Tuesday 6 December 2011

J & R Tennent Beers 1947 – 1989

It's time for our second look at the beers of J & R Tennent. We're looking at post-WW II beers.

As before, I'll begin with their Lager. Three analyses and the bare bones of a more recent version. It's a bit odd the way the strength yoyos up and down between 3.7 and 4.1% ABV. What immediately strikes me is how little the strength has dropped from the pre-war version which, if you can remember back a couple of days, was 1043.1º and 4.39% ABV. The attenuation is also very constant at 78%. Though that doesn't mean that the beer necessarily tasted much the same over this period. Who knows what the hopping was like. Or the malts used.

It should be borne in mind just how weak most British Lagers were in the 1950's and 1960's. You know what? I've plenty of analyses from that period. Let's see the averages.


Origin FG OG ABV app. Atten-uation
Scottish-brewed 1009 1036.6 3.55 75.53%
UK brewed 1008 1037.4 3.92 76.54%
Imported 1008 1042.1 4.32 79.69%

I must admit that I'm shocked by that. I would have guessed that UK-brewed Lagers averaged around 1032º and just over 3% ABV, That's not the case. The OG is about dead on the average gravity of 1037º. The Scottish ones are a tiny bit weaker, but not much. The Lagers brewed outside the UK are still quite a bit stronger and a little more attenuated.

For once we've actually got a couple of Milds. AT least if we accept that 60/- by the 1970's was effectively a type of Dark Mild. Before the war, it would almost certainly have designated a sort of PAle Ale. 1031º is a pretty typical gravity for a 1970's Mild. I should know, I drank enough of the stuff.

There aren't a great number of Pale Ales this time. And most those weren't brewed at Wellpark but at the former Jeffrey's Heriot Brewery in Edinburgh. Only the ones from 1960 and 1961 are from Glasgow. One is piss weak at under 2.5% ABV. The other looks like a typical Export, with an OG in the low 1040ºs. The 80/- of the 1980's looks very similar. At least in terms of strength. I wonder how similar the recipes were?

This time about half the analyses are for Stout. With three exceptions, the sweet, low-alcohol Scottish type. Rarely getting as strong as 2% ABV. I'm getting very intrigued by these beers. Never having had one, I'd love to have a taste. Sweetheart Stout is still brewed, after all. I must look for it next time I'm in Scotland. That Sweetheart Stout with 32.77% attenuation is the least-attenuated British beer I've seen.

The Milk Stouts are funny ones. In that you'd expect a Milk Stout, if it contained lactose, the attenuation would be low. Yet it's 63% to 68%. Fairly normal. And much higher than the Sweet Stout. A gravity of 1060º is very respectable for a post-war Stout. The Export Milk Stout, with 0.16% acidity, is a bit tart. Was that deliberate, I wonder?

Finally there are the two Strong Ales. Both are pretty dark. And about typical strength. Not much to say, really. I wonder if it was discontinued after they started brewing Fowler's Wee Heavy in the early 1960's after the closure of the brewery in Prestonpans?

That's me all blethered out. Here's the table:


