Random shit

Hi there. Still transitioning from one PC to another. So a limited service is available.

Time for some random shit from the nespaper archives.

First, robbing draymen.

"AN extensive system of robbery by draymen, has been the subject of an investigation before the magistrates at the West Bromwich Police-court. Eight draymen — in the employ of Messrs. Mitchell and Co., the Crown Brewery, Cape Hill, Smethwiek — have been charged with stealing a number of barrels of ale, and several beerhouse-keepers have also been charged with receiving the stolen goods. It appeared that as far back as twelve months ago this systematic robbery commenced at the brewery by connivance amongst certain of the draymen. It scarcely seems credible that such a series of robberies could be carried on for long without detection; but in this case those whose duty it was to check deliveries seem to have been lamentably negligent. The case is not yet concluded, but one or two of the defondants have already pleaded guilty to the charge."
Holmes' Brewing Trade Gazette - Friday 01 February 1884, page 7.

Wonder how they got away with it for so long? Beerhouse means something specific here, I think. It means pubs with a beer-only licence.

Now the fear of Lager flooding the UK and corrupting young working men:

"We have given up referring to the ridiculous statements which are made by speakers at the Anti- Beer Adulteration meetings now being held in different parts of Kent, but there was one lately made by the chairman of a meeting at Wingham which requires notice. The speaker, alluding to the danger to the brewing interests of this country from foreign competition, said: "That day in London, and no doubt in every other large town in the country, there were houses selling lager beer, and the young men and working men flocked to those houses where they could get it, because they said it was a pure article, and did not have the injurious effects upon them that the other beer did." Now it is ,just as well to give the exact figures to show the extent of this competition. In 1882, 17,423 barrels of foreign beer were imported into this country; as the consumption of British-brewed beer in the same year was 27,371,173 barrels, it appears that for every glass of foreign beer consumed in this country there were no less than 1,588 glasses of home brewed beer consumed; so that, in spite of "young men and working men flocking to drink lager," foreign competition cannot have very seriously affected the brewing interests of this country."
Holmes' Brewing Trade Gazette - Friday 01 February 1884, page 7

 Those 17,423 barrels were most likely 100% Lager. The UK didn't import anything else. It was fuck all compared to overall consumption, mind.

.

Provincial Mild Ale 1946 – 1949

More Mild Ale numbers. And some unexpected ones at that.

I’m so glad that I split the London and provincial Milds. Because the two sets are surprisingly dissimilar. Something I hadn’t spotted previously.

First a word about where the breweries were located. Six were from Birmingham: Ansell, Atkinson, Dare, Davenport, Frederick Smith and Mitchell & Butler. Two from Exeter: City Brewery and St. Annes. Two from Norwich: Morgans and Steward and Patteson. Two from Portsmouth: Brickwood and Portsmouth United. And finally Burtonwood of Warrington.

The Birmingham Milds all have relatively high gravities. Coupled my decent attenuation, it means they’re mostly over 3.5% ABV. Which is very high for the period. If you remember, most of the London Milds were under 3% ABV. I’m not surprised that the Norwich Milds have some of the lowest gravities. Beers from rural areas tended to be weaker, for some reason.

Most interesting of all is the colour. Or rather lack of it. Because there’s only one of this set – Burtonwood – that’s properly dark.  Three examples – City, Brickwood, Portsmouth United and St. Annes are pale. That is, all the ones from Exeter and Portsmouth. The Birmingham beers are all semi-dark, as are those from Norwich.

The real fun comes when you compare the colours of the London and provincial Milds. Only one London example was pale and one semi-dark. All the rest were properly dark. Here’s a comparison of the London and provincial analyses:

London vs. provincial Mild Ale 1946 - 1949
region	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
London	12.5	0.06	1030.3	1008.6	2.82	71.69%	101.4
Provinces	13.1	0.07	1032.2	1005.2	3.51	83.94%	43.81

Provincial beers were a halfpenny a pint dearer, slightly higher in gravity, considerably higher in ABV and much paler in colour than their London counterparts. The difference is much greater than I would have imagined. Given the higher FG and lower attenuation, my guess is that London Milds were sweeter.

