 4d	24	1066.48	22	1060.94	20	1055.4
PA	Pale Ale	1s 4d	24	1066.48	22	1060.94	22	1060.94
IPA	India Pale Ale	1s 6d	24	1066.48	23	1063.71	23	1063.71
E IPA	East/Export India Pale Ale	1s 8d	26	1072.02	25	1069.25	25	1069.25
XXXK	Stock Strong Ale	1s 6d	26	1072.02	26	1072.02	26	1072.02
LS	Strong Ale	1s 10d	30	1083.1	30	1083.1	28	1077.56
KXX	Strong Ale		30	1083.1
KKK	Strong Ale		29	1080.33
KKKK	Strong Ale	1s 10d	31	1085.87	30	1083.1	28	1077.56
	Strong Ale	2s	32	1088.64	32	1088.64	32	1088.64
KKKK	Strong Ale		38	1105.26	36	1099.72	36	1099.72
No. 1	Burton Ale (Bass)	2s 4d	38	1105.26	38	1105.26	38	1105.26

Beer 1890 to 1900

OG, attenuation and ABV for different styles circa 1895
Beer type	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Bitter	Bitter	Bitter	Bitter	Bitter	Light Bitter	Light Bitter	Light Bitter	Light Bitter	Light Bitter	Light Bitter	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale	Running Ale
OG	1071	1073.5	1072.8	1066	1066	1059	1061.5	1059	1060.5	1061.1	1060	1061	1059	1058	1061	1062	1062	1060.5	1047.2	1048	1049	1046.5	1047	1047	1050	1041.1	1051	1050.6	1050.5	1049.5	1048.5	1047	1043	1043.5	1044	1041	1041.5
FG	1020	1019	1022.7	1019.4	1019	1018	1016.7	1014.7	1014.4	1013.9	1012.7	1012.7	1012.2	1017.2	1017	1013.9	1014	1012.2	1011.1	1014	1014.4	1010.8	1013.9	1011.6	1016.7	1010.5	1014.4	1010	1011.1	1008.3	1007.8	1009	1012.7	1012.5	1010	1009.5	1009.4
% of fermentable substances in finished beer	6.3	4.48	9.65	7.8	4.6	5.8	8.2	5.43	6.04	4.3	1.92	4.34	0.7	13.89	7.48	3.92	2.72	3	6.6	12.6	8.18	8.73	14.54	10.56	10.11	8.03	9.78	4.7	6.5	3.66	2.03	3.49	9.05	10.72	4.83	6.16	2.9
Real FG	1.0289	1.0285	1.0314	1.0275	1.0272	1.0252	1.0245	1.0224	1.0224	1.0221	1.0209	1.0211	1.0204	1.0243	1.0247	1.0223	1.0224	1.0206	1.0174	1.0200	1.0205	1.0171	1.0197	1.0178	1.0226	1.0159	1.0208	1.0171	1.0180	1.0155	1.0149	1.0157	1.0180	1.0180	1.0160	1.0151	1.0151
apparent degree of attenuation	71.8310	74.1497	68.8187	70.6061	71.2121	69.4915	72.8455	75.0847	76.1983	77.2504	78.8333	79.1803	79.3220	70.3448	72.1311	77.5806	77.4194	79.8347	76.4831	70.8333	70.6122	76.7742	70.4255	75.3191	66.6000	74.4526	71.7647	80.2372	78.0198	83.2323	83.9175	80.8511	70.4651	71.2644	77.2727	76.8293	77.3494
real attenuation	59.3317	61.2802	56.8316	58.2829	58.7874	57.3164	60.1196	61.9663	62.9032	63.7833	65.0936	65.3900	65.4930	58.0195	59.5223	64.0647	63.9304	65.9314	63.0451	58.3646	58.1875	63.2815	58.0204	62.0780	54.8671	61.3176	59.1559	66.1888	64.3456	68.6692	69.2299	66.6694	58.0282	58.6933	63.6761	63.2856	63.7205
ABV	6.6365	7.1065	6.5081	6.0543	6.1086	5.3182	5.8244	5.7645	6.0042	6.1520	6.1694	6.3024	6.1047	5.2941	5.7176	6.2716	6.2580	6.3042	4.6920	4.4078	4.4856	4.6401	4.2899	4.5984	4.3091	3.9703	4.7486	5.2896	5.1274	5.3745	5.3098	4.9488	3.9256	4.0178	4.4184	4.0910	4.1701
Source: “Zeitschrift für das gesammte Brauwesen” 1899, p.344 (Taken from the Journal of the Institute of Brewing volume 21) Notes: Real FG, apparent attenuation, reall attenuation and ABV calculated by myself.

Specifications of beers from the Hammond Brewery, Bradford 1903
	X	XX	XXX	XXXX (Old Tom)	XXXXX (Stingo)	BB	Porter
OG	1042º	1044º	1055º	1071º	1100º	1051º	1055º
FG	1010.4º	1010.9º	1012º	1013.7º	1027.3º	1012.6º	1019.1º
ABV (%)	4.1%	4.3%	5.6%	7.5%	9.5%	5%	4.7%
Bitterness EBU	34	40	55	72	119	48	56
Source: "Yeasts of Yesterday" by Dr. Keith Thomas in "The Journal of Brewery History", No. 105, Autumn 2001 Notes: ABV and EBU calculated by Dr. Thomas.

Grist of beers from the Hammond Brewery, Bradford 1903 (in %age)
Malt type	X	XX	XXX	XXXX (Old Tom)	XXXXX (Stingo)	BB	Porter
Yorks Pale malt	34.2	24.1	24.5	39.5	48.7	15.6	31.3
Chilean Pale malt	26.6	24.7	19.1	17.4	20.5	42.7	16.7
Foreign Pale malt	11.8	19.2	19.1	12.4	12.5	17.4
Crystal malt							11.1
Maize	16.8	13.4	15.5	15.1			13.9
Black Malt				0.8	0.8		5.2
Glucose	10.7	9.4			17.5		2.4
Invert Sugar		9.4	21.8	14.8		24.3	19.4
Source: "Yeasts of Yesterday" by Dr. Keith Thomas in "The Journal of Brewery History", No. 105, Autumn 2001 Notes: It's mentioned in Dr. Thomas's text that caramel was sometimes added to the Old Tom, Stingo and Porter presumably for colour adjustment, but never making up more than 1.5% of the grist.

Sources:
"The Brewer"by William Loftus, 1863
English beer names, strengths and wholesale price 1860 - 1900.
"London & Country Brewer", 1736
Obadiah Poundage's letter of 1760
A list of English beer names taken from various old advertisements and one of my main sources.
Chemical analyses of various American, British and continental beers between 1850 and 1900 from "American Handy Book of Brewing , Malting and Auxiliary Trades", by Wahl & Henius, Chicago 1902
"Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" by H. Lloyd Hind, 1940, London
"The Principles and Practices of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes and Arthur R. Ling, 1907, London
"A History of Beer and Brewing" by Ian S Hornsey, 2003, Cambridge.

