Tuesday 3 June 2014

Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940

Yes, I've not done spinning words from those few tables of numbers.

This time it's the stuff that provides the fermentable materials that we're looking at. Malt, sugar and adjuncts. I've had to fiddle with the number a bit because they were specified in quarters. And a sugar quarter is only 224 lbs, as opposed to the 336 lbs of a malt quarter. So I've adjusted the sugar and caramel figures to be 336 lb quarters.

One word of caution. We've already seen how there was a big shift from Porter/Stout to Ale in Truman's output over this period. That makes trends in ingredient usage harder to spot, because the ingredients for Ale and Stout differ. In 1910, the last year for which I have Brick Lane brewing records, neither of the two Ales, X and LK, contained either black malt or caramel. While all their Porters and Stouts did.

If we combine the caramel and black malt percentages, they start at 5.14% in 1924 and fall to 3.38% in 1940. That's a fall of around 50%. But production of Porter and Stout fell by more than 100% over the same period. My conclusion? Truman had started using caramel and black malt in some of their Ales.

I think I can understand why. You will, too, when we look at how Truman's beer range changed between 1910 and 1940. Which is what we'll be doing next time.

The most obvious long-term trend is the increase in the use of sugar, rising steadily up to a peak in 1934 then falling back again a little.

Malt usage is around 75% all the way through, except for the difficult year of 1933, where it dropped just below 75%. I was surprised to see the share of maize decline. That could be connected to which styles were being brewed as some contained maize and others didn't. At least that was the case back in 1910.

Here are the tables:

Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940 (qtrs of 336 lbs)
Year Malt Maize Sugar Caramel Black Total
1924 36,541 2,732 4,917 865 1,530 46,586
1925 40,789.5 3,323 6,222 1,150 1,426 52,910
1926 40,707.5 3,332 6,680 1,152 1,524 53,396
1927 41,395 2,748 7,319 1,164 1,042.5 53,668
1928 40,438.5 3,019 7,641 1,054 1,204 53,357
1929 38,145 3,263.5 7,415 962 1,035 50,820
1930 41,626 2,864.5 8,917 1,124 803 55,335
1931 39,365.5 2,994 8,780 1,110 628 52,878
1932 36,450.5 3,042 8,305 1,016 692 49,506
1933 26,719.5 2,589.5 7,307 851 821.5 38,288
1934 33,364 2,557 9,086 914 928 46,848
1935 36,248.33 2,264.17 8,980 854 851.5 49,198
1936 38,543 2,434.5 9,261 936 926 52,101
1937 38,508.5 2,465 9,310 861 1,097 52,242
1938 39,372 2,478.5 9,626 964 891.5 53,332
1939 39,061.33 2,521.33 9,545 714 1,084 52,926
1940 38,756 2,320 8,961 650 1,100 51,788
Source:
Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives



Truman Brick Lane grists 1924 - 1940 (%)
Year Malt Maize Sugar Caramel Black Total
1924 78.44% 5.86% 10.56% 1.86% 3.28% 100.00%
1925 77.09% 6.28% 11.76% 2.17% 2.70% 100.00%
1926 76.24% 6.24% 12.51% 2.16% 2.85% 100.00%
1927 77.13% 5.12% 13.64% 2.17% 1.94% 100.00%
1928 75.79% 5.66% 14.32% 1.98% 2.26% 100.00%
1929 75.06% 6.42% 14.59% 1.89% 2.04% 100.00%
1930 75.23% 5.18% 16.12% 2.03% 1.45% 100.00%
1931 74.45% 5.66% 16.60% 2.10% 1.19% 100.00%
1932 73.63% 6.14% 16.78% 2.05% 1.40% 100.00%
1933 69.79% 6.76% 19.08% 2.22% 2.15% 100.00%
1934 71.22% 5.46% 19.39% 1.95% 1.98% 100.00%
1935 73.68% 4.60% 18.25% 1.74% 1.73% 100.00%
1936 73.98% 4.67% 17.78% 1.80% 1.78% 100.00%
1937 73.71% 4.72% 17.82% 1.65% 2.10% 100.00%
1938 73.82% 4.65% 18.05% 1.81% 1.67% 100.00%
1939 73.80% 4.76% 18.03% 1.35% 2.05% 100.00%
1940 74.84% 4.48% 17.30% 1.26% 2.12% 100.00%
Source:
Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Next time we'll be looking at which beers Truman brewed in the interwar years.

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