Amsdell's beers again

I promised you some more Amsdell fun and here it is. The same table as before, just this time with added analysis. Exciting or what?

Let's start with the old table:

Amsdell of Albany beers 1901 – 1904
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)
22nd Jan	1901	Polar	Ale	1054	1019.2	4.61	64.55%	6.01	1.15	1.61	1
24th Jan	1901	XX	Ale	1052.6	1016.4	4.8	68.93%	6.33	1.8	2.52	1
20th Mar	1901	Diamond	Stock Ale	1081.7	1028	7.11	65.76%	8.08	2.42	3.39	1
1st Apr	1901	XX	Ale	1054.6	1019.6	4.63	64.16%	6.23	1.61	2.26	1
24th May	1901	Scotch	Scotch Ale	1066.6	1023.6	5.7	64.64%	5.55	1.95	2.73	1.5
27th May	1901	XX	Ale	1059.7	1022.4	4.94	62.56%	5.82	1.23	1.72	1.25
22nd Oct	1901	Pale XX	Ale	1054.2	1017.2	4.89	68.33%	5.51	1.02	1.43	1
	1904	Burton	Stock Ale	1075.8							2
12th Apr	1904	Diamond	Stock Ale	1074	1020.8	7.04	71.96%	8.29	2.27	3.18	1
14th Nov	1904	XX Winter	Ale	1058	1019.2	5.13	66.95%	5.75	1.12	1.57	1
24th Mar	1905	India Pale Ale	IPA	1077.6	1029.2	6.4	62.35%	4.85	2.25	3.15	1
1st May	1905	Scotch	Scotch Ale	1062.7	1019.2	5.76	69.46%	5.26	1.15	1.61	1

And here's one of the beers from Whitbread in London from around the same time:

Whitbread beers 1901 - 1902
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
14th Mar	1901	P	Porter	1055.1	1015.0	5.31	72.79%	7.37	1.72	1.75	1.75
8th May	1901	S	Stout	1072.5	1028.0	5.89	61.39%	8.57	3.15	1.75	1.75
8th May	1901	SS	Stout	1085.9	1036.0	6.60	58.08%	8.57	3.72	1.75	1.75
8th May	1901	SSS	Stout	1095.7	1043.0	6.98	55.08%	8.57	4.15	1.75	1.75
29th Jun	1901	X	Mild	1052.4	1012.0	5.34	77.08%	5.99	1.39	1.75	1.75
20th Feb	1902	IPA	IPA	1049.9	1013.0	4.88	73.93%	11.97	2.65	1.5	1.75
27th Jun	1901	FA	Pale Ale	1051.8	1013.0	5.13	74.90%	10.92	2.54	1.5	1.75
25th Jun	1901	2PA	Pale Ale	1053.7	1014.0	5.26	73.95%	9.85	2.39	1.5	1.42
15th Jun	1901	PA	Pale Ale	1058.4	1017.0	5.48	70.91%	10.98	2.93	1.5	2
27th Jun	1901	XK	Pale Ale	1060.7	1019.0	5.52	68.71%	6.02	1.63	1.75	1.75
31st May	1901	KK	Stock Ale	1073.0	1030.0	5.69	58.91%	12.00	4.03	1.75	2
31st May	1901	2KKK	Stock Ale	1078.7	1033.0	6.05	58.07%	12.00	4.35	1.75	2
31st May	1901	KKK	Stock Ale	1082.8	1036.0	6.19	56.53%	12.00	4.58	1.75	2
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/066, LMA/4453/D/01/067 and LMA/4453/D/09/095.

There's one obvious difference: Whitbread brewed a much wider range of beers. The lack of a Porter or Stout is particularly striking. Amsdell really was a specialist Ale brewery. With only really 4 products: XX Ale, Diamond Ale, Scotch Ale and IPA. An odd set, especially the Scotch Ale. Whitbread also brewed a wider range of gravities, from 1050º to 1096º, compared to Amsdell's 1053º to 1082º.

Attenuation is a funny one. The standard-strength Whitbread beers are mostly around 75% apparent attenuation, while Amsdell's are around 65%. That changes with the Stouts and Stock Ales, with the Whitbread examples all under 60%.

Amsdell's boil times are much shorter than Whitbread's, mostly just one hour, while Whitbread mostly boiled for an hour and three quarters.