The 20th Century

World War I

Barclay Perkins Beer Grists in WW I
	1914						1919
	X	XLK (t)*	XLK (b)*	KK	KKK	PA	X	XLK (t)**	XLK (b)**	XLK (c)**	KK	4d Ale
pale malt	62.82	74.2	74.2	65.12	79.08	78.56	56.69	73.61	73.61	73.61	71.99	56.83
amber malt	6.88	0	0	0	0	0	9.68	0	0	0	0	10.03
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.7
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
crystal malt	0	0	0	4.65	4.23	0	4.15	0	0	0	4.5	0
maize	9.47	7.3	7.3	9.3	0	5.69	10.37	7.81	7.81	7.81	9	10.03
sugar	13.68	18.5	18.5	20.93	16.69	15.74	19.12	18.59	18.59	18.59	14.52	19.41
dark sugar	7.14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
hops (lbs)	1398	338	330	2062	2510	1031	1100	1294	256	263	1561	996
hops (lbs/barrel)	1.16	1.52	1.47	3.58	5.39	2.72	1.15	1.18	1.02	0.83	2.79	0.66
hops (lbs/qtr)	5.5	7.55	8.11	11.99	14.1	10.97	7.01	6.71	6.72	6.72	10.99	6.04
gravity (lbs barrel)	18.52	18.01	16.25	26.78	31.44	21.77	14.19	15.7	13.54	11.01	22.13	9.53
gravity (OG)	1051.3	1049.9	1045	1074.18	1087.1	1060.3	1039.3	1043.5	1037.5	1030.5	1061.3	1026.4
barrels wort	1209.5	223	224.75	576.75	465.25	379.25	956.25	1100.5	252	318.5	559.25	1503
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	87.8	89.7	89.7	89.8	86.7	87.5	86.2	89.6	89.6	89.6	87.3	85.5
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: XLK(t) = XLK (trade) XLK(b) = XLK (bottling) XLK(c) = XLK (crate) * trade & bottling XLK party-gyled ** trade, bottling & crate XLK party-gyled XLK = Light Bitter trade = draught beer Bottling = pint bottles crate = quart bottles? PA = Pale Ale GA = Government Ale 4d Ale = beer sold under government price controls at 4d a pint

Barclay Perkins													vvv	vvvvv	vvv
	1914	1914	1914	1914	1914	1914	1919	1919	1919	1919	1919	1919
	X	XLK (trade) *	XLK (bottling)	KK	KKK	PA	X	XLK (trade) ***	XLK (bottling) ***	XLK (crate) ***	KK	4d Ale
pale malt	62.82	74.2	74.2	65.12	79.08	78.56	56.69	73.61	73.61	73.61	71.99	56.83
amber malt	6.88	0	0	0	0	0	9.68	0	0	0	0	10.03
brown malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.7
black malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
roast malt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
crystal malt	0	0	0	4.65	4.23	0	4.15	0	0	0	4.5	0
maize	9.47	7.3	7.3	9.3	0	5.69	10.37	7.81	7.81	7.81	9	10.03
sugar	13.68	18.5	18.5	20.93	16.69	15.74	19.12	18.59	18.59	18.59	14.52	19.41
dark sugar	7.14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
hops (lbs)	1398	338	330	2062	2510	1031	1100	1294	256	263	1561	996
hops (lbs/barrel)	1.16	1.52	1.47	3.58	5.39	2.72	1.15	1.18	1.02	0.83	2.79	0.66
hops (lbs/qtr)	5.5	7.55	8.11	11.99	14.1	10.97	7.01	6.71	6.72	6.72	10.99	6.04
gravity (lbs barrel)	18.52	18.01	16.25	26.78	31.44	21.77	14.19	15.7	13.54	11.01	22.13	9.53
gravity (OG)	1051.3	1049.9	1045	1074.18	1087.1	1060.3	1039.3	1043.5	1037.5	1030.5	1061.3	1026.4
barrels wort	1209.5	223	224.75	576.75	465.25	379.25	956.25	1100.5	252	318.5	559.25	1503
extract (lbs/barrel/qtr)	87.8	89.7	89.7	89.8	86.7	87.5	86.2	89.6	89.6	89.6	87.3	85.5
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive. Notes: * trade & bottling XLK party-gyled ** trade, bottling & crate XLK party-gyled

Barclay Perkins beers during WW I

XLK (trade)

XLK (bottling

XLK (crate)

4d Ale

Hops (lbs/barrel)

Hops

Hopsl

Hops

March 1914

1051.3º

1.16

1049.9º

1.5

1045º

1.35

1073.1º

3.58

1060.4º

April 1915

1050.9º

1049.8º

1045º

1072.9º

1060.3º

2.72

April 1916

1049.6º

1.13

1049.7º

1.35

1045º

1.22

May 1916

1048.6º

1.13

1049.7º

1.35

1045º

1.22

1058.6º

2.66

Oct 1916

1047.8º

1.17

1049.7º

1.47

1045º

1.35

1058.5º

2.69

May 1917

1046.7º

1.06

1049.6º

1.38

1045º

1.22

1040º

1.09

July 1917

1046.7º

1.25

1049.6º

1.35

1045º

1.19

1036.3º

0.95

Sept 1917

1046.6º

1.31

1049.7º

1.31

1045º

1.34

1036.2º

0.94

1036.2º

0.97

Oct 1917

1046.6º

1.06

1049.7º

1.22

1045º

1.13

1036º

0.89

1070.4º

3.11

1037.9º

0.89

April 1918

1040.3º

1.03

1032.5º

0.94

1025.4º

0.67

1025.9º

0.56

April 1919

1043.5º

1.13

1037.4º

1030.5º

0.78

1027.5º

0.56

June 1919

1039.3º

0.78

1043.5º

1.17

1037.4º

1.02

1030.5º

0.82

1027.5º

July 1919

1040.2º

1.16

1047.3º

1040.4º

1034.5º

1026.4º

0.66

Oct 1919

1042.3º

1047.4º

1040.4º

1034.5º

1061.3º

2.78

1028.4º

June 1920

1042.4º

1047.4º

1040.4º

1034.4º

1055.4º

1028.4º

Oct 1920

1041.5º

1047.4º

1040.4º

1034.5º

1028.4º

Feb 1921

1041.5º

1047.4º

1040.4º

1034.5º

1028.4º

Source:
Barclay's Ale label

Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpoloitan Archive.

Notes:
XLK = Light Bitter
trade = draught beer
Bottling = pint bottles
crate = quart bottles?
PA = Pale Ale
GA = Government Ale
4d Ale = beer sold under government price controls at 4d a pint
* in the brewing year ending April 1919 no X Ale (which had accounted for around 75% of Ale production before 1917) was brewed at all. It was replaced by 4d Ale, which made up more than 80% of Ale brewed.

