Monday 7 October 2013

Bottled Beers 1900 - 1909

I'm very surprised that Bottled beers in the 1870's was one of the most poular posts in September. No idea why, but it's had four times the views of any other post in this series. The best I can come up with is that you're a weird lot.

I have a lot more examples for this time slice. And it's not just a question of having found more price lists for this period. A much higher percentage of the price lists include bottled beer. There's a simple enough explanation: by this time a large percentage of breweries had started bottling themselves. It doesn't mean their beers weren't available in bottled form before. Before 1880 most beer was bottled by independent bottlers. The price lists I've used as sources were mostly advertisements placed by breweries. When they weren't producing and selling it themselves, why should they bother including bottled beer in an advert?

In the case of the Young's beers in the table, these were the first produced by the brewery. Which seems a little late to me.

This time I decided to lump the Light Bitters in with Dinner Ales. It's a bit arbitrary, but what the hell. My reasoning was to show the different strands of Pale Ale establishing their own identity. Those were IPA, Pale Ale and Light Bitter/Dinner Ale. It would be neat to say I've listed them in descending order of strength and price, but that isn't necessarily so. Light Bitter/Dinner Ale was always the weakest of a brewery's Pale Ales, but the position of IPA and Pale varied from brewery to brewery. For example, Whitbread's IPA was weaker than their Pale Ale.

style no. examples %
Stout 38 37.62%
IPA 18 17.82%
Dinner Ale 16 15.84%
Ale 9 8.91%
Pale Ale 8 7.92%
Lager 2 1.98%
Mild 2 1.98%
Porter 2 1.98%
Strong Ale 2 1.98%
Cooper 2 1.98%
Low Alcohol 1 0.99%
Brown Ale 1 0.99%
Total 101 100.00%

There are the most examples of Stout by a street, more than double the second best represented style, IPA. But, if I lump together all the Black Beers (Stout, Porter and Cooper) and all the Pale Ales (IPA, Pale and Dinner Ale) it's a dead heat, with 42 of each. This is a fairly random selection of examples, but I believe it does show general trends in bottled beer. Pale Ales and Stouts were far and away the most popular styles in bottle.

style no. examples %
Stout 38 37.62%
Porter 2 1.98%
Cooper 2 1.98%
subtotal 42 41.58%
IPA 18 17.82%
Pale Ale 8 7.92%
Dinner Ale 16 15.84%
subtotal 42 41.58%
Total 101 124.75%

You may have spotted that, for the first time, there's a Brown Ale. I confess that I'm not 100% sure that Maxim Ale was a Brown Ale at this point. That's just a guess on my part. In my defence, 1909 is about a decade after the first appearance of Brown Ale. So it's not a totally unreasonable assumption.

One word about pricing. At first I thought 1s 4d for 4 quarts of Truman Family Ale or Oatmeal Stout must be wrong. It sounded far too cheap. But it only works out to 4d a quart - the equivalent of 2s per dozen Imperial pints. Cheap, but not unreasonably so. And quarts were the cheapest format to produce. It looks like crates of 4 quarts were competing directly with draught beer fetched in a jug from the local pub. 4d a quart is the same price X Ale sold for in the public bar.

I'm pretty sure that I can match up Truman Family Ale with a beer in their brewing records. LK - London Keeper - appeared sometime between 1900 and 1905. It had a very low gravity for a London Pale Ale of the period: just 1046º at a time when their X Ale was over 1050º

I feared that I would struggle to spot the Oatmeal Stout. Turned out to be a piece of piss. As there was a thing called "Bottling" in the only brews that contained oats. It was parti-gyled with Country Runner, a Porter. So while it was marketed as a Stout, it was really a Porter. And the weakest one of Truman's Porters at that. It just shows how arbitrary the distinction between Porter and Stout was.

There were a few Milds this time, including Rogers' Imperial Mild Ale. Judging by the price - 3 shillings for a dozen reputed pints - it truly was Imperial. That's the equivalent of 4s 6d for a dozen Imperial pints. The only other beers in the table costing that much were Bass Pale Ale and Guinness Extra Stout, both beers that were sold at a premium. My guess would be that the Imperial Mild had an OG between 1090º and 1100º.

This time around, I've got brewing records for two breweries: Tetley and Truman. Which means another two tables. Aren't you lucky.

Truman Family Ale and Oatmeal Stout
Year Beer Style OG lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
1909 Bottling Porter 1052.6 7.5 1.82
1909 LK Pale Ale 1045.7 6.2 1.30
Source:
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, documents numbers B/THB/C/112 and B/THB/C/190.


I suppose I should decode the Tetley beers for you. I think K is the Dinner Ale, PA is definitely the East India Pale Ale, P is definitely the Family Porter and S definitely the Extra Stout. Special Mild Ale, Imperial Ale and Strong Ale are probably X2, X3 and XX respectively. It would be easier to work out if they all had come in the same size bottle.

