Home Brewed again

Ferreting around in the newspaper archive in search of Home Brewed, I came across some striking advertisements from the Nottingham Brewery.

They're odd in many ways - lots of white space, text in the form of a poem - but the language and tone are surprisingly modern in some respects. And mirror the kind of marketing used by some of the more cynical hip new breweries:

"MALTANOP—-up-to-date

THE ALE:
We never cease trying make this Ale more perfect
The rich, nut-brown Home Brewed
The briiliant, sparkling Bitter
Familiar to you as MALTANOP
Has about reached the limit of perfection
The very best Materials —The greatest care-yield
MALTANOP The last word in brewing skill.
Times out of number we have been asked to bottle
MALTANOP Home Brewed in Pints -
They are easier to handle than Quarts.
We have now done it.
They are ready to-day
MALTANOP H.B. in Pints 2/9 per dozen
Sold everywhere
Delivered immediately direct from here —Telephone 3324

THE LABEL:
We are discarding the old label
It was cumbersome —we have no use for the obsolete
We even improve our label
The old label bore witness that MALTANOP
remained bright and sparkling to the last drop
and could be drawn on from time to time
without becoming flat
Everybody knows that
We discard verbiage, we rely on your experience
The new label is exceedingly neat
It will please you
A label — not a narrative
MALTANOP Home Brewed is Red
MALTANOP Bitter is Green
No longer square, but oval
The change is in the label—NOT the ale
Our MALTANOP is better than ever

The Nottingham Brewery Ltd
Mansfield Road
Nottingham. 'Phone 3324"
Nottingham Evening Post - Saturday 21 March 1914, page 4.

This phrase "we have no use for the obsolete" sounds much like the line peddled by some of today's keg fans.

2s 9d for a dozen pints equates to 2.75d per bottle. On the eve of WW I, standard Mild cost 2d a pint, which means this Home Brewed was probably a similar strength, given the premium charged for bottled beer. Around 1050º or 5% ABV.

From the stuff about it being clear to the last drop it's obvious that these were artificially carbonated beers. The run up to WW I is when this type of beer was becoming popular and brewers were moving away from bottle conditioning for many styles of beer.

Here's a rather less wordy effort, though still giving Home Brewed a mention:

"MALTANOP

SOME ALE.

TRY IT
You will praise it -
not injudiciously
MALTANOP Rich Home Brewed.
Crisp Sparkling Bitter
Perfect for the table.
At the shops, or direct from us
Fresh and Brilliant
Usual prices

The Nottingham Brewery, Ltd
MANSFIELD ROAD,
NOTTINGHAM.
'Phone 3324."
Nottingham Evening Post - Monday 25 May 1914, page 4.

The Nottingham Brewery weren't the only ones to use the corny Maltanop name, as you can see from the label at the top of the page, which comes from a brewery in Grimsby. I've not been able to find a label for the Nottingham Brewery's version, unfortunately.