Between the Wars

Draught London Porter: the end

Mar 1926

Apr 1926

June 1926

Aug 1926

Nov 1926

Feb 1927

Mar 1927

April 1937

Brewery

price

Whitbread

1035.1

1038.6

1036.8

1031.9

1038.08

Hoare

1039.8

1038.7

1039.1

Cannon

1038.7

1038.8

1040.1

Truman

1036.8

1036.9

1038.7

1037.1

1037.2

1038.4

1038.9

Huggins

1040.8

Meux

1037.4

1036.71

Barclay Perkins

1037.8

1035.2

1038.1

Taylor Walker

1037.6

1038.5

1039.9

1035.59

Smith Garrett

1035.1

1031.7

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1041.2

1040.3

1041.2

City of London

1037.6

Charrington

1036.2

1035.6

1036.71

Courage

1036.6

1037.6

Wenlock

1040.65

Draught Stout between the wars

March 1926

April 1926

May 1926

June 1926

Aug 1926

Sept 1926

Oct 1926

Jan 1927

Mar 1927

May 1927

Nov 1927

June 1928

Dec 1928

Mar 1930

Apr 1930

Sep 1930

Oct 1930

Nov 1930

Mar 1931

Nov 1931

Dec 1931

Feb 1932

May 1932

July 1932

Aug 1932

Feb 1937

April 1937

Oct 1937

Nov 1937

Feb 1939

Apr 1939

Feb 1940

price

Wenlock

1049.2

1054.37

London & Burton

1048.6

Truman

1055.1

1056.8

1056

1054

1054.3

1056.3

1044.3

1048.8

1046.3

1044.9

1054.72

Truman

1048

1048.8

1048.6

1049.1

1048

1046.3

1048.8

1048.5

1048.3

1049.5

1048.6

1042.7

1047.5

1050.57

1047.82

1048.88

1047.48

1044.9

Style & Winch

Courage

1049.1

1049.5

1048.09

1048.3

1047.6

1046.9

1046.7

1036.96

Charrington

1050.9

1048.6

1048

1052.1

1054.4

1052.6

1055.2

1053.7

1049.3

1043.04

1043.8

1047.2

1045.8

1044.3

1045.06

1046.21

1046.27

Taylor Walker

1045.9

1058.6

1055.4

1048.1

1048

1053.9

1049.1

1049.8

1049.5

1046.9

1038.2

1055.84

1053.89

Leney & Co

1054.7

Huggins

1055.5

Wenlock

1045

1044.5

1048.1

1045.1

1046.7

1045.6

1046.6

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1054.3

1054.5

1056.6

1056.9

1055.4

1054.6

1046.3

1046.8

1046.6

1047.5

1047.93

1047.1

1046.03

1045.57

Whitbread

1058.7

1057.1

1057.2

1057.3

1059.3

1057.6

1050.8

1049.88

1050.03

1050.13

1052.16

1048.41

1048.8

Hoare

1053.03

1048.2

1047.3

1041.3

1038.3

1039.08

1042.4

Barclay Perkins

1053.3

1051.3

1053.8

1052.8

1053.8

1053.9

1053.05

1054.2

1054.04

1054.3

1050.9

1049.6

1043.1

1046.6

1052.4

1054.26

1055.34

1053.42

Cannon

1057.9

1055.3

1055.02

Meux

1055.5

1053.6

1056.1

1056.8

1046.1

1058.3

1055.3

1060.3

1045.6

Watneys

1053.9

1052.7

1055.8

1052.5

1052.9

1047.8

1043.3

1042.7

1042.3

1048.27

1048.93

1042.04

1046.51

1046.43

1048.64

Budden & Biggs

1044.8

Ind Coope

1039.7

X Ale (Mild) 1926-1933

March 1926

April 1926

May 1926

June 1926

Jul 1926

Aug 1926

Sep 1936

Oct 1926

Nov 1926

Jan 1931

Apr 1931

May 1931

July 1931

Oct 1931

Dec 1931

Jan 1932

Mar 1932

May 1932

Aug 1932

Sept 1932

Feb 1933

price

Meux

1043.8

1043

1033.7

1035.8

1034.7

1035.5

1034.5

Truman

1045

1041.1

1042.1

1042.2

1039.6

1040.7

1041.2

1041.9

1042.1

1042.4

1041.9

1041.1

1036.5

1036.12

1036.8

1035.2

1033.4

1034.9

1034.4

Taylor Walker

1045.7

1043.7

1042.9

1043.5

1032.8

1035.07

1033.6

1031.87

1034.6

1032.4

Barclay Perkins

1044.8

1043.2

1043.7

1043.3

1036.3

1035.3

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1043.8

1042.6

1040.2

1043

1045.02

1042.7

1034.7

1040.3

1038.3

1035.7

1034.6

1034.7

1035.7

Cannon

1042.4

1037.1

1039.1

Charrington

1042.1

1043.4

1042.2

1042.3

1041.4

1037.1

1038.6

1035.9

1034.05

1034.3

1032.9

1034.3

Watneys

1043.5

1043.3

1039.6

1043

1041.3

1043.5

1042.8

1042.3

1036.1

1037.5

1036.3

1033.2

1032.2

1032.4

1034.3

Whitbread

1043.2

1041.9

1035.9

1035.8

City of London

1043.4

1040.7

1045.4

Courage

1033.6

1033.7

1033.8

1033.4

1032.8

Lion Brewery

1042.6

Tilney & Co

1039.6

Wenlock

1042.8

1029.7

Ind Coope

1030.3

LM 5d (Mild) 1933-1937

Apr 1933

May 1933

July 1933

Sept 1933

Nov 1934

Dec 1934

Jan 1935

Feb 1935

Jan 1936

Mar 1936

Apr 1936

May 1936

Nov 1936

Feb 1937

May 1937

Nov 1937

Dec 1937

price

Meux

1035.3

1035.8

1035.5

1036.2

1036.65

1035.9

1035.09

Truman

1034.3

1036.2

1035.2

1035.8

1035.2

1036.3

1035.3

1034.8

1036.5

1036.3

1037

1035.66

1036.4

1037.09

1037.6

1037.17

Taylor Walker

1033.1

1036.1

1034.9

1034.6

1035.1

1036.2

1034.2

1034.3

1036.05

1034.4

1033.92

1035.3

1035.46

Barclay Perkins

1038.4

1035.6

1035.9

1036.24

1036.6

1036.86

1037.4

1036.05

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1034.2

1035.08

1034.6

1035.6

1040.4

1036.08

1036.2

1035.5

1040.4

1035.2

1035.9

1035.4

1035.2

1040.63

Charrington

1034.2

1036.8

1036.2

1036.9

1037.3

1036.3

1035.8

1036.4

1036.6

1036.8

1037.49

1038.2

1035.51

Watneys

1033.1

1036.4

1035.5

1035.9

1036.1

1036.2

1036.3

1036

1036.19

1038.79

1035.74

Whitbread

1034.9

1036.1

1035.7

1038.04

1035.7

1036.4

1037.3

1038.6

1033.59

1038.3

Courage

1033.2

1035.2

1036.4

1035.5

1037.01

1034.7

Reffel Bexley

1036.8

Wenlock

1038.3

1035.9

1036.69

1036.02

Shepherd Neame

1039.9

Hoare

1035.2

Ind Coope

1035.19

LM 5d (Mild) 1938-1942

Apr 1938

May 1938

Jun 1938

July 1938

Aug 1938

Sep 1938

Oct 1938

Nov 1938

Dec 1938

Jan 1939

Feb 1939

Mar 1939

May 1939

Nov 1939

Jan 1940

Feb 1940

Jan 1941

price

Meux

1035.2

1035.9

1036.6

1036.12

1035.4

1036.4

1033.7

1031.55

Truman

1036.8

1037.1

1036.6

1036.3

1037.1

1036.6

1037.4

1036.9

1036.8

Taylor Walker

1034.14

1035

1035.8

1036

1035.3

1034.4

1034.9

1034.18

1036.4

1034.78

1035.25

1042.2

1033.2

Barclay Perkins

1036

1038.78

1037.4

1038.2

1037.5

1029.95

1042.52

1037.9

1038

1036.25

1033.3

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1033.74

1036.4

1034.8

1034.3

1035.4

1034.9

Charrington

1037.5

1037.9

1037.7

1037.9

1037.8

1035.88

1037.32

1037.4

1037.2

1037.15

1034.7

Watneys

1036.8

1036.21

1036.8

1037.2

1036.3

1036.44

1036.8

1037.9

1033.03

1036.5

1035.95

1031

1031.7

Whitbread

1037.99

1037.4

1036.8

1036.2

1037.5

1038.1

1037.62

1035.45

Courage

1034.87

1035.8

1035.3

1036.3

1035.1

1035.8

1036.7

1036.9

1036

1034.5

1033.8

1033.65

Wenlock

1038.4

1038.8

1038.1

1039.1

1037.9

1034.8

Ind Coope

1035.9

1036.1

1035.6

1032.35

Beasley

1034.5

Lacons

1034.9

Youngs

1035.5

Tetley

1039.4

Fuller, Smith & Turner

1032.7

Shepherd Neame

1038.5

Modern Mild

I had assumed that Mild had adopted its current form - OG 1030-1036°, mid to dark brown colour - at the end of WW I. It appears that this was not the case.