Provincial Mild Ale 1946 - 1949
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1946	Lees	K			1028.0
1946	Lees	Bot. B			1030.0
1946	Lees	BM			1033.0
1948	Lees	K			1028.0
1948	Lees	BM			1032.0
1948	Lees	Bot. B			1030.0
1949	Ansell	Mild Ale	13	0.05	1035.4	1007.4	3.64	79.10%	50
1949	Atkinsons	Mild Ale	13	0.07	1034.6	1004.8	3.88	86.13%	50
1949	Brickwoods	Mild Ale	13	0.06	1033.2	1004.8	3.70	85.54%	20.5
1949	Burtonwood	Mild Ale	13	0.06	1027.5	1003.5	3.12	87.27%	80
1949	City Brewery	Mild Ale	13	0.06	1032.6	1006.8	3.35	79.14%	21
1949	Dare	Mild Ale	13	0.08	1034.6	1006.9	3.60	80.06%	58
1949	Davenport	Mild Ale	13	0.07	1032	1007.9	3.12	75.31%	58
1949	Frederick Smith	Mild Ale	13	0.06	1035	1008.6	3.42	75.43%	58
1949	Mitchell & Butler	XX	18	0.05	1034.6	1003.9	4.00	88.73%	35
1949	Morgans	Mild Ale	11	0.08	1027.7	1002.8	3.24	89.89%	50
1949	Portsmouth United	Mild Ale	13	0.08	1029.3	1003.1	3.41	89.42%	19
1949	St. Annes Brewery	Mild Ale	13	0.06	1034.9	1003	4.16	91.40%	20
1949	Steward & Patteson	Mild Ale	11	0.10	1027.7	1004.5	3.01	83.75%	50
	Average		13.08	0.07	1032.2	1005.2	3.51	83.94%	43.8
Sources:
Lees brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Next we’ll be moving on to the 1950’s.

The Tied House System

It’s odd the sense of déjà vu as I flick through the Brewing Trade Review. Many of the same topics as today were being discussed back in 1950. Like the tied house system.

First, let’s hear from those who wanted to abolish it:

“Tied House System (Motion)
MR. Bing (Hornchurch, Lab.) asked the following question during a discussion on the coming business of the House: Can my right hon. friend say, in view of the interest shown on all sides of the House in the tourist industry, and of the fact that this motion really was signed by a record number of hon. members, whether he can give any time at a convenient date in future for the discussion of a motion on tied houses which is at present standing on the Order Paper?

[That this House condemns the Tied Public House System, as at present operated, in that it deprives the customer of his freedom of choice of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages alike, tends to restrict the provision of food and accommodation, increases by monopolist practices the price of refreshments to the customer and does not furnish sufficient security of tenure to the publican; and that therefore this House calls upon His Majesty's Government to inquire into the Tied House system and other restrictive practices of brewers and to introduce, where necessary, remedial legislation.]

Mr. Morrison (Lord President of the Council): I am afraid I could not give any firm undertaking at this stage, but I do realise that this is a matter upon which there is fairly extensive interest among hon. members on all sides of the House ; but, as my hon. friend knows, after he and his hon. friends put down their motion, the brewers did offer to make a new type of agreement with their tenants. Perhaps he and his hon. Friends might consider whether we should not wait for a little while to see how it works out in practice and get some experience of it in a practical way.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 80.

The irony is, of course, that the tied house system was the direct result of government interference in the brewing industry. The limitation of the number of licensed premises was what prompted brewers to snap up every pub they could in the first place.

Like most Private Member's Bills, the one on tied houses got nowhere. The brewers had plenty of friends in parliament. Note from which side the Bill came: Labour. The party had a tradition of hostility to brewers, partly through worries about them taking advantage of and profiting from the working classes, partly from the non-conformist, temperance wing of the party.

This next quote comes from chairman’s report at Ansell’s annual general meeting. Unsurprisingly, he had a slightly more positive view of tied houses:

“The Tied House System.—The past year has also seen a Private Member's Bill introduced by Mr. Bing, seeking to abolish the tied house, and, when that failed to get a Second Reading, a motion was put on the Order Paper for an inquiry into the tied house system. It is quite clear that this campaign is not based on any practical knowledge of the system under which the industry works, nor has any satisfactory alternative system been put forward.

At the same time, it is alarming to find that the tied house system, as it has come to be called, is so little understood not only by the public but by many Members of Parliament.

