Youngs beers in the 1950s

Before we get to looking through Youngs brewing records from the 1950s, let’s consider some analyses of their beers. Performed by London rivals Truman and Whitbread. Who liked to keep a close eye on what other brewers were producing. In particular, the gravity.

It’s obviously not a complete list of Youngs beers. For a start, there’s no Special Bitter and no Burton Ale. Though it does include the relatively rare Celebration Ale (originally called Coronation Ale).

Having the prices included, allows us to see how much standard X Ale increased in price during the 1950s. Rising from 1 shilling (12d) a pint in 1950 to ½ (14d) in 1959. Which is fairly modest increase compared to what happened in the 1960s and 1970s.

Sticking with X Ale, the colour is a little on the pale side. With values of 60, 68 and 75. I would expect a London Dark Mild to be a minimum of 80.

Did they really brew two Stouts in the 1950s? I doubt it. I think they’ve just changed the strength and the name.

The good news? None of the draught samples seem to have been watered. As the Ogs in the analyses match those in the brewing records. 

Youngs beers in the 1950s
Year	Beer	Style	package	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	X	Mild	draught	12	1033.07				68
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	15	1036.85				26
1953	X	Mild	draught	13	1030.73				60
1953	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	draught	16	1036.8				20
1953	No. 1 Stout	Stout	bottled	33	1052.1	1016.3	4.64	68.71%
1955	Celebration Ale	Strong Ale	bottled	36	1076.2	1015.8	7.91	79.27%
1958	Mild Ale	Mild	draught	14	1031.6	1005.8	3.35	81.65%	75
1959	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	bottled	20	1032.4	1008.9	3.04	72.53%	23
1959	Query Stout	Stout	bottled	32	1039.2	1013.6	3.31	65.31%	375
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.