For the inaugural random brewer I've picked Beasley. Why? It's random, you moron. There's not supposed to be any reason behind it. OK, this is how the selection process went. I opened my Mega Gravity Table, the version sorted by brewery name. I started at the top and Beasley was the first suitable brewery I came across. Ah, the anguish of the creative process.
The Beasley brewery was in Plumstead, South London. It was founded in 1845. And bought and closed by Courage in 1963. Unfortunately, Courage didn't bother depositing any of their brewing records in the archive. Bastards. So all my infor on their beers comes from Whitbread and Truman. Ironic, eh?
| Beasley beers | |||||||||||
| Year | Beer | Style | Price | size | package | Acidity | FG | OG | Colour | ABV | attenuation |
| 1922 | KK | Strong Ale | 9d | pint | draught | 1014.4 | 1056.6 | 5.49 | 74.56% | ||
| 1922 | London Stout | Stout | 11d | pint | bottled | 1009 | 1041.1 | 4.17 | 78.10% | ||
| 1922 | MA | Mild | 5d | pint | draught | 1010.4 | 1034 | 3.05 | 69.41% | ||
| 1922 | MA | Mild | 5d | pint | draught | 1007.6 | 1030.2 | 2.93 | 74.83% | ||
| 1922 | PA | Pale Ale | 11d | pint | bottled | 1009.5 | 1040.7 | 4.05 | 76.66% | ||
| 1922 | PA | Pale Ale | 7d | pint | draught | 1011.9 | 1035.3 | 3.03 | 66.29% | ||
| 1922 | PA | Pale Ale | 7d | pint | draught | 1008.6 | 1044.1 | 4.62 | 80.50% | ||
| 1922 | Stout | Stout | 8d | pint | draught | 1017.4 | 1054 | 4.74 | 67.78% | ||
| 1927 | Double Brown | Brown Ale | 8d | pint | bottled | 1010.1 | 1047.2 | 4.83 | 78.60% | ||
| 1931 | Strong Ale | Strong Ale | 8d | pint | draught | 1048.9 | |||||
| 1932 | Strong Ale | Strong Ale | 8d | pint | draught | 1048.4 | |||||
| 1933 | Strong Ale | Strong Ale | 7d | pint | draught | 1048.1 | |||||
| 1935 | PA | Pale Ale | 6d | pint | bottled | 0.06 | 1008.8 | 1037 | 3.66 | 76.22% | |
| 1936 | PA | Pale Ale | 6d | pint | bottled | 0.05 | 1007.4 | 1036.6 | 3.79 | 79.78% | |
| 1940 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 7d | pint | draught | 1042.5 | |||||
| 1940 | Strong Ale | Strong Ale | 8d | pint | draught | 1048.4 | |||||
| 1940 | X | Mild | 6d | pint | draught | 1034.5 | |||||
| 1941 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 10d | pint | draught | 1042.1 | |||||
| 1944 | Dark Brown Ale | Brown Ale | bottled | 0.04 | 1012.4 | 1033.1 | 12 + 40 | 2.67 | 62.54% | ||
| 1944 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 0.05 | 1006.4 | 1032.2 | 18 | 3.35 | 80.12% | ||
| 1946 | Dark Brown | Brown Ale | 1/- | pint | bottled | 0.07 | 1009.5 | 1029.5 | 13 + 40 | 2.59 | 67.80% |
| 1946 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 1/- | pint | bottled | 0.08 | 1005.6 | 1030.3 | 19 | 3.21 | 81.52% |
| 1947 | Brown Ale | Brown Ale | 1/- | pint | bottled | 0.05 | 1009.3 | 1029 | 12 + 40 | 2.55 | 67.93% |
| 1947 | Brown Ale | Brown Ale | 1/- | pint | bottled | 0.08 | 1007.7 | 1030 | 11 + 40 | 2.89 | 74.33% |
| 1947 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 1/- | pint | bottled | 0.05 | 1005.5 | 1030.1 | 21.5 | 3.20 | 81.73% |
| 1947 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 1/1d | pint | bottled | 0.07 | 1005.1 | 1030.3 | 20.5 | 3.27 | 83.17% |
| 1949 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 14d | pint | draught | 1033.1 | 18 | ||||
| 1950 | Ale | Mild | 12d | pint | draught | 1031.4 | 56 | ||||
| 1950 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 16d | pint | draught | 1035.5 | 28 | ||||
| 1952 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 17d | pint | draught | 1037.2 | 30 | ||||
| 1953 | Arsenal Extra Stout | Stout | 1/2d | half pint | bottled | 0.05 | 1022 | 1049.2 | 1 + 21 | 3.50 | 55.28% |
| 1953 | Coronation Ale | Brown Ale | 1/2d | half pint | bottled | 0.05 | 1008.6 | 1043.1 | 21 + 40 | 4.49 | 80.05% |
| 1953 | X | Mild | 13d | pint | draught | 1031.5 | 116 | ||||
| 1953 | X | Mild | 13d | pint | draught | 1031.2 | 116 | ||||
| 1959 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 10d | halfpint | bottled | 0.03 | 1006.8 | 1031.1 | 26 | 3.15 | 78.14% |
| 1960 | Arsenal Extra Special Stout | Stout | 14d | half pint | bottled | 0.04 | 1017.7 | 1040.7 | 400 | 2.88 | 56.51% |
| 1960 | Bitter | Pale Ale | 15d | pint | draught | 0.05 | 1004.5 | 1034.3 | 35 | 3.72 | 86.88% |
| 1960 | London Stout | Stout | 10d | half pint | bottled | 0.02 | 1010.6 | 1032.8 | 325 | 2.77 | 67.68% |
| Sources: | |||||||||||
| Whitbread Gravity Book | |||||||||||
| Truman Gravity Book | |||||||||||
Arsenal Stout. Lucas would like that one. He's a Gonner. Dark Brown Ale. That has a certain ring to it, too.