About a hundred years ago the system did not exist. Licensed houses were, for the most part, privately owned and somewhat squalid. The licensed trade did not enjoy a good repute. The licensed house was not a place in which a respectable person liked to be seen, let alone take his wife. These somewhat derogatory remarks are not, of course, aimed at the many fine old inns that existed then as they do to-day. I am speaking of the ordinary public house as it then was.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 84.

You should see some of the places I’ve dragged Dolores.  Just trying to think where the roughest ones were. Either Czechoslovakia or East Berlin.  I guess I’m not that respectable a person.

The line trotted out is also a familiar one: MP’s don’t understand the way the trade works. It’s always a good one. A timeless classic.

Note that at no point does he mention the reason breweries started buying pubs like crazy:

“As time went by brewery companies began to take over these places—at first by a system of mortgage, and later by outright purchase. The brewery companies, by thus ensuring a certain outlet for their products, were able to cut down on many overhead expenses and to spend money on the improvement of the promises. They were thus able to provide a good quality beer at a low price, and to afford to surrender licences in areas where there were too many, and also to build now licensed premises at high cost and with no chance of writing off the capital expenditure for a great number of years.

The policy of surrender and improvement of licensed premises pursued by Birmingham brewers prior to and immediately after the 1914-18 war—known as the "fewer and better scheme” - could not have been carried through had not the licensed houses been owned by brewery companies. Had such a scheme been carried through while the houses were individually owned, it would have meant ruin to many of the owners. Surely the benefit to the public that has resulted from this scheme in Birmingham and from a similar policy in other ports of the country is easily seen from the very high standard of licensed premises which now exist, many of which are owned by your company."
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", pages 84 - 85.

Ansells were one of the big Birmingham breweries. I remember the city well from visits to my mum’s family in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Driving through the city, it was clear that the pubs were relatively few in number but large in size. Partly it was due to when bits of the city were built. Birmingham was one of the few provincial cities to see substantial areas of new housing built between the wars. But even in the older districts, the pubs were few and big.

Many brewers had been keen on the “improved” public house between the wars. Somewhere bigger and with more facilities than a back-street boozer. Whitbread and Barclay Perkins in London, for example. But they had been frustrated by licensing authorities to a great extent. You couldn’t just rebuild or extend a pub. You needed permission from the licensing magistrates. And the teetotal twats amongst them didn’t want pubs to improve. They wanted them to be squalid so they had more reason to close them.

In Birmingham they were more practical. Brewers were allowed to build big, modern premises, if they surrendered enough licences. Obviously several, as councils were keen on whacking down the number of licences.

If I tell you the City of Birmingham had a population of 1.1 million in 1951 this next sentence won’t sound so impressive:

“So far as the tied house system limiting choice is concerned, in Birmingham alone there are houses owned by 11 different brewery companies all producing several different types of beer, though, with all modesty, we claim that the "Better Beer" is very popular in all districts where it is obtainable.

Fortunately the relationship between the wholesale and retail trade, both in the Midlands and throughout the country as a whole, has never been healthier nor happier than it is at the present time. It is only natural that the two sections of the trade, with similar but not identical interests, should from time to time have differing views. But it has been proved during this year that any differences within the trade that do exist can be settled within the trade to everyone's satisfaction, and without any need for outside interference.”
"Brewing Trade Review, 1950", page 85.

Well, at least all eleven brewed several types of beer.

That’s a dreadful selection for 1950. Though, in the Birmingham of my youth, it was two. Pretty much. The pubs were alternately M & B or Ansells. Unless you were in Aston. Just to the West of the city, in the Black Country, there were still a half dozen small brewers. But you’d never see their beer in Birmingham.

Davenports, the other brewery in Birmingham, had sold most of its pubs to invest in its home-delivery service. I can remember just one in the city centre, on Hurst Street. Where I was served the yeastiest pint of Mild I’ve ever had.

Yes, everything is wonderful. If only the government would leave us alone. That last paragraph could have come from a pubco today.

Birmingham Beer Bash

If you hadn't noticed that I was in Birmingham last weekend you're really not paying proper attention. I was in Birmingham last weekend. That's nice and clear, isn't it?