In 1914, standard London Mild (X Ale) was around 1051°, slightly higher than ordinary Bitter (1050°). During the war, the gravity of X Ale was slashed and during 1918 and 1919 was discontinued (in the case of Barclay Perkins) and replaced by 4d Ale, a price-controlled, low-gravity Mild of 1026-1029° After the War, the gravity bounced back to around 5-7° lower than in 1914, 1043-1045° and 4.3% ABV. That´s still substantially stronger than Mild today. You can see many examples here.

The crucial change came in the early 1930´s, when beer duty was increased from 80/- to 114/- per barrel. The effect was dramatic: brewers dropped their Mild gravities by 5-7° virtually overnight. It´s an even greater percentage change than that caused by WW I. The tax increase was repealed in 1933, partly because the drop in beer consumption it caused meant that the revenue collected was lower. But rather than increasing the gravity back to the old levels, the brewers kept the beer the same but dropped the price 1d to 5d a pint. The gravities in 1933 - 1032-1035° - match exactly those of modern Mild.

The full response from Barclay Perkins is interesting, because it illustrates a phenomenon that has occurred more than once in British brewing. They dropped the gravity of their X Ale to from 1043° to 1035°, but introduced a new beer, XX Ale, at 1043°. Looking at the specs, it seems to be the old X Ale renamed. This seems to be a common response to downward pressure on gravities: weaken a beer but at the same time introduce a "new" beer at the old strength. This is how Young´s Special was born - when the PA (Ordinary) was reduced in strength Special was introduced at the old PA gravity.

Though some Mild was coloured with caramel to be fairly dark, a lot wasn´t. The colour measurements I have are in degrees Lovibond measured in a one inch column. I´m not sure how these relate to ABC or SRM units, but having them for a whole range of styles gives a general idea of what they mean.

This is a summary:

beer	Lovibond
Bitter/PA	20-25º
uncoloured Mild	40-45°
coloured Mild	90°
Old Ale	100°
Strong Ale	100°
Porter	240º
Stout	270º
Export Stout	350-400º
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpolitan Archive.

The "pale" Milds were darker in colour than the Bitters due (in the case of Barclay Perkins) to the inclusion of 10% amber malt in the grist.

So there you have it: modern Mild came into being April 1931.

Strong Ale (Burton) 1926-1934

Apr 1926

June 1926

Aug 1926

Nov 1926

Jan 1927

May 1927

Feb 1928

Apr 1928

Dec 1928

Mar 1929

Feb 1930

Oct 1930

Mar 1931

June 1931

Sep 1931

Dec 1931

Feb 1932

Apr 1932

June 1932

Aug 1932

Oct 1932

Dec 1932

June 1933

Oct 1933

Jan 1934

Nov 1934

price

Truman

1053.1

1054.7

1051.7

1054.5

1053.5

1054.7

1055.2

1055.6

1052.5

1052.7

1054.7

1055.02

1052.7

1046.8

1047.5

1045.7

1045.6

1045.1

1046.6

1045.8

1046.4

1047.8

1047.3

1047.9

Courage

1051.2

1052.5

1052.2

1052.3

1049.2

1051.5

1050.5

Barclay Perkins

1054.5

1057.4

1054

1056.2

1054.4

1052.4

1055.1

1054.4

1054.2

1051.9

1047.7

1049.9

1045.1

1051.6

1052.1

Watney

1057.2

1057.9

1055.7

1059.1

1059.4

1056.4

1058.3

1058.1

1057.6

1058.6

1054.6

1055.6

1046.5

1047.4

1046.08

1044.4

1047.8

1048.1

1047.5

1049.5

1046.2

1048.4

1048.6

Charrington

1052.3

1053.3

1053.5

1052.2

1050.6

1052.6

1051.5

1052.1

1046.7

1050.7

1045.6

1049.4

1039.9

1048.8

1046.03

1050.7

1051.9

1052.5

1047.3

Mann, Crossman & Paulin

1057.8

1053.8

1054.5

1056.9

1055.2

1054.9

1052.9

1053.7

1053.6

1050.7

1051.4

1049.5

1049.1

1048.4

1047.9

1051.5

1051.2

1047.7

Hoare & Co.

1052.2

1054.2

1045

1052.5

1053.2

1046.08

1053.2

1052.4

1047.6

1043.7

1042.4

1049.4

1047.13

Cannon Brewery

1049.2

1051.5

1048.4

1047.7

1044.9

Meux

1052.2

1050.2

1053.8

1054.5

1053.4

1053.03

1046.05

1047.21

1047.06

1045.7

1051.4

Style & Winch

1052.2

1054.65

1050.6

Fuller, Smith & Turner

1054.04

Taylor Walker

1054.6

1053.2

1052.1

1051.3

1046.7

1046.08

1047.9

1049.04

1049.09

1046.8

1046.1

1049.2

1047.8

Whitbread

1053.3

1052.8

1043.1

1045.3

1044.7

1044.9

1045.3

1045.03

1045.8

1057.3

1055.3

1056.8

Ind Coope

1054.12

1044.5

1052.29

Wenlock

1047.7

1049.5

Source:
"Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252

Notes:
Price per pint in the Public Bar.
OG calculated by Truman's from samples bought in competitors pubs
Strong Ale: I assume this is the beer commonly called "Burton" in London pubs. In the case of Barclay Perkins, it's the draught version of their KK.

