Tuesday 15 July 2014

Wenlock Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925

We're nearly done. Only Whitbread to go after this. Oh, and Porter and Stout, obviously. Should keep me going well into 2015.

Time for a random newspaper article related to the Wenlock Brewery:

"The personal estate of Mr. Richard Alfred Glover, of Helinghyrst, Croydon, Chairman of the Wenlock Brewery Company (Limited), has been valued at £89,733 5s. 11d., and the gross value of the whole of the estate is estimated at £96,641 18s. The executors of his will, which bears date March 16, 1898, are his sons Frank Ernest Glover, of Chiswell-street, auctioneer, Henry Graham Glover, of Grove Park, Secretary to the Wenlock Brewery Company, and Edward Cecil Moore, of Crosby-square, accountant, to the last-named of whom the Testator bequeathed £100 ; to his sister-in-law, Emma Tummons, a life annuity of £50; to his wife, Mrs. Louisa Glover, £300, his household effects, the use and enjoyment of Helinghyrst, and a life annuity of £1,200 ; to his son Alfred Kynaston Glover, £5,000 in 2nd Mortgage Debentures of Glover and Sons (Limited) ; to his son Henry Graham Glover, 1,000 Ordinary Shares of Glover and Sons (Limited) ; to his son Leslie Richard Glover, 496 Ordinary Shares in Glover and Sons (Limited) ; to his son Sydney Herbert, £400 and an annuity during the lifetime of Mrs. Glover of £200 ; to his daughter Ruth Emily, an annuity during the lifetime of Mrs. Glover of £200, and in trust for his said daughter and her children 500 Ordinary Shares in the Wenlock Brewery Company ; and to his daughter Agnes Maud an annuity of £200 during the lifetime of her mother, and in trust for his said daughter and her children 500 Ordinary Shares in the Wenlock Brewery Company (Limited). The late Mr. Glover left his residuary estate in trust in equal shares for his four sons, Frank Ernest, Henry Graham, Leslie Richard, and Sydney Herbert, and he ordered that if one of his daughters whom he named should marry a gentleman whom he named, she should forfeit all interest under his will."
Morning Post - Friday 23 December 1898, page 3.
90,000 quid was a lot of money back then. It seems Glover had done well from the brewing trade. Other than showing what a good career move brewing was, about the only point of interest is the oblique reference to a named daughter and named gentleman. Clearly one of his daughters had a boyfriend Glover had taken a dislike to.

Wenlock's Mild came an impressive third from seventeen, with an average score of 1.17. Their Burton Ale came exactly halfway down the table, seventh from fourteen with an average score of 1. Not bad at all, overall.

This is an 8d/7d Ordinary Bitter. The gravity is below average for such beers but a higher than usual degree of attenuation leaves it with an ABV slightly above the norm.

Let's see how their Pale Ale scores:

Wenlock Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925
Year Beer FG OG ABV App. Atten-uation Appearance Flavour score Price
1922 PA 1006 1043 4.83 86.05% bright fair 1 8d
1922 PA 1006.5 1043 4.76 84.88% bright rather poor -1 8d
1922 PA 1007 1044 4.82 84.09% bright good 2 8d
1922 PA 1006.2 1045.2 5.09 86.28% bright good 2 8d
1923 PA 1006.7 1044.4 4.92 84.91% bright bitter ? Yeast -2 8d
1923 PA 1007.2 1043.7 4.76 83.52% not quite bright fair 1 8d
1923 PA 1006 1046 5.22 86.96% bright hard -2 8d
1923 PA 1007.2 1047.2 5.22 84.75% brilliant good 2 8d
1923 PA 1008.4 1043.9 4.62 80.87% not bright sour -3 7d
1923 PA 1007.6 1043.1 4.62 82.37% fairly bright poor -1 7d
1925 PA 1006.6 1045.6 5.09 85.53% not bright v fair 2 7d
Average  1006.9 1044.5 4.90 84.56% 0.09
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Oh dear. That's not great, is it? Seven out of eleven - or about two-thirds - were clear, which is something. Though three of the bright ones got bad scores for flavour. Only six of the eleven got positive scores for flavour giving an average score of 0.09. Or about a small a positive score as you could get.

My Wenlock advice? Stick to Mild.

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