Tetley beers in 1904
Year Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl barrels
1904 K Pale Ale 1045.4 1007.8 4.98 82.93% 7.72 1.45 211.25
1904 P Porter 1050.4 1017.2 4.40 65.93% 4.91 1.03 41.75
1904 PA Pale Ale 1059.8 1010.8 6.49 81.94% 11.13 2.96 333.25
1904 S Stout 1066.8 1020.5 6.12 69.29% 4.91 1.36 28
1904 X Mild  1038.8 1010.0 3.81 74.29% 4.01 0.61 273.25
1904 X Pale Mild  1042.1 1008.3 4.47 80.26% 5.71 0.96 56.25
1904 X1 Mild  1046.3 1010.5 4.73 77.25% 4.24 0.78 163.5
1904 X1 Pale Mild  1047.9 1012.2 4.73 74.57% 5.71 1.12 28
1904 X2 Mild  1056.8 1013.3 5.75 76.59% 7.18 1.59 280.75
1904 X2 Pale Mild  1056.2 1013.3 5.68 76.35% 5.71 1.31 53
1904 X3 Mild  1061.4 1017.7 5.77 71.11% 8.06 1.99 113.75
1904 XX Mild  1071.7 1017.2 7.22 76.06% 8.06 2.33 112.25
Source:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service Leeds, document number WYL756/51/ACC1903.

And finally, here's the full table:

Bottled beers 1900 - 1909
Brewery Place year beer style price per dozen size source
Barbe, H.J. & Co. Ashton Clinton 1900 Ale Ale 2s 6d Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1909 Imperial Ale 2s 6d pint
Rochdale & Manor Brwry. Rochdale 1909 Star Ale Ale
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Bristol Ale Ale 2s reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Bristol Ale Ale 1s 3d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Monarch Ale Ale 2s 6d reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Monarch Ale Ale 1s 6d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley Leeds 1904 Imperial (non-deposit) Ale Ale 2s 2d pony bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Walker & Homfray Salford 1908 Comet Ale Ale
C. Vaux & Sons Ltd Sunderland 1909 Maxim Ale Brown Ale
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 Cooper Cooper 2s 6d Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 Cooper Cooper 2s half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Allsopp Burton 1900 Light Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 Light Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 1s 6d half pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Aylesbury Brewery Aylesbury 1900 ABC Light Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Aylesbury Brewery Aylesbury 1900 ABC Light Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 1s 6d half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bailey & Tebbutt Cambridge 1908 Light Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint
Daniell & Sons Colchester 1900 Sparkling Dinner Ale Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1902 Light D. A. Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 Light Bitter Ale Dinner Ale 2s half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 AKK Light Bitter Ale Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 AKK Light Bitter Ale Dinner Ale 1s 6d half pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Light Bitter Dinner Ale 2s 6d pint screw Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Light Bitter Dinner Ale 1s 6d stoppered half pint Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Tetley Leeds 1904 Dinner Ale (Light Bitter) Dinner Ale 1s 6d small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Tetley Leeds 1904 Dinner Ale (Light Bitter) Dinner Ale 2s 6d large bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Threlfall's Salford 1905 XX Dinner Ale Dinner Ale
Truman London 1908 Truman's Family Ale Dinner Ale 1s 4d 4 quarts
Allsopp Burton 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 3s pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 1s 9d half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 3s 6d pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 1s 9d half pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Bass Burton 1900 India Pale Ale IPA 4s 6d pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bass Burton 1900 India Pale Ale IPA 2s 3d half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bass Burton 1903 India Pale Ale IPA 4s pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Bass Burton 1903 India Pale Ale IPA 2s 6d half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Bass Burton 1904 India Pale Ale IPA 2s 3d small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 India Pale Ale IPA 3s Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 India Pale Ale IPA 3s half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 East India Pale Ale IPA 3s 3d pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 East India Pale Ale IPA 1s 9d half pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 3s reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 East India Pale Ale IPA 1s 9d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley Leeds 1904 East India Pale Ale IPA 2s small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Threlfall's Salford 1905 India Pale Ale IPA
Young's London 1905 IPA IPA First bottled beers.
Allsopp Burton 1900 Lager Beer Lager 3s 6d pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 Lager Beer Lager 2s 3d half pint Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Hop Ale (Non-Intoxicating) Low Alcohol 1s imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Bailey & Tebbutt Cambridge 1908 Strong Ale  Mild 4s pint
Bardsley Brewey  Ashton-Under-Lyne 1908 Best Mild (light Mild) Mild
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Imperial Mild Ale Mild 3s reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley Leeds 1904 Special (non-deposit) Mild Ale Mild 3s large bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 Pale Ale Pale Ale 2s 6d Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1902 Pale Ale Pale Ale 3s 6d pint Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1909 Pale Ale Pale Ale 3s 6d pint
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 Pale Ale Pale Ale 2s 6d half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Icon Heppenstall Goole 1902 SBA Ale Pale Ale 1s 6d half pint
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Pale Ale Pale Ale 3s pint screw Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Pale Ale Pale Ale 1s stoppered half pint Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Young's London 1905 PA Pale Ale Pale Ale First bottled beers.
Tetley Leeds 1904 Family Porter Porter 1s 6d small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Tetley Leeds 1904 Family Porter Porter 2s 6d large bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Allsopp Burton 1900 Stout Stout 4s pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp Burton 1900 Stout Stout 2s half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bailey & Tebbutt Cambridge 1908 Oatmeal Stout Stout 2s 6d pint
Bailey & Tebbutt Cambridge 1908 Nourishing Stout Stout 2s 6d pint
Barbe, H.J. & Co. Ashton Clinton 1900 Stout Stout 3s Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bardsley Brewey  Ashton-Under-Lyne 1908 Double Stout Stout
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 Single Stout Stout 2s 6d Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 Double Stout Stout 3s Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Breeds & Co Hastings 1905 Oat Malt Stout Stout 2s 6d Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Combe & Co. London 1900 Stout Stout 3s pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Combe & Co. London 1900 Stout Stout 1s 9d half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Daniell & Sons Colchester 1900 Creamy Stout Stout 2s 6d pint
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1902 Nourishing Stout Stout 3s 3d pint Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Godsell & Sons Stroud, Gloucs 1909 Nourishing Stout Stout 3s 3d pint
Guinness Dublin 1900 Stout Stout 4s 6d pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Guinness Dublin 1900 Stout Stout 2s 3d half pint Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Guinness Dublin 1903 Stout Stout 4s pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Guinness Dublin 1903 Stout Stout 2s 6d half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Guinness Dublin 1904 Guinness Stout 1s 11d small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Guinness Dublin 1904 Guinness Stout 3s 6d large bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 Nourishing Stout Stout 2s 6d half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Headington & Son Wokingham 1903 Double Brown Stout Stout 3s half pint Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 Oatmeal Stout Stout 2s 6d pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery Exeter 1909 Oatmeal Stout Stout 1s 6d half pint Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Icon Heppenstall Goole 1902 Double Stout Stout 1s 6d half pint
Rochdale & Manor Brwry. Rochdale 1909 Oatmeal Nourishing Stout Stout
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Bristol Stout Stout 2s reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Bristol Stout Stout 1s 3d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Monarch Stout Stout 2s 6d reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Monarch Stout Stout 1s 6d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 Imperial Double Stout Stout 3s reputed pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Family Stout Stout 1s 6d stoppered half pint Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons Huddersfield 1900 Extra Stout Stout 1s 9d stone bottle Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Tetley Leeds 1904 Extra Stout Stout 1s 9d small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 
Truman London 1908 Truman's Oatmeal Stout Stout 1s 4d 4 quarts
Young's London 1905 Oatmeal Stout Stout First bottled beers.
Young's London 1905 Double Stout Stout First bottled beers.
Young's London 1905 Stout Stout First bottled beers.
Rogers' Ales Bristol 1900 XXXXX Strong Ale Strong Ale 1s 9d imperial half pint Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley Leeds 1904 Strong Ale Strong Ale 2s small bottles “Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99. 