Strong Ale (Burton) 1935-1953
	Jan 1935		Feb 1935		Mar 1935		Nov 1935		Dec 1935		Jan 1936		Mar 1936		Apr 1936		Nov 1936		Feb 1937		Mar 1937		May 1937		May 1938		July 1938		Oct 1938		Nov 1938		Jan 1939		Feb 1939		Mar 1939		May 1939		Jan 1940		Feb 1940		Jan 1941		Oct 1949			Feb 1953
	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour
Truman	1045.3	7d	1046.9	7d	1049.1	7d	1049.06	7d	1049.6	7d	1048.2	7d	1047.78	7d	1048.3	7d	1048.6	7d	1049.21	7d	1049.04	7d	1049.6	7d			1048.9	7d	1048.4	7d	1048.7	7d	1049	7d	1048.4	7d	1047.2	7d	1048.9	7d	1049.5									1045.59	1/10d	120
Courage			1051.4	8d									1051.72	8d	1051.2	8d									1053.46	8d	1054.7	8d					1054.7	8d			1054.4	8d			1051.8	9d			1050.3	11d	1042.96	1/7d	128
Barclay Perkins	1050.4	8d	1052.1	8d							1048.8	8d	1050.7	8d	1055.9	8d	1053.9	8d	1056.14	8d			1055.5	8d	1055.1	8d					1056.04	8d	1056.86	8d	1054.8	8d	1054.8	8d	1055.2	8d	1054.5	9d			1045	11d	1038.45	1/8d	104	1077.15	3/1d	120
Watney	1049.06	7d	1049.5	7d	1048.5	7d			1048.4	7d	1049.7	7d			1049.7	7d	1050.6	7d			1045.78	7d	1048.64	7d	1049.43	7d	1049.5	7d	1047	7d	1049.1	7d	1050.3	7d
Charrington	1051.1	8d	1051.9	8d	1051.9	8d	1052.9	8d	1050.9	8d	1049.2	8d			1052.65	8d			1041.62	7d	1054.27	8d	1051.2	8d	1056.5	8d	1052.9	8d	1054.1	8d	1053.8	8d	1052.8	8d	1048.86	8d	1051.1	8d			1055.5	9d			1051.5	1/-	1044.21	1/7d	132	1039.85	1/7d	144
Mann, Crossman & Paulin	1051.3	7d	1050.8	8d	1046.6	7.5d	1052.2	8d	1044.5	7d	1049.2	7d			1051.5	8d	1048.9	7d	1052.2	8d	1051.68	8d	1049.5	8d	1051.6	8d	1050.9	8d			1051.8	8d					1050.9	8d	1049.6	8d	1049.8	9d			1045.6	11d	1071.16	2/6d	128	1050.21	2/-	168
Meux			1050.3	7d	1045.6	7d			1047.6	7d			1048.05	7d			1051.4	7d							1047.4	7d							1046.28	7d	1047.5	7d			1047.3	7d	1045.8	8d			1042.9	10d				1045.79	1/8d	152
Taylor Walker	1048.8	8d									1048.3	8d	1051.77	8d	1051.1	8d			1052.25	8d	1050.87	8d	1052.09	8d	1053.6	8d	1049.4	8d	1052.2	8d	1051.8	8d			1052.9	8d	1053.68	8d			1053.5	9d			1047.5	11d				1048.58	1/9d	112
Whitbread	1048.8	7d			1058.2	8d	1057.9	8d	1058.6	8d					1057.51	8d	1050.7	8d	1058.35	8d	1059.52	8d			1058.4	8d			1059.5	8d	1056.96	8d	1058.25	8d	1059.2	8d			1055.82	8d	1058.9	8d			1049.2	1/-	1046.67	1/8d	104	1052.06	1/11d	104
Ind Coope					1053.2	8d			1046.5	8d																															1044.7	9d			1047.3	11d				1042.98	1/7d	112
Wenlock			1055.3	8d									1049.32	7d															1048.4	7d	1053.61	8d	1053.38	8d							1055.4	9d			1044.4	11d				1043.36	1/8d	176
Shepherd Neame					1056.6	8d			1057.8	8d
Lacons																																									1041.9	8d								1046.8	1/9d	88
Youngs																																											1046.5	9d
Brandons																																											1054.4	9d
Lovibond																																									1044.5	7d
Tetleys																																											1058.4	11d
Younger																																									1053	9d
Source: "Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252 Notes: Price per pint in the Public Bar. OG calculated by Truman's from samples bought in competitors pubs Strong Ale: I assume this is the beer commonly called "Burton" in London pubs. In the case of Barclay Perkins, it's the draught version of their KK.

Pale Ale (draught) 1926-1933

Feb 1926

Apr 1926

May 1926

Aug 1926

Nov 1926

Jan 1927

June 1927

Apr 1928

Oct 1929

Feb 1930

Apr 1930

Oct 1930

Dec 1930

Mar 1931

Nov 1931

Jan 1932

Feb 1932

May 1932

July 1932

Aug 1932

Dec 1932

June 1933

Sep 1933

Dec 1933

price

Watney

1053.8

1052.6

1053.7

1052.7

1046.8

1053.4

1046.06

1045.4

1047.3

1044.2

1045.4

1047.09

1048.5

1048.6

1047.9

Courage

1052.4

1051.7

1046.5

1041.3

1041.7

1045.6

1048.5

1043.07

Barclay Perkins

1045.6

1043.6

1054.5

1044.6

1044.3

1042.6

1045.6

1044.9

1043.3

1046.2

1049.1

1047.2

Whitbread

1047.6

1046.9

1045.4

1046.8

1046.2

1045.3

1044.3

1046.8

1047.01

1046.5

Truman

1049.7

1047.6

1048.1

1045.2

1048.1

1048.6

1046.9

1048.2

1047.1

1047.2

1047.1

1046.5

1045.6

1045.5

1044.4

1046.7

1047.8

1046.7

Cannon

1042

1043.2

1042.6

1045.7

1042.9

1039.3

Mann

1054.4

1053.6

1052.7

1044.5

1053.7

1052.1

1043.5

1044.1

1052.6

1043.8

Charrington

1057.9

1045.9

1046.9

1046.3

1046.1

1046.9

1046.1

1045.6

1043.9

1044.8

1046.6

1047.3

1046.4

1046.8

Tilney & Co

1042.1

Hoare

1044.5

1045.9

1046.08

1045.8

1043.5

1044.3

1044.9

Meux

1044.5

1044.8

1044.04

1043.8

1044.2

1043.7

1043.9

1043.8

Taylor Walker

1043.6

1042.9

1043.2

1041.8

1044.2

1042

1044.03

1041.4

1044.2

1043.2

1044.1

Worthington

1052.7

Wenlock

1044.8

1046.3

1044.08

1048.9

Ind Coope

1043.2

1043.9

1037.8

Ind Coope

1035.3

Shepherd Neame

1036.6

1037.2

Bass

1054.7

Source:
"Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252 Pages 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55

Notes:
Price per pint in the Public Bar.
OG calculated by Truman's from samples bought in competitors pubs
1d = 1 penny
!/ = 1 shilling = 12 (old) pence = 5p (new pence)

