Watering beer in 1959 (part six)

I should be in Pohang when you read this. Hopefully, with a beer in my hand and some spicy food in front of me.

We're almost all the way through these prosecutions. And here we are with a fresh excuse.

“NO PROOF"
WRIGHT MOSS, of the Artillery Arms, Lower Chatham-street, Manchester, pleaded not guilty, and his counsel, Mr G Spafford, submitted that the prosecution had not shown that the sample from the premses and the sample from the brewery were taken from the same brew.

Moss was fined £15 with five guineas costs.
Manchester Evening News - Friday 23 October 1959, page 32.

It wasn't from the same brew. That probably didn't fly for a simple reason: breweries produced beers to the same gravity every time. They didn't just swap around the gravity for no reason.

The excuse given in the final case is even weirder.

JOSEPH DETHICK, of the Black Mare Inn, Cannel-street, Ancoats, who pleaded guilty, was said to have had samples taken in November and March, and on each occasion the dilution was 4.4 per cent.

He told the Stipendiary that because of the hot weather and the little demand for bitter it quickly became cloudy and to “refine" it, he had introduced some lemonade.

The Stipendiary: But when your customers ask for beer you must not give beer and lemonade.

Dethick pointed out the premises were in a clearance area and were losing £5 per week.

He was fined £1 on the first summons and £5 on the second.
Manchester Evening News - Friday 23 October 1959, page 32.

How on earth would lemonade fine cloudy beer? Only if it was mixed with finings. But in that case, why not just dissolve the finings in beer? And wouldn't lemonade alter the flavour? Though, admittedly, the degree of watering was quite small. Which may explain why the fines were so much smaller than for the other cases. Also Dethick talks about "hot weather". But the samples were taken in March and November. Not exactly months where you expect tropical weather in Manchester.

It's interesting that this pub was in a clearance area, presumably meaning that most of the surrounding houses had been demolished. Which wouldn't have been great for trade.