"Watered" beers in 1954

Some tables to go with yesterday's text heavy post.

Mr. Shaw, notably an official of the Brewers' Society claimed that: "average strength of beer was three degrees higher than three years ago and was only 10 per cent, below pre-war strength."

Was Mr. Shaw correct about average strength? Let's take a look:

UK Average gravity
Year	OG
1938	1041.02
1939	1040.93
1940	1040.62
1941	1038.51
1942	1035.53
1943	1034.34
1944	1034.63
1945	1034.54
1946	1034.72
1947	1032.59
1948	1032.66
1949	1033.43
1950	1033.88
1951	1036.99
1952	1037.07
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 50

Yes: average gravity had increased by 3º in the previous three years and it was 9.6% lower than in 1938. I'll forgive him for rounding the latter figure up to 10%.

Thanks to the Whitbread Gravity Book, I think I have details of the five beers purchased by Mr. Bing.

They all look like Light Ales to me. A bit over 3% ABV is what you would expect for such beers. Charrington's beer is rather an outlier, with a gravity a good bit higher than the other beers. Though it sold for the same price as the Barclay Perkins and Taylor Walker examples, while selling for the same price. Making it far bettwe value for money.

Of course, brewers paid excise duty based on the gravity of their beers. So, while they would be paying less tax on a beer below the average gravity, this was in no way cheating the revenue out of money. 

"Watered" beers in 1954
Brewer	Beer	Style	Price	size	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
Barclay Perkins	IPA	IPA	9.5d	half pint	1031.2	1007.5	3.07	75.96%	19
Charrington	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	9.5d	half pint	1038.2	1008.5	3.86	77.75%	21
Meux	PA	Pale Ale	1/5d	pint	1033.7	1007.3	3.43	78.34%	24
Taylor Walker	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	9.5d	half pint	1031.2	1007.3	3.10	76.60%	21
Watney	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	10d	nip	1033.7	1010.2	3.04	69.73%	26
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.