Pale Ale (draught) 1934-1941

Jan 1934

May 1934

Nov 1934

Jan 1935

Oct 1935

Mar 1936

Apr 1936

Oct 1936

Nov 1936

Dec 1936

Jan 1937

May 1937

June 1937

Nov 1937

Apr 1938

July 1938

Oct 1938

Dec 1938

Mar 1939

May 1939

Jan 1940

Jan 1941

price

Watney

1047.9

1048.5

1046.2

1049.03

1048.3

1048.43

1054.1

1052.97

1055.1

1048.81

1049.31

1056

1056.6

1049.5

10d

Courage

1042.5

1047.3

1046.4

1054

1039.67

1051.22

1054.1

1052

1039.23

1050.8

1036.15

11d

Barclay Perkins

1044.3

1047.6

1048.7

1045.92

1047.85

1045.1

1044.89

1045.06

1043.9

1045.57

1039.23

1045.1

1044.3

Whitbread

1048.2

1046.7

1046.3

1047.8

1048.2

1047.05

1048.7

1047.2

1045.9

1047.6

1047

1046.9

1046.5

1043.1

Truman

1047.6

1048.7

1048.1

1048.06

1048.5

1045.8

1048.74

1048.05

1051.6

1049.1

1047.82

1047.4

1048.1

1047.6

1044.7

10d

Mann

1046.5

1052.4

1049.9

1050.7

1050.6

1042.7

1047.7

1052.08

1041.56

1039.79

1041.4

1048.4

10d

Mann

Charrington

1052.4

1044.9

10d

Charrington

1046.6

1048.2

1047.05

1046

1048.1

1047.6

1047

1048.7

1048.4

1047.3

1047.8

Tilney & Co

Meux

1048.1

1043.1

1047.21

1047.75

1044.5

1042.4

1043

Taylor Walker

1048.6

1048.3

1047.1

1046.03

1046.2

1046.08

1047

1042.9

1047.4

1043.75

1044.1

1044.2

10d

Worthington

1046.9

1054.33

1055.1

Wenlock

1048.2

1054.1

1046.22

1054

1045.1

1054.3

1047.9

Ind Coope

1045.5

1044.2

1046

1039.55

10d

Bass

1055.01

1051.6

Young & Co

1048.1

Tetley

1045.6

Younger

1040

Barclay Perkins Beers in 1926
	PA	XLK (trade)	XLK (bottling)	X	Special X	A 4d
OG	1053.1	1046	1038	1043.2	1042.1	1029.1
FG	1012	1011	1008	1010.8	1009	1007
ABV	5.35	4.55	3.9	4.21	4.3	2.87
hops lbs/barrel	1.44	1.25	1	0.97	0.95	0.6
colour	30º	24º	20º	44º	42º	48º
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpolitan Archive document ACC/2305/01/612. Notes: XLK = Light Bitter trade = draught beer PA = Pale Ale X = Mild Special X = Mild 4d Ale = low-gravity Mild colour º Lovibond 1" coloum colour "unfinished"

Barclay Perkins Beers in 1936
	PA	XLK (trade)	XLK (bottling)	IPA (bottling)	XX	X	A 4d	KK (trade)	KKKK	TT	OMS	BS	PA (export)	BBS (export)	KK (bottling)	DB	LS	IBS	RNS	IBS (export)	Total
OG	1053	1046	1039	1045	1043	1035	1031	1056	1078.49	1032.54	1051.5	1051.5	1068.64	1079.45	1068.64	1040.78	1046.63	1060.39	1053.83	1102.5
FG	1012	1010	1007	1010	1010	1008	1007	1013	1027	1009	1014	1014	1016	1027	1019	1009	1013	1016	1014	1034
ABV	5.3%	4.6%	4.2%	4.5%	4.2%	3.5%	3.1%	5.6%	6.7%	3%	4.9%	4.9%	6.9%	6.9%	6.5%	4.1%	4.4%	5.8%	5.2%	9%
hops lbs/barrel	1.47	1.27	1	1.17	0.97	0.8	0.66	1.84	3.63	0.95	1.5	1.5	2.13	5.48	2.92	1.19	1.31	2.23	1.77	6.45
colour	21-23º	20-22º	24-26º	19-21º	38-40º	38-40º	44-46º	85-90º	95-100º	240º	270º	270º	24-26º	350-400º	95-100º	105-115º	270º	270-350º	270-320º	380-420º
colour (dark mild)					85-90º	85-90º
barrels brewed	9,107	27,385	17,751	10,818	19,772	61,926	17,527	5,229	700	798	340	420	418	147	4200	5727	1617	360	240	112	184,595
%age	4.93	14.84	9.62	5.86	10.71	33.55	9.49	2.83	0.38	0.43	0.18	0.23	0.23	0.08	2.28	3.1	0.88	0.2	0.13	0.06
Source: Brewing logs from the Courage archive in the London Metrpolitan Archive. Notes: XLK = Light Bitter trade = draught beer PA = Pale Ale X = Mild XX = Mild 4d Ale = low-gravity Mild KK (trade) = Burton KK (bottling) = Old Ale KKK = Strong Ale TT= Porter OMS = Oatmeal Stout BS = Brown Stout BBS = some sort of Stout DB = Doctor Brown Ale LS = some sort of Stout IBS = Imperial Brown Stout RNS = some sort of Stout

Hopping rates in the 1930's
Beer type	OG	pounds hops per quarter malt	pounds hops per barrel (36 gallons)
Pale Ale	1055º	8.25-10.5	1.75-2.25
Pale Ale	1048º	7-8	1.25-1.5
Light Bitter Beer	1040º	6.5-8	1-1.25
Mild Ale	1040º	5.5-7	0.875-1.125
Strong Ale	1070º	7.5-12	2-3.25
Stout	1040º	6.5-9.5	1-1.5
Stout	1055º	7.5-10	1.5-2
Pale Lager	1040º	2.5-5	0.5-0.75
Pale Lager	1048º	3.75-5.25	0.66-1.25
Dark Lager	1048º	2-3.25	0.5-0.66
Source: "Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" by H. Lloyd Hind, 1940, London, page 686 Notes: 1 pound per barrel = 277.7 grams per hectolitre 300 grams per hl = 1.08 pounds per barrel 1 pound per barrel + 0.717 pounds per American barrel "An increase of from 10 to 20% in the winter hop rate may be desirable in the summer." "Less hops are required with a carbonate liquor than with a soft water or liquor in which the gypsum-carbonate is ratio is well balanced, while a hard gypseous liquor permits the use of a larger proprtion of stronglyflavoured hops."

Draught beers in a London public bar

1926

1931

1935

1940

1941

1949

1953

price

X Ale (Mild)

1043-1045

1034-1036

1032-1035

1027-1030

1/-

1029-1031

1/-

XX Ale Best Mild)

1042-1045

1032-1036

1/2d

1032-1036

1/2d

Strong Ale (Burton)

1052-1057

1047-1055

1050-1056

1050-1055

1045-1050

11d

1043-1047

1/7d

1043-1047

1/8d

Porter

1035-1040

Stout

1048-1050

Stout

1054-1059

1050-1056

1054-1059

Bitter

1042-1048

1042-1046

1040-1044

1032-1035

1/4d

1033-1036

1/4d

Best Bitter

1052-1058

1050-1056

1045-1050

10d

1040-1042

1/7d

1044-1048

1/7d

Bass

1054.7

1055

1051.6

1049.67

1/8d

1046

1/7d

Source:
"Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252

Notes:
Price per pint in the Public Bar.
OG calculated by Truman's from samples bought in competitors pubs
1d = 1 penny
1/ = 1 shilling = 12 (old) pence = 5p (new pence)