I was there for the Birmingham Beer Bash, one of the new style beer festivals, where cask rub shoulders with keg, bellies with tattoos and beards with, er, beards. I had a couple of very good reasons for attending. First, I was giving a talk. Pretty essential you turn up for something like that. Second, half a dozen recipes from my book, The Home Brewers Guide to Vintage Beer had been made for the festival. Or rather, a mini-festival within a festival. No way I was going to miss the chance to drink those.

The original plan was for Lexxie to tag along with me and Dolores, snapping pictures and filming film to document the event. He didn't really fancy it, so we left him with a set of keys to the flat and 30 quid to spend. He's used to pottering around the centre of Amsterdam either by himself or with his mates. No reason he couldn't do the same in Brum.

Talking of the flat we rented, it was handily central, right next to the Bull Ring markets. Rather too close to the markets, as it overlooked the wholesale part. The din form lorries unloading started about 3 am and finished, er, about 7 pm. Just as well I'm a heavy sleeper. Sadly, Dolores isn't. She didn't have the greatest night's sleep. Lexxie, being young, slept soundly through all the racket.

The Bond, venue for the festival, was a leasurely 15-minute stroll away. The walk sort of summed up Birmingham. The first part was along a bit of innner-city dual carriageway, the second down a street of dead factories. Dolores has come to judge the prosperity of British towns by the number of buildings with trees growing out of them. By this simple method of scoring Birmingham comes between Liverpool and Glasgow.

We arrived just after kick off, at 11:15. I'm a bit paranoid and wanted to have plenty of time to make sure all the equipment for my talk was working correctly. Plus have time for a few pints before showtime. My experiences at the American Home Brewers Conference have taught me that I perform better after a few pints. Or is it the audience who needs the beer?

After being shown around by organiser David Shipman, I made straight for the vintage beers. They were all neatly lined up together at one end of the cask bar. Where to start? Sarah Hughes 1929 Russell XXX seemed a good place. I was a bit surprised when it poured a pale gold. It's a Burton Ale and should really be dark. Though admittedly it would be easy to miss that from the recipe, as all the colour comes from sugar. Very tasty, despite the dodgy colour. It reminded me of a 1970's Light Mild. Not sure why, but that's what popped into my head.

I was just getting stuck into Thornbridge 1933 Whitbread DB when I noticed John Clarke standing next to me. What was he doing here? He told me at the Brettanomyces Festival a couple of weeks ago that he had a ticket for Friday. Turns out he had the dates confused.

I'm starting to grow fond of Whitbread Double Brown. It's a beer that intrigued from the first time I spotted it in Whitbread's brewing records. Why? Because it didn't fit with any modern beer sold as Brown Ale: too strong for one type, too dark for the other. And with a grist all of its own - quite a rarity at Whitbread where pretty well everything was parti-gyled with something else. I got well stuck into Pretty Things take on the 1955 version when I was in Boston in March. Thornbridge's version of an earlier iteration was similar, but subtly different. No real surprise there.

Titanic 1839 Reid IPA was pleasant, but not as scorchingly and persistently bitter as other versions I've had. Atom 1918 Courage Double Stout was stronger than I expected, but I'm not going to complain about that. Rich and roasty would be my aliterative description. Ashover 1910 Fullers Porter was much as I expected: black and burnt. It's a beer that's proved popular with home brewers and I've had a couple of their versions before. Ashover proved what a cracking little recipe it is.

What about Two Towers 1853 Younger XP, I hear you ask? It wasn't on. At least not then. I got to try it later, during my talk. A little cloudy, but pleasantly dry and bitter.

I was due on at 13:30, but went to check on the room and its kit at noon. No point in taking any risks. Just as well, as it turned out. I've only used a projector and screen until now. This time the display was a large flat-screen TV. I got my little flip-flop connected up to it OK. And an image was appearing on the screen. Actually two images: the current slide and the next slide. Really not what I wanted.

Luckily, I had my IT support engineer with me. Dolores is good at this sort of stuff. Especially as my flipflop runs Linux. Knowing how much she likes to be watched while she fiddles, I sloped off to fetch some more beer.

When I got back the building's caretaker was there helping her. Still two slides on the screen at once. When I returned from a second beer run, it was finally sorted and a single slide illuminated the screen. Phew. It had taken the best part of 45 minutes.

