Scottish IPA 1947 - 2004

Look at that. I'm getting so modern. Writing about something in the 21st century. It makes me feel all weird.

IPA has been brewed in Scotland for a long time. More than 170 years, to be precise. Despite the fact that few outside Britain associate Scotland with the style at all. Or are only away of such latecomers as Deuchars or Twisted Thistle. As we've learned these beers are just the most recent in a long lineage.

The Scottish IPA that's been around the longest - it was one of the first to be brewed - is Younger's IPA. It's one of the first IPA's I tried. Believe me, that was yonks ago. Back when I could still see my feet and walk up two flights of stairs without collapsing in a wheezy heap. It's not many people's idea of an IPA nowadays, but it has been around for an awfully long time. Let's think. Is there one that's been brewed longer? It depends if you count Draught Bass an IPA, I suppose. Other than that and White Shield, I don't think there are any contenders.

The two conflicting strands of Scottish IPA are clearly visible in the table below. There's the type typified by William Younger's draught IPA and McEwan's Export IPA. Beers somewhere in the 1040's. It's nice to see that some of the more modern versions - Broughton and Deuchars - fit into this mould.

The other type is the piss-weak bottled variety. As epitomised by Younger's bottled IPA from 1954. Beers with a gravity around 1030º. You'll notice one - Bernard's from 1949 - is billed as a 90/-, despite having a gravity below 1030º. Remember what I told you about the use of 90/- for Strong Ale being very recent? This is an example of 90/- being used with a completely different meaning.

One thing just about every beer in the table has in common is a decent level of attenuation. Something which isn't always the case with Scottish beer. Only one beers has an apparent attenuation of less than 70%. High attenuation is something you would expect in an IPA. One of the skills in brewing IPA for export to the tropics in the 19th century was to get the attenuation as low as possible, so there was no food for anything nasty during the long voyage.

One last point about colour. Somewhere in the low 20's EBC is what you'd expect an IPA to be. The canned Bernard's from 1958 is more than double that at 50. But as we've already learned, the Scots often liked their Pale Ales quite dark.

Here's the table:

Late 20th century Scottish IPA
Year	Brewer	country	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1947	Younger, Geo	India Pale Ale 120/-	14d	half	bottled		1010	1042		4.16	76.19%
1949	Bernard	90/- India Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006.5	1029.5		2.98	77.97%
1949	Fowler	India Pale Ale (Extra Pale)		pint	bottled		1009	1030		2.72	70.00%
1949	McEwan	India Pale Ale Export		pint	bottled		1008	1045.5		4.89	82.42%
1949	McEwan & Co.	Export IPA		half	bottled	0.06	1008.5	1046.8	19.5 brown	4.99	81.84%
1950	McEwan	Export IPA	1/1.5d	half	bottled	0.05	1012.6	1048.8	25 B	4.70	74.18%
1954	McEwan	India Pale Ale			bottled	0.05	1008.2	1048.6	24	5.27	83.13%
1955	Younger, Wm.	India Pale Ale	9.5d	half	bottled	0.04	1006.9	1030.2	22	3.02	77.15%
1957	McEwan	Export India Pale Ale	2/2d	16 oz	can	0.05	1010.7	1046.4	22	4.64	76.94%
1958	Bernard	India Pale Ale	21d	16 oz	can	0.04	1008.9	1030.6	50	2.71	70.92%
1958	Bernard	IPA (Bottling)		pint	bottled		1010	1030		2.59	66.67%
1959	Usher	India Pale Ale	10d	half	bottled	0.03	1008.4	1032.3	18	2.99	73.99%
1961	Jeffrey & Co	Export IPA	15d	half	bottled	0.05	1010.8	1042.3	24	3.94	74.47%
1961	McEwan	Export India Pale Ale	17d	half	bottled	0.04	1011.6	1045	20	4.18	74.22%
1961	McEwan	Export IPA	15d	half	bottled	0.05	1012.2	1048.1	22	4.49	74.64%
1972	Younger, Wm.	IPA	13.5p	pint	draught		1008.2	1043.5		4.59	81.15%
1977	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1043.2
1979	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1043.2
1981	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1043.2
1982	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1042.2
1983	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1043
1986	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1042
1989	Younger, Wm.	IPA		pint	draught			1042
1993	Caledonian	R&D Deuchars IPA			draught		1008	1038		3.9	78.95%
1994	Borve	Tall Ships IPA		pint	bottled					5.00
1994	Caledonian	Deuchars IPA		pint	bottled					4.60
2001	Caledonian	Deuchars IPA		IPA			1008.7	1038		3.8	77.11%
2001	Caledonian	Lorimers IPA		IPA			1014	1054		5.2	74.07%
2004	Broughton	Clipper IPA		IPA			1009.7	1042		4.2	76.90%
2004	Broughton	Greenmantle IPA		IPA			1009.7	1042		4.2	76.90%
2004	Cairngorm	Highland IPA		IPA			1008.3	1036		3.6	76.94%
2004	Caledonian	Deuchars IPA		IPA			1009.7	1039		3.8	75.13%
2011	Belhaven	Twisted Thistle			bottled					5.3
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
T & J Bernard's brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
1993 Real Ale Drinker's Almanac
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990, 2002, 2005
The Best of British Bottled Beer
Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15