Saturday 10 May 2014

Hoare Strong Ale 1922 - 1933

Here's the final set of Hoare beers from the 1920's and 1930's.

I realise I've been a bit thick again. On page 119 in "The Red Lion Brewery" there's a photo of a Hoare price list of draught beers. Now I've looked at it properly, I can see that I made a few mistakes in this series of Hoare's beers.

Biggest surprise was seeing two draught Stouts. It explains quite a bit. My analyses were for two different beers. That's why the gravities seemed a bit odd.

Something similar is going on with their Strong Ale.  The one called XXX wasn't really a Strong Ale at all, but a stronger Mild. Though it's called Strong Ale in the Truman Gravity Book. Whitbread correctly identified it as XXX, but called Hoare's Burton KK, when the official name was XXXX. Confused?

There were also two different Milds amongst the samples, XX and XXX. Though both were called X in the Gravity Books.

In addition there are three beers for which I appear to have no samples at all: X, LA and IPA. It's annoying that the latter is missing. I can't recall another London IPA that was so strong. Unlike Barclay Perkins and Whitbread, Hoare's IPA was stronger than their PA. I understand now why only their Ordinary Bitter appeared with the other PA's in the Gravity Books. Because that was the beer Hoare called PA.

Here's what's in the price list:

Hoare draught beers September 1931
name description price per barrel (shillings) retail price per pint
X Mild Ale 98 5d
XX Mild Ale 116 6d
XXX Mild Ale 138 7d
XXXX Burton Ale 184 9d
P Porter 116 6d
S Stout 160 8d
DS Double Stout 184 9d
LA Country Ale 98 5d
PA Pale Ale 160 8d
IPA India Pale Ale 184 9d
Source:
Hoare's price list.

And here's what the gravities of them all are. Mostly taken from analyses, but, in the case of X, LA and IPA, I've guessed them.


Hoare draught beer prices and OG 1923 - 1931
name description OG retail price per pint
X Mild Ale 1028 4d
XX Mild Ale 1034 5d
XXX Mild Ale 1045 6d
XXXX Burton Ale 1054 8d
P Porter 1034 5d
S Stout 1046 7d
DS Double Stout 1054 8d
LA Country Ale 1028 4d
PA Pale Ale 1047 7d
IPA India Pale Ale 1054 8d

LA is a funny one. From its position on the price list, it must be a Pale Ale. But a very low gravity one. I've not seen an equivalent beer from other London brewers, though I have seen similar ones from country brewers. Whitbread had a beer called LA, but that was a 4d Mild Ale.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were only three base brews from which all these beers were parti-gyled: one for X, XX, XXX and XXXX; one for P, S and DS;; and one for LA, PA and IPA.

The Burton (XXXX for Hoare, KK or Strong Ale below) is very typical: mid 1050's and around 5% ABV. XXX at 1045 is right up at the top end gravity-wise of a 6d Mild. Most rival examples were a couple of degrees lower.

The one bottled example, Imperial Ale, is an intriguing one. It looks a similar beer to Barclay Perkin KK (Bottling), which was marketed as Old Southwarke Ale and had a gravity of around 1070.


Hoare Strong Ale 1922 - 1933
Year Beer Price size package Acidity FG OG ABV App. Atten-uation
1922 KK 9d pint draught 1015.5 1056.5 5.33 72.57%
1923 KK 9d pint draught 1015 1055.5 5.26 72.97%
1923 KK 8d pint draught 1017 1055 4.93 69.09%
1926 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1052.2
1927 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1054.2
1928 KK 8d pint draught 1011.5 1052.1 5.28 77.93%
1928 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1045
1929 KK 8d pint draught 0.07 1017.5 1055.3 4.90 68.35%
1930 KK 8d pint draught 1016.5 1055 4.99 70.00%
1930 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1046.08
1930 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1053.2
1931 KK 8d pint draught 0.06 1015.9 1052.3 4.72 69.60%
1931 XXX 8d pint draught 0.07 1010 1045 4.55 77.78%
1932 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1047.6
1932 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1043.7
1933 Imperial Ale 9d half bottled 0.10 1015.5 1077.9 8.18 80.10%
1933 XXX 7d pint draught 0.08 1011.7 1046 4.45 74.57%
1933 Strong Ale 8d pint draught 1049.4
1933 Strong Ale 7d pint draught 1047.13
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252

It seems like we've been on this series for ever. What will I do myself now it's done?

1 comment:

J. Karanka said...

"What will I do myself now it's done?"

Perfect timing for Let's Brew! :-)