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21 comments:
The stout and the football team were both named after Woolwich Arsenal, of course.
I worked at the Beasleys Brewery along with a lot of my family uncles aunts cousins and my grandfather known as Banjo it was late 1963 or even 1964 when it closed its doors.
I worked with a gentleman called George Mitchell he was the last of the true draymen with the last of the two shire horses Prince the biter take your finger off and Muffin gentle docile, met George many years later when we both worked for the met police he was at Plumstead police station and I was based at Woolwich,
Raymond, that's fascinating. Do you have any other personal memories of working at Beasleys?
Hi raymond, my names natalie beasley. Just seen your comment about beasley beers and found out that my grandad david batholomew is your cousin. Thought it would be great to comment as im still trying to found out about our family and obviously find this very ironic. Hope all is well and david said it would be nice to hear from you as it is many years gone by
My grandparents ( Bert and Mabel Motton)ran a pub in Walmer Terrace, Plumstead called the Forresters... It was a Beasleys pub and I can remember the beer being delivered by horse and dray.. I can also remember 2 of the horses.... Dandy and Muffin.. They were partial to a bit of seaside rock and the drayman let me sit on one of them whilst the beer was being off-loaded..
Beverley,
thanks for sharing that. What year was this?
I lived in the Edinburgh Castle in Woolwich and then the Brewery Tap adjacent to the Brewery in Plumstead. We moved to the Tap just as Courage were taking over, and were there when the Brewery was demolished. I remember a strong bottled beer called OBJ which I think stood for Oh be joyful. At the Edinburgh Castle we would often get deliveries by Horse and Dray, but I don't remember about the tap, perhaps they had finished by then.
John Wood,
interesting. Which years was that? I assume your father or mother was the tenant. Duttons in Lancashire also had a strong beer called OBJ.
Beverley,
I'm really interested in personal memories like yours of the everyday life in pubs.
My Mum told me about the draymen who delivered to the pubs close to where she lived. That they would get a pint from the landlord in every pub they delivered to and get totally palstered. But the horses knew the route so it didn't really matter.
I'd have said that was crap. If I hadn't worked in - ironically - the Courage-owned former Holes brewery, in Newark in 1975. We got free beer in our breaks. There was a cellar with kegs of AK and Mild and we could help ourselves. The old hands could easily knock back 4 pints in a 15 minute break. What could go wrong? Steam, heavy machinery, CO2 pressure. No danger at all. Oh, and the full kegs. 100 litre ones.
Mum and Dad moved up from Whitstable in 1957 I think, to take the tenancy of the Edinburgh Castle, and we moved to the Tap in 1963.
The move was instigated by a Mr Overington, who was some sort of district manager, and a very nice man.
From there to the Rose and Crown in Halstead, but that move was under Courage.
The full title of the Tap was The North Kent Brewery Tap, but I never heard it referred to as such.
I worked at beasleys on the dray with Jim Nixon and Jo bow tell -George Mitchell -and Jim Taylor .it was a very interesting place .there was a beer cellar and the drayman us to help themselves befor going out on each job .there was a harness room and the young lads had to polish the horse brasses every morning before harnessing the horses .a pall of mine worked with me his name was Ken Parker he married one of the office girls.there was a coopers in the corner of the yard and the guy us to make all the wooden beer barrels as I recall they were called a barrel -firkin-and pin .on one occasion when I was coming back from delivering to the elephant pub in woolwich square with George Mitchell .prince and muffin the dray horses got spooked and bolted from woolwich to plum stead station .george could not stop them bottles were flying everywhere .asluck had it they stopped under there owne steam. ( Meatball )
dear anonymous
i would like to no what in year you work there my grandfather was a Drayman there
up to 1952 when he past away they use to call him banjo. my dad was a stoker in the boiler room (Frank lynch) my brothers all work there to
and a cousin (Raymond gadbury)
Hi David
I worked at beasleys in between 1961 and 1963.i r ember a guy called frank also Roy Buckley who had a brother there.and there was a man who checked the crates you put on the carts for delivery his name was frank ------nick name frank the chequer ) .a man we called Mr Rose who used to give out our wages in the offices I remember as a young man was quite a gentleman .there was also a wine and spirits store the guy in charge was terry .sorry but I don't recall many second names (meatball)
eric flower 23/1/2017
.i worked there cleaning out the kegs that was in the yard.this was about 1960/61.remember jim taylor .george mitchell. think bill smith was in charge of the m/t keg wash area when i was there.remember terry from the spirits store.think obj was a winter brew.i also helped out cleaning the hops out of the vats.when i was there the cooper was a scotsman called cooper or so he said.not sure one of the brewers was called simpsom.
Ray kennedy (meatball )
It seems as though that not many 1960 employees of beasleys brewery are still with us?
Beasley's most famous ber was a strong ale named OBJ. That doesn't appear on the list. Have you any info?
Jeff,
I do have an OBJ, but it's from Duttin's.
Hi Raymond,
Were you one of three brothers that lived in Congo Road, Plumstead? I was a friend of Graham Gadbury, the youngest brother, we both attended Blomfield Secondary School. I lived in Piedmont Road just around the corner from Beasley's brewery.
Just bought a Beasley price list at Faversham antique fair. Beers mentioned are Mild, Bitter, XXXX, Light Ale, Brown Ale, Stout(London Stout), Arsenal Stout(Sweet Stout), Treble Star(Strong Pale Ale),OBJ (Extra Strong Ale). Nice condition and framed.
Did anyone work with a Peter or Jim Beasley?
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