I'm getting to know my Brettanomyces talk backwards. Which makes it a lot more relaxing to present. Maybe I should try telling it backwards, just to add an element of challenge. I got a few decent laughs, which tells me something went right. Boak and Bailey were in the audience and we had time for a bit of a chat after I'd finished. Which was later than I expected as I went off on several tangents, totally unconnected with the topic in hand. That's what happens when I've to time limit.

I also briefly bumped into Gazza Prescott, someone I've corresponded with for years, but never met.

Time to sell a few books and then I was off. There was family stuff to do. I'm not a total monster, you know.

This is the full line up of historic beers:


1839 Reid IPA (Titanic)
1853 Younger XP (Two Towers)
1910 Fullers Porter (Ashover)
1918 Courage Double Stout (Atom)
1929 Russell XXX (Sarah Hughes)
1933 Whitbread DB (Thornbridge)


I'm sure you've not forgotten, but this is my book:

The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer.

xxxx

A weekend away

"I've a real treat for you Dolores."

"What is it?"

"We're going to Venice."

"Really? Where's the money coming from?"

"It's not so much the Venice as a Venice."

"You're taking me to Birmingham, aren't you?"

"You're annoyingly well informed about Britain, you know. I blame those years in Swindon."

"Yes, you've taken me to all the most romatic spots, Ronald."

"I spoil you. Most people would kill for two years in Swindon"

"I would, too. To not have to live there."

Birmingham

Birmingham, with architecture almost as special as Frankfurt's and a train station even better hidden in a shopping centre than Utrecht Centraal*. A ringing endorsement, I know.

But for all I take the piss out of Birmingham, I have a weird affection for the city. Maybe not so weird, as that's where my Mum's side of the family came from. In the 1960's and 1970's I visited the city dozens of times seeing uncles and aunts. The Brummie accent evokes all sorts of emotions. Mostly family memories. Especially of my Mum, who sounded relentlessly Brummie more than 50 years after leaving the city.

Approach in the right way, and Birmingham has much to offer. Restaurants that represent the diverse nature of the population. Great markets. Decent shopping. And the odd pub still with M & B signage.

More about Brum to come.






* That's Lexxie's official opinion. "Which do you think is the crappier station, Birmingham New Street or Utrecht Centraal."

"You've already asked me that."

"Dad has his memory lapses, you know. He's getting old."

"New Street, Dad."

"Tell me what you think of New Street in one sentence."

"Shit. . . . Oh you asked for a sentence . . . it's a good station, if it was hiding from Nazis."

"I guess you mean that they wouldn't be able to find it."

"Whatever, Dad."

Saturday in Birmingham

I'll be in Birmingham this weekend. The main reason is that I'm giving a talk as part of the Birmingham Beer Bash.

It's about Brettanomyces in British brewing and is at 13:30 on Saturday. You'll also have the chance to buy a copy of my book, The Homebrewer's Guide to Vintage Beer, and get it signed.

You can sign up for the talk here:

http://birminghambeerbash.co.uk/fringe_events



You can always buy my book here if you aren't coming to Birmingham:

The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer.

Book tarting again

I'm not just trying to persuade North Americans that they need to own my book. I'll be pestering Europeans, too.

In what might be my only UK appearance this year (I'm fast running out of holidays) I'll be at the Birmingham Beer Bash on 26th July.

It's not totally settled what I'll be doing, but I'll definitely be giving a talk about Brettanomyces in British brewing in the afternoon. Something aimed squarely at the geek crowd. In the evening I'll probably be doing a less formal, for a slightly less geeky audience. Hopefully involving drinking beer and me fielding questions. I'll be bringing along my baseball glove to make sure I don't drop any.

And, of course, at both sessions you'll have the chance to buy my book and have me scrawl something indecipherable in it. I think it's rather good, but I would, wouldn't I? So far reviewers have agreed with me.

If you can't wait to read the crystalised perfection of my prose, buy a copy now and bring it along for me to sign:

The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewers-Guide-Vintage-Beer/dp/1592538827

West Midlands Mild Ales 1938 - 2004

Since I've already covered M & B and Ansell's Mild, I thought I may as well finish off the West Midlands. After all, it was a heartland of Mild.

Dare, Atkinson and Davenport were all in Birmingham itself. The other breweries are from the Black Country.

It's an odd set, this lot. I could find frustratingly few examples in the Whitbread Gravity Book. They don't seem to have analysed many draught beers in this part of the world. Which means I've only two from before WW II. Form Wall & District Clubs and Dare. Intriguingly, they're both around 1047 - quite a high gravity for a Mild in the 1930's. In London, Best Mild was only about 1042 back then.