After WW II

LM Ale (Mild)
	June 1949			Aug 1949			May 1950			Apr 1951			Jan 1952			Aug 1952			Jan 1953			Sep 1953			Aug 1955
	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour
Truman	1029.01	1/-	104				1031.52	1/1d	104	1035.5		112	1033.24	1/2d	116	1033.7	1/2d	110	1032.27	1/2d	108	1033.6		112	1033.6		82
Taylor Walker	1030.12	1/-	98	1034.44	1/2d	108	1031.34	1/1d	96	1032.49	1/-	96	1030.86	1/1d	98	1030.74	1/1d	100	1030.28	1/1d	116	1032.47	1/1d	96
Mann, Crossman & Paulin	1031.36	1/1d	96	1030.84	1/1d	96	1033.78	1/1d	120	1034.05	1/-	128	1034.22	1/2d	120	1032.58	1/2d	118	1033.54	1/2d	120	1032.39	1/2d	124
Courage	1028.83	1/-	112				1034.42	1/1d	140	1034.46	1/1d	112				1030.98	1/2d	108	1032.7	1/2d	100	1031.99	1/2d	124
Whitbread	1028.38	11d	88	1031.37	1/1d	108	1034.43	1/1d	112	1031.3	1/1d	96	1029.89	1/2d	100	1031.39	1/2d	114
Whitbread							1029.91	1/-	64										1031.55	1/2d	110	1032.81	1/2d	124
Watney	1028.62	1/-	104				1032.53	1/1d	100	1034.63	1/1d	108	1032.76	1/2d	104	1031.93	1/2d	100	1032.02	1/2d	124	1031.68	1/2d	110
Meux	1026.47	1/-	140				1027.08	1/-	152	1028.96	1/-	104				1029.96	1/1d	152	1029.25	1/1d	144	1029.94	1/2d	136
Charrington	1029.43	1/-	128	1028.57	1/-	120	1033.28	1/-	128	1032.38	1/-	132	1032.61	1/1d	118	1032.35	1/1d	126	1032.67	1/2d	128	1032.6	1/2d	108
Charrington Best Mild				1033.13	1/2d	120	1036.81	1/2d	128
Wenlock	1030.32	1/-	104				1032.29	1/-	108	1032.83	1/-	88
Barclays				1030.47	1/1d	128	1031.95	1/1d	108	1033.64	1/1d	112				1029.52	1/2d	100	1031.61	1/2d	126
Ind Coope Allsopp							1028.52	11d	76	1030.95	1/-	80				1031.1	1/1d	82	1036.69	1/1d	102	1033.4	1/2d	100
Grays Brewery							1029.11	11d	56
Daniells							1031.23	11d	56	1032.14	1/-	72
Lacons							1032.65	1/-	100	1034.38	1/1d	88							1031.91	1/2d	92
Wm. Younger										1029.98	1/1d	72	1031.23	1/2d	80	1033.48	1/2d	92	1033.31	1/2d	82				1030.24	1/2d	96
Wells							1030.42	1/-	104
Cobb & Co							1030.65		72	1028.41	1/-	88
Tomson & Wotton							1026.82		76	1029.17	1/-	8
Young & Co							1033.07	1/-	68										1030.73	1/1d	60
Muitchell & Butler							1038.44	1/3d	41
Shepherd Neame							1030.13		63	1031.44	1/-	24
Fremlin XXL										1029.37	1/-	22
Fremlin XX										1030.56	1/-	60
Tetley																			1031.36	1/1d	58
Source: "Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252 Notes: Price per pint in the Public Bar. OG calculated by Trumann's from samples bought in competitors pubs

Pale Ale (draught) after WW II
	June 1949			Aug 1949			Sep 1949			Dec 1949			Mar 1950			June 1950			Apr 1951			June 1951			Jan 1952			Feb 1952			Aug 1952			Dec 1952			Jan 1953			Aug 1953
	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour	OG	price	colour
Watney	1035.83	1/4d	25	1035.2	1/4d	23							1037.87	1/4d	30				1038.11	1/4d	28				1037.42	1/5d	24				1035.72	1/5d	26
Courage	1037.01	1/5d	27										1041.22	1/5d	26	1038.64		28	1039.17	1/5d	28				1037.47	1/4d	24				1039.99	1/7d	26	1039.04	1/6d	32
Barclay Perkins													1034.28	1/2d	26										1034.6	1/3d	19				1033.22	1/4d	24	1032.78	1/4d	23
Whitbread	1033.52	1/4d	20	1034.86	1/4d	21							1038.65	1/4d	29				1038.4	1/4d	30							1038.12	1/5d	28							1035.05	1/4d	22
Truman	1035.6	1/4d	18	1035.03	1/4d	20	1035.1	1/4d	24	1034.7			1037.26	1/4d	22	1037.93	1/5d	21							1037.15	1/5d	20	1037.14	1/5d	24	1036.72	1/5d	20	1036.51	1/5d	24	1036.68	1/5d	16
Mann	1041.55	1/7d	22	1040.64	1/7d	26							1042.02	1/7d	27				1040.45	1/7d	30				1044.91	1/8d	20
Mann																			1037.62	1/5d	24																1037.52	1/5d	25
Charrington													1045.96	1/6d	34																						1046.35	1/8d	29
Charrington	1032.22	1/4d	23	1033.24	1/2d	24	1033.09	1/2d	25				1034.09	1/2d	22				1035.96	1/2d	21										1034.06	1/3d	18
Meux	1035.04	1/4d	24																						1036.04	1/5d	20										1036.78	1/5d	27
Taylor Walker	1038.11	1/4d	20	1037.63	1/4d	23							1037.67	1/4d	26				1040	1/4d	26										1037.65	1/5d	24				1036.32	1/6d	27
Worthington																1046.96	1/6d	24	1046.52	1/6d	28
Wenlock	1033.07	1/3d	28										1037.02	1/3d	27				1036.08	1/3d	27							1036.09	1/5d	32	1036.59	1/4d	27				1037	1/4d	24
Ind Coope													1031.55	1/1d	30	1033.04	1/2d	30	1033.75	1/3d	19	1033.1	1/3d	24
Ind Coope																1044.43	1/6d	22										1044.08	1/7d	26	1043.7	1/7d	23	1044.86	1/7d	23
Shepherd Neame																1032.58	1/-	36	1035.61	1/1d	25
Fremlin																1026.64	11d	30	1032.99	1/1d	22
Bass																1049.67	1/6d	23													1044.81	1/7d	22	1046.44	1/7d	24				1044.65	1/7d	26
Beasley	1033.08	1/2d	18													1035.47	1/4d	28																1037.18	1/5d	30
Lacons	1038.37	1/4d	26										1038.66	1/4d	28				1038.41	1/4d	27							1037.98	1/5d	30	1037.93	1/6d	25	1037.36	1/5d	28
Tetley																																		1036.27	1/4d	20	1037.27	1/4d	20
Younger																1039.8	1/4d	27	1036.94	1/4d	27													1035.92	1/5d	26
Daniells													1033.81	1/1d	26							1033.32	1/2d	30
Young & Co																1036.85	1/3d	26
Source: "Gravity Book" Trumans archive in the London Metropolitan Archive, document number B/THB/C/252 Pages 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 Notes: Price per pint in the Public Bar. OG calculated by Truman's from samples bought in competitors pubs 1d = 1 penny !/ = 1 shilling = 12 (old) pence = 5p (new pence)

Brown Ale and Stout

Here are more (lots more) details of Brown Ales and Stouts in the period 1940 to 1960.

Modern Remnants

In the course of the 19th century, the ale suffix was increasingly used in the description of beers. Though when beers are arranged by type, in for example Victorian price lists, Pale Ales are never grouped with Mild and Old Ales. As breweries stopped brewing porters, Stout was increasingly used as the generic term.

By the start of the 20th century, the modern distiction of British styles into just Ales and Stouts was becoming the norm and the term "beer" was losing any specific significance. It gradually disappeared as a suffix in beer names, except for Bitter Beer.

Looking at the Good Beer Guide (these are taken from the 1983 edition), you'll notice how some of the teminology has, at least within breweries, survived WW II.

