I had considered writing about beer's cultural cringe today. But that required too much thought. And the noggin isn't what it was. I blame school milk. Maybe I'll be more capable of coherent thought tomorrow. Or think I am, after the first couple of Abts.
Here's the subject of today's chat:
I like the first paragraph:
"The season for exporting Wm. Younger & Co's ales in wood to distant Markets commences on the 1st November, and ends 30th June. Wm. Y. & Co do not recommend shipments in wood to be made during the summer months."
Very revealing. I'd never realised there was an exporting seasion. But it makes sense.No point taking the piss with the weather.
You can probably guess what comes next. I pluck the details of the beers on the price list from brewing records. Who am I to disappoint you? Here's one of my trademark tables:
Wm. Younger beers in 1868 | ||||||||||
Year | Beer | Style | OG | FG | ABV | App. Attenuation | lbs hops/ qtr | hops lb/brl | boil time (hours) | boil time (hours) |
1868 | XXP | Pale Ale | 1055 | 1014 | 5.42 | 74.55% | 11.67 | 3.29 | 2 | 2.25 |
1868 | 1 | Strong Ale | 1099 | 1041 | 7.67 | 58.59% | 7.08 | 3.70 | 1.75 | 2 |
1868 | 2 | Strong Ale | 1088 | 1034 | 7.14 | 61.36% | 7.11 | 3.18 | 1.5 | 2.25 |
1868 | 3 | Strong Ale | 1077 | 1022 | 7.28 | 71.43% | 11.67 | 5.75 | 1.75 | 2 |
1868 | 4 | Strong Ale | 1068 | 1022 | 6.09 | 67.65% | 13.13 | 4.67 | 2 | 2.5 |
1868 | DBS | Stout | 1062 | 1014 | 6.35 | 77.42% | 12.22 | 3.47 | 2 | 3 |
Source: Wm. Younger brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive |
One advantage of numbered ales is that it's a piece of piss to match logs with ads. I won't insult your intelligence by telling you the 3 and 4 are the beers in the ad. Ands it doesn't take a genius to work out that DBS = Double Brown Stout. I'm not so sure about the other draught beer. XXP is about the right strength. But I wouldn't put money on it.
"Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory for 1870" (page xiv) That's where the ad comes from.
2 comments:
Rather new hear but do you have old records from Timothy Taylor??
Cheers Andreas
I've seen a price list from McEwan's with similar prices. I knew it was 19th century but it could be around the same age as the Younger's one. On that one India Pale Ale and Extra Stout were both 6/4 a dozen. Strong Ale (No. 3) was 85/6 a hogshead and East India Pale Ale (No. 4) 81/–. Common Porter would have been only 54/– a hogshead but it's scored out. Had they stopped brewing it?
And McEwan's only gave 2 1/2% discount for cash, the tight sods.
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