Friday 22 October 2021

Burton Ale after WW I

Though much reduced in gravity, Burton remained a popular style in London and was still a standard draught beer.

It was generally brewed as a 9d. draught beer, that is with a gravity of around 1055º. There were stronger versions, but these were mostly sold in bottled form or on draught or as a winter seasonal.

One exception was Fullers Old Burton Extra (OBE), which was a draught beer that wasn’t limited to a specific season. But it was brewed in tiny quantities: at most 40 barrels, often fewer than ten barrels at a time, when Fuller’s brew length was 400-500 barrels. That’s the glory of parti-gyling, being able to efficiently brew a low-volume beer on a large kit.

The fall in gravity, as with Stout was about 20 points. Like Stout, draught Burton Ale was a 9d. per pint beer. Fullers OBE, Barclay Perkins KKK and Courage KK are very similar to pre-war draught KK. Clearly there was still a demand for strong Burton Ales, despite the price.

The draught Burton Ales available in London after WW I all looked pretty similar.

Assuming an average OG for KK of around 1072º before the war and about 1054º after it, that’s a fall of 25%, which is slightly more than the average 23% drop.

London Burton Ale after WW I
Year Brewer Beer OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
1921 Barclay Perkins KK 1055.2 1015.0 5.32 72.83% 9.60 2.12
1924 Barclay Perkins KK (bottling) 1070.3 1023.5 6.19 66.57% 14.00 4.24
1924 Barclay Perkins KKK 1082.1 1028.0 7.16 65.90% 14.00 4.75
1924 Camden SA 1055.1 1013.9 5.46 74.87% 10.42 2.31
1923 Courage XXX 1053.5 1015.2 5.06 71.50% 7.26 1.73
1923 Courage KKK 1073.4 1025.5 6.34 65.28% 11.00 3.28
1925 Fullers BO 1061.5 1018.8 5.65 69.40% 7.30818 1.83
1925 Fullers OBE 1072.2 1021.1 6.77 70.85% 7.21355 2.15
1923 Whitbread KK 1055.4 1017.0 5.08 69.31% 9.07 2.08
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/609 and ACC/2305/01/611.
Camden brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/9/5.
Courage brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/08/253.
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/088.


Draught London Burton Ale after WW I
Year Brewer Beer Price OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation
1923 Barclay Perkins KK 9d 1051.9 1010.4 5.41 79.96%
1923 Cannon KK 9d 1054.9 1011 5.72 79.96%
1923 Charrington KK 9d 1055.9 1014.4 5.39 74.24%
1923 City of London KK 9d 1052.1 1012.6 5.14 75.82%
1923 Courage KK 9d 1052.8 1012.8 5.20 75.76%
1923 Hoare KK 9d 1054.9 1019.4 4.59 64.66%
1923 Huggins KK 9d 1054.5 1013 5.40 76.15%
1923 Lion KK 9d 1054.1 1013.6 5.27 74.86%
1923 Mann KK 9d 1058.7 1013.2 5.93 77.51%
1923 Meux KK 9d 1054.6 1009.6 5.87 82.42%
1923 Truman KK 9d 1056 1012 5.73 78.57%
1923 Watney KK 9d 1059.4 1012.9 6.06 78.28%
1923 Wenlock KK 9d 1053.7 1010.2 5.67 81.01%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.


This is an extract from Armistice!,  my wonderful book on brewing in WW I.








2 comments:

Rob Sterowski said...

If it was still a popular beer, why did they brew so little of it?

Ron Pattinson said...

Rob Sterowski,

OBE was brewed in tiny quantities because it was strong and would have been very expensive. Standard-strength versions were brewed in much larger amounts.