J & R Tennent Beers 1947 – 1994
Year Beer Style Price size package Acidity FG OG colour ABV App. Atten-uation
1955 Lager Lager 1/3d half pint bottled 0.04 1007.7 1036.1 9 3.69 78.67%
1957 Lager Beer Lager 1/8d 12 oz bottled 0.04 1008.6 1040.6 11 4.16 78.82%
1963 Lager Lager 27d 16 oz can 0.04 1007.8 1036.9 7.5 3.64 78.86%
1994 Tennent's Lager Lager pint bottled 4.10
1994 Tennent's Dry Lager pint bottled 5.50
1994 Tennent's Super Lager pint bottled 9.00
1977 60/- Mild pint draught 1031
1979 60/- Mild pint draught 1031
1960 Pale Ale Pale Ale 10d half pint bottled 0.02 1011.8 1029.9 26 2.26 60.54%
1961 Export Pale Ale 15d half pint bottled 0.05 1010.6 1042.3 22 3.96 74.94%
1982 80/- Pale Ale pint draught 1040
1983 Heriot Brewery 80/- Pale Ale pint draught 1042
1986 Tennent's 80/- Pale Ale pint draught 1042
1989 Tennent's 80/- Pale Ale pint draught 1009.7 1042 4.20 76.90%
1947 Stout Stout 1/1d pint bottled 0.06 1018.2 1030.7 1 + 11.5 1.61 40.78%
1948 Stout Stout pint bottled 1015.5 1030 1.86 48.33%
1949 Stout Stout 1/3d half pint bottled 0.05 1018.3 1034.9 1 + 12 2.13 47.56%
1949 Stout Stout pint bottled 1017.5 1032 1.86 45.31%
1950 Milk Stout (Export) Stout half pint bottled 0.16 1020 1063.2 1 + 17 5.60 68.35%
1955 Stout Stout 1/3d half pint bottled 0.05 1019.3 1034.7 325 1.98 44.38%
1957 ???? Brand Stout Stout half pint bottled 0.06 1020.8 1059.4 300 4.99 64.98%
1961 Stout (no lactose) Stout 13d half pint bottled 0.04 1019 1033.6 300 1.82 43.45%
1964 Milk Stout Stout bottled 0.05 1023 1061.8 250 4.85 62.78%
1964 Sweet Stout Stout 16d half pint bottled 0.04 1019.9 1032.7 425 1.60 39.14%
1966 Sweet Stout Stout 18.5d half pint bottled 0.04 1016.9 1034 300 2.14 50.29%
1967 Sweet Stout Stout 19d half pint bottled pH 4.4 1017.1 1033.2 280 2.01 48.49%
1967 Sweetheart Stout Stout 19d half pint bottled pH 4.29 1024 1035.7 280 1.46 32.77%
1994 Sweetheart Stout Stout pint bottled 2.00
1953 Strong Ale Strong Ale 1/2.5d nip bottled 0.06 1021.2 1066.4 14 + 40 5.86 68.07%
1958 Strong Ale Strong Ale 25d 16 oz can 0.06 1022.7 1068.4 100 5.71 66.81%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
The Best of British Bottled Beer
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990

4 comments:

Oblivious said...

"The Milk Stouts are funny ones. In that you'd expect a Milk Stout, if it contained lactose, the attenuation would be low. Yet it's 63% to 68%. Fairly normal. And much higher than the Sweet Stout. A gravity of 1060º is very respectable for a post-war Stout. The Export Milk Stout, with 0.16% acidity, is a bit tart. Was that deliberate, I wonder?"

Sounds like the ma have an infection, yeast cant metabolize lactose efficiency and the high acidity may suggest lacto activity

Barm said...

It’s an almost completely semantic argument whether post-war 60/– is Pale Ale or Mild. The difference between the two is cultural anyway. I would argue for the sake of tidiness that a beer that is once a Pale Ale stays a Pale Ale whatever else happens to it. On the other hand, those Scottish brewers with a significant trade in England were probably selling their Light as Mild down south, the devious buggers.

It comes down to a difference in mentality. The English distinguished between draught beers on the basis of bitterness – mild or bitter; the Scots did it by strength – light or heavy.

I think the explanation of the disappearance of Strong Ale being related to the acquisition of Fowler’s Wee Heavy is quite likely. The red T and "A TENNENT CALEDONIAN PRODUCT" started appearing on Wee Heavy labels. A time of rationalisation and brand consolidisation as they'd call it nowadays. To be honest I’m quite surprised that Tennent’s Sweet Stout managed to hang on for several years after Sweetheart Stout joined the stable.

Ron Pattinson said...

Barm, if anything, I'm getting more confused about post-war 60/-. I'm even starting to doubt the evidence of my own senses.

Barm said...

I doubt there's a working brewer left in Scotland who understands it either.