I'm not sure if I'll continue this further into the 20th century. I start getting information overload after WW I when I have Whitbread's and Truman's Gravity Books to play with.


7 comments:

StuartP said...

Hi Ron,
I know this is off-subject, but have you seen Hook Norton's latest bar mats?
To quote:
THE TASTE OF THINGS TO COME
The ingredients of every single brew that has ever been produced at Hook Norton are recorded in the Brewing Books.
The earliest surviving book begins with Brew No.1 on November 24th 1856 and it is described as 'Mild XXX'.

Ron Pattinson said...

Hi Stuart,

no, I hadn't seen them. I should maybe see if they'll let me take a look at their brewing books.

Azorie said...

Ok I hate to sound stupid but what is dinner ale? Got a recipe?

I looked in amber gold and black (the book) I never saw that term before. trying to guess that its a weak Pale ale? drank with dinner???

Jaxbeerlover said...

ah never mind I had read that book and the index did not list it but its right there on page 127. sorry for the dumb question, but one cannot remember everything. and yea I know its Not your book.
amber. gold and black. i do have 5 of your books though!...

Ron Pattinson said...

Azorie,

I've picked Dinner Ale as the name to group bottled Light Pale Ales. Beers that in the 20th century were called Light Ales. Pre-WW I, that means something with a gravity of 1045º or so.

Recipe? Something like this:

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.nl/2011/08/lets-brew-wednesday-fullers-1914-ak.html

Gary Gillman said...

Maxim preceded Double Maxim which, per memory, was developed after WW I as new stronger version. I think an officer of the brewery returned from the war helped design it. Clearly the names are metaphors for the famous machine gun, or at least the Double Maxim name is. It stands to reason Maxim was a brown ale like the more famous beer which came after. I remember drinking it as an import ca 1980. It was pretty good, better than the rather light-tasting Newcastle Brown - was Newkie Brown ever really good I wonder...

Gary

Azorie said...

thanks for the recipe, I will try that one asap.