Filthy stuff

Beer wasn't always great in the East End at the end of the 19th century.

At least not according to Inspector Carter:

"Charrington´s is about the best beer in the neighbourhood. But a great deal of filthy stuff is sold. The Brewers put in as managers men to whom they have advanced large sums. These men must make money. To make money they must adulterate. If they don´t, they lose and the brewers foreclose. Some firms are very hard. Perhaps the worst are Brewers at the corner of the Bow Road just before you come to the Stratford Bridge; their name is Smith & Garrett and the beer they sell is bad. Taylor Walker in Limehouse used to be large brewers and do a great Indian trade as well as own the houses in Limehouse. But the India trade has failed them and trade has left Limehouse so they are in a bad way now compared to former years."
Interview with Inspector Carter
Transcripts from Charles Booth's notebook B346 pp100-107
http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b346/jpg/101.html

Here are some details of that filthy stuff:

Smith Garrett beers
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	FG	OG	ABV	attenuation
1921	Pale Dinner Ale	Pale Ale	13d	quart	bottled	1007.2	1032.9	3.34	78.12%
1921	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	13d	quart	bottled	1010.4	1038.5	3.64	72.99%
1921	Brown Stout	Stout	13d	quart	bottled	1008.8	1038.4	3.84	77.08%
1921	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	7.5d	pint	bottled	1009	1038.3	3.80	76.50%
1921	Pale Dinner Ale	Pale Ale	7d	pint	bottled	1007.2	1031.4	3.14	77.07%
1921	Brown Stout	Stout	13d	quart	bottled	1009.2	1038.4	3.79	76.04%
1924	Stout	Stout	7d	pint	draught		1050.4
1924	X	Mild	6d	pint	draught		1045.1
1926	Porter	Porter	5d	pint	draught		1035.1
1926	Porter	Porter	5d	pint	draught		1031.7
1926	X	Mild	6d	pint	draught		1041.9
1926	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	pint	draught		1044.4
1926	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	pint	draught		1047.5
1927	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught		1055.68
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity Book
Truman Gravity Book

Pretty puny stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.

But not quite as nearly alcohol-free as this set from Taylor Walker:

Taylor Walker beers
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	FG	OG	ABV	attenuation
1931	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	8d	pint	bottled	1007	1025	2.33	72.00%
1931	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	6.5d	pint	bottled	1009.4	1024	1.88	60.83%
1931	Nourishing Stout	Stout	9d	pint	bottled	1008.4	1027	2.41	68.89%
1931	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	8d	pint	bottled	1009.9	1029.4	2.52	66.33%
1931	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	8d	pint	bottled	1007.6	1032.5	3.23	76.62%
1931	Nourishing Stout	Stout	8d	pint	bottled	1011.5	1029.5	2.32	61.02%
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity Book

Can't imagine it got very rowdy in Taylor Walker pubs. Not amongst the bottled beer drinkers.