The good news is: there are Milds! Warms my cockles and all that. What's even better, two different strengths of Mild. Decent gravities, by crap attenuation. The low 1040º's is about right for a standard Mild in the early 1920's. I'll give you a slight preview of the next instalment. There are no Milds in that. The evidence is mounting that Mild was a rarity in 1930's Scotland.
Now all those Pale Ales. There really are a lot of them. And that's a difference with England. I can't think of an English brewery that made four different Pale Ales in the 1920's. The PA, PA 60/-, PA 70/- and PA 80/- grouped in the middle of the table are taken from a brewing record. They form a neat set, with just about equal gaps between them: 1035º, 1041º, 1048º and 1055º. Knock 10 points off the last three and you've got post-war 60/-, 70/- and 80/-.
Those obviously aren't the wholesale price per hogshead. The tax per hogshead was more. They seem to have got stuck at pre-WW I prices. But what's that 90/- Sparkling Pale Ale about? It looks like it's probably the 60/- PA. Where did that term 90/- come from? It seems to be applied to bottled Pale Ales of 1038-1040º, but doesn't seem based on any former price like the 60/- to 80/-. I've seen labels or analyses of versions from several breweries.
Though the 120/- Strong Pale Ale looks like the 80/- from the brewing record. What was going on? Did they add an extra few bob for marketing reasons?
Usher's seem to be one of the few Scottish breweries that called one of their beers Scotch Ale both internally and in the Scottish market. You'll note that a couple were export versions for Belgium. At
Finally the Stouts. Like Murray, they made two of quite different character. First, one of those half-fermented sugar bombs the Scots seem to have loved. I prefer something with more poke myself. The second, Export Stout, looks like a pre-WW I Stout. That's a very decent gravity for the 1920's. From what I can see this second, stronger type of Stout gradually died away in Scotland, just leaving the sweet one.
Next time it'll be Usher's beers in the 1320's. Just joking. 1930's.
Thomas Usher's beers in the 1920's | |||||||
Year | Beer | Style | package | FG | OG | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
1920 | Mild Ale 90/- | Mild | draught | 1016.5 | 1048 | 4.07 | 65.63% |
1920 | Mild Ale 80/- | Mild | draught | 1013.5 | 1041 | 3.56 | 67.07% |
1928 | MA | Mild | 1015.5 | 1040 | 3.24 | 61.25% | |
1929 | 90/- Mild Ale (carbonated) | Mild | bottled | 1012 | 1042.5 | 3.95 | 71.76% |
1920 | PA 54/- | Pale Ale | draught | 1010.5 | 1034 | 3.04 | 69.12% |
1920 | PA 60/- | Pale Ale | draught | 1012.9 | 1040 | 3.51 | 67.75% |
1920 | PA 90/- | Pale Ale | draught | 1016 | 1054 | 4.93 | 70.37% |
1925 | PA 60/- | Pale Ale | bottled | 1006 | 1038 | 4.17 | 84.21% |
1927 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 1007.3 | 1040.3 | 4.29 | 81.89% |
1928 | PA | Pale Ale | 1013 | 1035 | 2.91 | 62.86% | |
1928 | PA 60/- | Pale Ale | 1013 | 1041 | 3.70 | 68.29% | |
1928 | PA 80/- | Pale Ale | 1015 | 1055 | 5.29 | 72.73% | |
1928 | PA 70/- | Pale Ale | 1014.5 | 1048 | 4.43 | 69.79% | |
1928 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | draught | 1014 | 1040.8 | 3.46 | 65.69% |
1928 | Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 1012 | 1040.5 | 3.69 | 70.37% |
1928 | 70/- Ale | Pale Ale | draught | 1014.5 | 1047 | 4.21 | 69.15% |
1928 | 90/- Sparkling Pale Ale | Pale Ale | bottled | 1009 | 1038 | 3.76 | 76.32% |
1929 | Pale Ale (carbonated) | Pale Ale | bottled | 1012 | 1040 | 3.63 | 70.00% |
1929 | 90/- Sparkling Pale Ale (natural condition) | Pale Ale | bottled | 1009 | 1040.5 | 4.09 | 77.78% |
1929 | 120/- Strong Pale Ale (carbonated) | Pale Ale | bottled | 1013.3 | 1051.5 | 4.96 | 74.17% |
1920 | Old Scotch Ale | Scotch Ale | bottled | 1026 | 1080.7 | 7.11 | 67.78% |
1920 | Old Scotch Ale | Scotch Ale | bottled | 1008 | 1078 | 9.24 | 89.74% |
1920 | Old Scotch Ale | Scotch Ale | bottled | 1022 | 1078 | 7.30 | 71.79% |
1923 | Old Scotch Ale (ex Brussels) | Scotch Ale | bottled | 1016 | 1082 | 8.66 | 80.49% |
1923 | Old Scotch Ale (ex Brussels) | Scotch Ale | bottled | 1017 | 1083 | 8.66 | 79.52% |
1928 | Old Scotch Ale | Scotch Ale | 1026 | 1085 | 7.81 | 69.41% | |
1920 | Stout | Stout | draught | 1020.7 | 1048 | 3.52 | 56.87% |
1920 | Export Stout | Stout | bottled | 1024.4 | 1067 | 5.51 | 63.58% |
1928 | Stout | Stout | 1021.5 | 1045 | 3.11 | 52.22% | |
1929 | Strong Old Scotch Ale (carbonated) | Strong Ale | bottled | 1020 | 1085 | 8.51 | 76.47% |
Sources: | |||||||
Thomas Usher brewing record document TU/6/6 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive | |||||||
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive |
"809% ABV"
ReplyDeleteImpressive.
If you have a 60/– quality in a hogshead for bottling, it is 50% more, i.e. 90/–. And 80/– becomes 120/– the same way.
ReplyDeleteRob, thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteBarm, interesting point. But I thought it was always the hogsgead price, the shilling stuff. You've got me doubting now.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it was sometimes the barrel price and sometimes the hogshead price. I don't think assuming it was invariably the hogshead price is a safe assumption.
ReplyDeleteGood god, 89% attenuation? There must have been some funky stuff happening there!
ReplyDeleteHi, I've found a bottle of usher pale ale in my attic but it's just got the label that you gave as a picture at the top of this page and nothing else. Do you know when it would have been produced?
ReplyDelete