1940 tax increase

I'm so excited. I just can't hide it. I've found a reference to Burton. You'd be surprised how rare they are, considering how common the beer once was. And it's from the war, so there's two boxes ticked.

This text discusses the impact of yet another tax increase:

"As the new beer duties were made dependent upon gravity, brewers who brew the stronger kinds of beer — pale ale, stout, and "Burton" — were placed somewhat in a quandary. Some brewers have ceased to brew these heavy beers altogether, others are brewing a modified type of beer retailed at 1d. per pint extra, whilst other brewers have increased the gravities of these beers and are charging the public an additional 2d. per pint. It is impossible as yet to forecast the effect on output of the recent increase in prices, but already there has been some diminution in the consumption of high-grade beers and an unparalleled demand for mild ales in saloon bars. That the high prices at which beer had to be sold to the public was affecting output, even before the recent Budget, is revealed by the figures of output for the month of June, which frankly are disappointing. The. output (in bulk barrels) for the United Kingdom for June was 1.04 per cent, down on that for the corresponding month of 1939, the output for England and Wales being 2.1 per cent., and that for Scotland -0.25 per cent.  At the same time the month of June revealed a levelling-up of output, probably due to the widespread dispersal of the Forces and the movement of evacuees to, for example, London and its environs. This comment on the recent levelling-up of output does not, of course, apply to certain coastal and defence areas where to-day trade has often been spectacularly diminished."
"The Brewers' Journal 1940" pages 627 - 628. (Published August 21st, 1940.)

If you've been paying attention the last few weeks, you'll understand what this means "unparalleled demand for mild ales in saloon bars". As I've repeated several times, Mild was the favourite in the public bar, Bitter was the drink of the saloon bar. Increasing prices had prompted trading down from Bitter to Mild. That's probably the last time in history there was a move in that direction. After the war, there was a gradual and then rapid swing to Bitter from Mild.


Three types are listed as examples of stronger beers: Bitter, Stout and Burton. Did some breweries really bump up their gravity? Not that I've seen Gravities only moved in one direction during the war: South. I bet you'd like to see some evidence to back that up. Alright then, here are Whitbread's beers in those three categories over the war years.

Whitbread Burton 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
21st Sep	1939	33	Strong Ale	1061.0	1020.0	5.42	67.21%	8.49	2.15
25th Apr	1940	33	Strong Ale	1059.7	1018.5	5.45	69.01%	8.50	2.06
11th Apr	1940	33	Strong Ale	1060.0	1019.0	5.42	68.33%	8.50	2.02
14th Aug	1940	XXXX	Strong Ale	1052.8	1014.5	5.07	72.54%	8.50	1.83
16th Oct	1941	XXXX	Strong Ale	1046.2	1012.5	4.46	72.94%	6.56	1.24
28th May	1942	XXXX	Strong Ale	1042.9	1013.5	3.89	68.53%	6.70	1.14
22nd Jul	1943	XXXX	Strong Ale	1042.8	1013.0	3.94	69.63%	6.67	1.25
24th May	1944	XXXX	Strong Ale	1042.9	1011.0	4.22	74.36%	6.64	1.19
8th June	1945	XXXX	Strong Ale	1043.4	1014.0	3.89	67.74%	6.44	1.19
Source: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives documents: LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112

xxx

Whitbread Pale Ale 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
27th Sep	1939	PA	Pale Ale	1048.2	1012.0	4.79	75.10%	7.33	1.41
30th Apr	1940	PA	Pale Ale	1047.2	1011.0	4.79	76.69%	7.33	1.44
14th Aug	1940	PA	Pale Ale	1043.1	1011.5	4.18	73.32%	7.25	1.34
11th Oct	1941	PA	Pale Ale	1042.5	1011.5	4.10	72.94%	5.62	1.00
29th May	1942	PA	Pale Ale	1038.6	1009.0	3.92	76.68%	6.03	0.96
23rd Jul	1943	PA	Pale Ale	1038.9	1008.5	4.02	78.15%	6.03	1.01
12th Apr	1944	PA	Pale Ale	1039.2	1011.5	3.66	70.66%	6.13	1.01
4th Apr	1945	PA	Pale Ale	1039.4	1010.0	3.89	74.62%	6.03	1.01
Source: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives documents: LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112

Whitbread London Stout 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
23rd Nov	1939	LS	Stout	1045.5	1013.0	4.30	71.43%	6.89	1.29
2nd Apr	1940	LS	Stout	1046.4	1014.5	4.22	68.75%	6.93	1.34
9th Sep	1940	LS	Stout	1043.4	1012.5	4.09	71.20%	6.90	1.27
5th May	1941	LS	Stout	1041.8	1013.5	3.74	67.70%	5.59	1.01
6th Aug	1942	LS	Stout	1038.6	1012.5	3.45	67.62%	6.64	1.10
27th May	1943	LS	Stout	1039.2	1013.5	3.40	65.56%	6.29	1.08
22nd Sep	1944	LS	Stout	1039.8	1013.5	3.48	66.08%	6.55	1.15
24th Sep	1945	LS	Stout	1039.7	1012.0	3.66	69.77%	6.35	1.11
Source: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives documents LMA/4453/D/09/127, LMA/4453/D/09/128, LMA/4453/D/09/129

Whitbread Mackeson Stout 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
23rd Nov	1939	MS	Stout	1051.4	1015.0	4.82	70.82%	6.89	1.46
1st Apr	1940	MS	Stout	1051.5	1013.5	5.03	73.79%	6.93	1.50
9th Sep	1940	MS	Stout	1051.3	1016.0	4.67	68.81%	6.90	1.50
8th May	1941	MS	Stout	1047.5	1015.0	4.30	68.42%	5.90	1.18
6th Aug	1942	MS	Stout	1042.3	1014.5	3.68	65.72%	6.64	1.21
27th May	1943	MS	Stout	1042.3	1015.0	3.61	64.54%	6.29	1.16
22nd Sep	1944	MS	Stout	1042.8	1014.0	3.81	67.29%	6.55	1.23
30th Sep	1945	MS	Stout	1042.9	1017.0	3.43	60.37%	4.84	0.93
Source: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives documents LMA/4453/D/09/127, LMA/4453/D/09/128, LMA/4453/D/09/129

There's an easily identifiable pattern there. Gravities fell in the first half of the war, stabilised in 1942 and stayed at the same level until 1945.