Let's take a closer look at some of the specific types. We'll start with the commonest of the Amsdell beers - XX Ales and Polar. Here's a comparison with Whitbread's X Ale:

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
22nd Jan	1901	Amsdell	Polar	Ale	1054	1019.2	4.61	64.55%	6.01	1.15	1.61	1
24th Jan	1901	Amsdell	XX	Ale	1052.6	1016.4	4.8	68.93%	6.33	1.8	2.52	1
1st Apr	1901	Amsdell	XX	Ale	1054.6	1019.6	4.63	64.16%	6.23	1.61	2.26	1
27th May	1901	Amsdell	XX	Ale	1059.7	1022.4	4.94	62.56%	5.82	1.23	1.72	1.25
22nd Oct	1901	Amsdell	Pale XX	Ale	1054.2	1017.2	4.89	68.33%	5.51	1.02	1.43	1
14th Nov	1904	Amsdell	XX Winter	Ale	1058	1019.2	5.13	66.95%	5.75	1.12	1.57	1
Average					1055.5	1019.0	4.83	65.91%	5.94	1.32	1.85	1.04
29th Jun	1901	Whitbread	X	Mild	1052.4	1012.0	5.34	77.08%	5.99		1.39	1.75	1.75
Difference					-3.2	-7.0	0.5	11.2%	0.0		-0.5	0.7

And, because I noticed that the Whitbread hopping rate was quite low, here's a comparison with Barclay Perkins X Ale:

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
Average		Amsdell	XX	Ale	1055.5	1019.0	4.83	65.91%	5.94	1.32	1.85	1.04
5th Jun	1900	Barclay Perkins	X	Mild	1052.8	1010.0	5.67	81.11%	8.01		1.75	2	2.5
Difference					-2.7	-9.0	0.8	15.2%	2.07		-0.10	1.0

In general, Amsdell XX Ale looks quite like a London Mild Ale with one exception: the rate of attenuation is considerably lower.

Moving on, we'll next consider Amsdell's Stock Ale, Diamond. Again, I've compared it with both Whitbread and Barclay Perkins Stock Ales.

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
20th Mar	1901	Amsdell	Diamond	Stock Ale	1081.7	1028	7.11	65.76%	8.08	2.42	3.39	1
12th Apr	1904	Amsdell	Diamond	Stock Ale	1074	1020.8	7.04	71.96%	8.29	2.27	3.18	1
Average					1077.9	1024.4	7.08	68.86%	8.19	2.35	3.29	1
31st May	1901	Whitbread	KK	Stock Ale	1073.0	1030.0	5.69	58.91%	12.00		4.03	1.75	2
Difference					-4.8	5.6	-1.38	-9.9%	3.81		0.75	0.75

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
Average		Amsdell	Diamond	Stock Ale	1077.9	1024.4	7.08	68.86%	8.19	2.35	3.29	1.00
21st Nov	1900	Barclay Perkins	KK	Stock Ale	1073.0	1019.4	7.09	73.44%	14.03		4.20	2	2.5
Difference					-4.8	-5.0	0.02	4.6%	5.84		0.92	1.00

Whitbread's KK, with its high FG, sticks out. Barclay Perkins KK looks very similar to Diamond Ale, except for rather heavier hopping. And, of course, a longer boil.

Finally, it's the turn of IPA.

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
24th Mar	1905	Amsdell	India Pale Ale	IPA	1077.6	1029.2	6.4	62.35%	4.85	2.25	3.15	1
20th Feb	1902	Whitbread	IPA	IPA	1049.9	1013.0	4.88	73.93%	11.97		2.65	1.5	1.75
Difference					-27.7	-16.2	-1.5	11.6%	7.1		-0.5	0.5

Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/US brl	hops lb/Imp brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)
24th Mar	1905	Amsdell	India Pale Ale	IPA	1077.6	1029.2	6.4	62.35%	4.85	2.25	3.15	1
13th Jun	1908	Barclay Perkins	PA	Pale Ale	1060.4	1011.5	6.47	80.96%	12.00		3.00	2.5
Difference					-17.2	-17.7	0.1	18.6%	7.2		-0.2	1.5

It's pretty obvious that Whitbread's IPA isn't really in the same style as Amsdell's. The gravities are just too different. Though it is apparent that Amsdell's IPA was, taking into account its gravity, more lightly hopped. The low attenuation of Amsdell's IPA means that although Barclay Perkins Pale Ale had a much lower gravity, it almost had the same ABV. I've never seen a pre-WW I British IPA with as high an OG and as low a hopping rate as Amsdell's. It's really very different.

I'm sure I'll be returning to North American Ales. They're just so entertaining.