Brewery	Dark Mild		Bitter/Light Mild		Best Bitter		Old Ale
King and Barnes	XX	1034.9º	PA	1034.9º			XXXX	1047.5º
Harveys	XX	1030º	PA	1033º	BB	1040º	XXXX	1043º
Greene King	XX	1030.8º	KK (light mild)	1030.8º	IPA	1035º
Gale	XXX	1031º	XXX (light mild)	1030º	BBB	1037º	XXXXX	1045º
Burt	BMA	1030º	LB	1030º	VPA	1040º	XXXX	1040º
Donnington	XXX	1033º	BB	1033º	SBA	1040º
Ridleys	XXX	1034º	PA	1034º

Do you want to know why Michael Jackson could find no reference to "bitter" in old brewing manuals? Because in breweries it was almost always referred to as PA or Pale Ale. But it was "a pint of bitter" that regulars would ask for in their local - at least as far back as WW I.

Sources:
"The Brewer"by William Loftus, 1863
English beer names, strengths and wholesale price 1860 - 1900.
"London & Country Brewer", 1736
A list of English beer names taken from various old advertisements and one of my main sources.
Chemical analyses of various American, British and continental beers between 1850 and 1900 from "American Handy Book of Brewing , Malting and Auxiliary Trades", by Wahl & Henius, Chicago 1902
"Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" by H. Lloyd Hind, 1940, London
"The Principles and Practices of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes and Arthur R. Ling, 1907, London
"A History of Beer and Brewing" by Ian S Hornsey, 2003, Cambridge.

Example 19th century advertisements

I would have scans here of the originals. Except it's someone else's copyright. So these are my html recreations of Victorian adverts.

JOHN BIRD,
Ale, Porter, & Stout Brewer
WESTERFIELD BREWEY,
IPSWICH.
-------------------------------------------------

	per gallon		per gallon
XXXX Ale	1s 4d.	KK Best Bitter Beer	1s 2d.
XXX & AK Ale	1s 0d.		per dozen (pints)
D Stout	1s 8d.	Bottled Stout	3s 9d. & 2s 3d
S Stout	1s 4d.	Bottled Ale	3s 9d. & 2s 3d
Porter	1s 0d.

-------------------------------------------------

1883
Source: "A Directory of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Suffolk Breweries" by C.R Bristow, 1985 page 65

BRADLEY & CO.,
SOHO BREWERY
SHEFFIELD,
ARE NOW SENDING OUT THEIR
FAMILY MILD ALES
So justly celebrated for their Excellence and Purity.
-------------------------------------------------
MILD X ALE, 1s. per gallon; XX, 1s. 2d.; XXX, 1s. 4d. ;
XXXX, 1s 6d.
And No. 3, AUSTRALIAN STRONG ALE, 1s 6d.
-------------------------------------------------
PALE INDIA ALE
1s.6d. per gallon (same as exported) , strongly
recommended by the Faculty.
-------------------------------------------------
STOUT PORTER,
1s. per gallon; XX, 1s. 2d.;and STRONG BROWN
STOUT, 1s 4d.
-------------------------------------------------

1870
Source: "South Yorkshire Stingo" by Loyd Parry, 1997 page 37

SOUTH STREET BREWERY,
SHEFFIELD MOOR
-------------------------------------------------
WM. WHITMARSH & CO'S
---- BRAND ----
"HALLAMSHIRE"
EXPORT QUALITY 1s. 6d. per Gallon,

READY FOR DELIVERY;
ALSO,

X, XX, XXX, XXXX, & BITTER BEERS,
X PORTER, STOUT PORTER,

AND

BROWN STOUT PORTER,

1882

Source: "South Yorkshire Stingo" by Loyd Parry, 1997 page 96

BENSKIN & CO.

BREWERS,

WATFORD
---------
PRICE LIST.
---------

WATFORD PALE ALE.
						barrel 36 gal	kilderkin 18 gal	firkin 9 gal
No 1 - INDIA PALE ALE	....	....	....	....	....	54/-	27/-	14/-
No 2 - GUINEA ALE	....	....	....	....	....	42/-	21/-	10/6
No 3 - PALE ALE	....	....	....	....	....	36/-	18/-	9/6
WATFORD MILD ALE.
No 4 - XXXX ALE	....	....	....	....	....	72/-	36/-	18/-
No 5 - XXX ALE	....	....	....	....	....	54/-	27/-	14/-
No 6 - XX ALE	....	....	....	....	....	36/-	18/-	9/6
STOUT.
No 7 - DOUBLE STOUT	....	....	....	....	....	54/-	27/-	14/-
No 8 - SINGLE STOUT	....	....	....	....	....	42/-	21/-	10/6
No 9 - PORTER	....	....	....	....	....	36/-	18/-	9/6

1887
Source: "Hunts County News" 1st October 1887

GOODWIN BROS.,
BREWERS,
NEWARK-ON-TRENT.
-------------------------------------------------

	per barrel	per kilderkin	per firkin
MILD ALES
X	36 s.	18s.	9s.
XX	42 s.	21 s.	10 s. 6d.
XXX	48 s.	24s.	12s.
STRONG ALES
XXXX	54 s.	27 s.	13 s. 6d.
XXXXX	60 s.	30 s.	15 s.
Extra Stromg	72 s.	36 s.	18 s.
BITTER ALES
A.K.	36 s.	18s.	9s.
P.A.	42 s.	21 s.	10 s. 6d.
I.P.A.	54 s.	27 s.	13 s. 6d.
STOUTS
D. S.	48 s.	24s.	12s.
Extra Stout	54 s.	27 s.	13 s. 6d.

-------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL ALES
FOR FAMILIES
A.K. ALE, 1s. PER GALLON,
PALE BITTER ALE,
1s. 2d.
LIGHT MILD ALE
1s.
-------------------------------------------------

1885
Source: "Newark Inns And Public Houses" Rodney Cousins, 1991 page 10

Notes:
D.S. I interpret as Double Stout
S. Stout I interpret as Single Stout
Money:
For those of you unused to pre-decimal currenct
d. = penny
s. = shilling
12 pence (pennies) = 1 shilling = 5p (modern money)
20 shillngs = £1

Measures:
lb = pound = 454 grams
Quarter malt = 320 pounds = 8 bushels
barrel = 36 UK gallons = 163.7 litres
kilderkin = 18 UK gallons
firkin = 9 UK gallons
gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 4.546 litres

Brettanomyces, as described in "The Principles and Practices of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes and Arthur R. Ling, 1907, London.

Brettanomyces, as described in "Brewing Science and Practice: Volume II Brewing Processes" by H. Lloyd Hind, 1940, London.

India Pale Bitter Ale brewing according to William Loftus in "The Brewer", 1863


Notes: "The Brewer" William Loftus, London, 1863 OG = (pounds per barrel * 2.77) + 1000

Porter brewing according to William Loftus in "The Brewer", 1863




Notes: "The Brewer" William Loftus, London, 1863 OG = (pounds per barrel * 2.77) + 1000

The Art of Brewing according to William Loftus in "The Brewer", 1863













Notes: "The Brewer" William Loftus, London, 1863 OG = (pounds per barrel * 2.77) + 1000

"American Handy Book of Brewing , Malting and Auxiliary Trades", by Wahl & Henius, Chicago 1902

Notes:
"American Handy Book of Brewing , Malting and Auxiliary Trades", by Wahl & Henius, Chicago 1902

Reid Brewing Logs from 1837-1838 for Keeping Porter

Source:
Reid brewing logs from the City of Westminster archive.

1936 and 1938 Brewing Logs, brewery unknown, for XX XXX, LB, and Stout

Source:
Unknown brewery log.

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