Hang on. Why don't I work out the average OG of the Milds I have in my Mega Gravity Table? You can never have too many tables, can you?

Average values for Mild Ales 1936 - 2006
no examples	Years	Price	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
184	1936 - 1938	5.07	0.06	1009.5	1036.5	3.56	74.20%
95	1948 - 1949	12.8	0.06	1007.3	1030.3	3.00	75.94%
170	1977 - 1979				1032.8
290	1981 - 1983				1033.4
113	1989 - 1994			1008.6	1034.0	3.30	74.50%
76	2004 - 2006			1009.0	1037.7	3.75	76.12%

That makes things clearer. The pre-war examples are more than 10 points above the average. I think that tells us something, as the Milds I used for the average came from all over Britain.

It's a similar story for the 1949 examples, two of which were 1034.6 and the other 1032. All above the 1030.3 average.

I should average out the values for the West Midland Milds, too. Make my life much easier. You can see that they remain above the average until after 2000. Fascinating, isn't it? If I didn't collect this type of information so obsessively, I'd never be able to observe this sort of regional variation.

Average OG of West Midlands Milds
Years	OG
1972 - 1979	1035.1
1981 - 1986	1035.6
1989 - 2004	1035.8

I know from browsing through the entries in my Mega Gravity Table that Milds from country districts tended to be weaker. And that before WW II London Milds were above average strength. Though they fell back to about average after the war.

Other observations? From the 1970's onwards the gravities of the West Midlands Milds are grouped very closely in the 1035 - 1036 range. Presumably because the beers were in direct competition with each other.

It's also revealing how the average gravity of Milds in general has crept up since WW II, eventually ending up higher than in the late 1930's. I find that quite surprising. But I suppose it reflects a change in the role of Mild, away from being the working class's slurper. Though note how the level of attenuation is very constant at around 75%.

As at least one person seems to have liked the stuff I've been writing recently about Mild, I'll be doing more. Possibly based on the Milds of a particular region.

West Midlands Mild Ales 1938 - 2004
Year	Brewer	Beer	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1949	Atkinsons	Mild Ale	0.07	1004.8	1034.6	2.5 + 40	3.88	86.13%
1972	Banks	Mild		1008.3	1035.3		3.60	76.49%
1977	Banks	Mild			1035.5
1979	Banks	Mild			1035.5
1981	Banks	Mild			1036
1982	Banks	Mild			1036
1983	Banks	Mild			1036
1986	Banks	Mild			1035
1989	Banks	Mild		1008	1035		3.50	77.14%
1994	Banks	Mild Ale					3.50
2004	Banks	Hanson's Mild Ale		1010.3	1035		3.2	70.57%
2004	Banks	Bank's Original		1010.2	1036		3.35	71.67%
1972	Batham	Mild		1007.1	1035.6		3.70	80.06%
1977	Batham	Mild			1036
1979	Batham	Mild			1036
1981	Batham	Mild			1036
1982	Batham	Mild			1036
1983	Batham	Mild			1036
1986	Batham	Mild			1036
1993	Batham	Mild Ale		1008.3	1036		3.6	76.94%
2004	Batham	Mild Ale		1009.5	1036.5		3.5	73.97%
1935	Dare	Ale	0.05	1013.7	1047		4.32	70.85%
1949	Dare	Mild Ale	0.08	1006.9	1034.6	4.5 + 40	3.60	80.06%
1949	Davenport	Mild Ale	0.07	1007.9	1032	4.5 + 40	3.12	75.31%
1977	Davenport	Mild			1033
1979	Davenport	Mild			1033
1981	Davenport	Mild			1034.5
1982	Davenport	Mild			1034.5
1983	Davenport	Mild			1034.5
1986	Davenport	Mild			1034.8
1989	Davenport	Best Mild		1010.25	1035		3.20	70.71%
1977	Hansons	Mild			1035
1977	Hansons	Mild			1035
1979	Hansons	Mild			1035.5
1979	Hansons	Mild			1035.5
1981	Hansons	Mild			1035.5
1981	Hansons	Mild			1035.5
1982	Hansons	Mild			1036
1982	Hansons	Mild			1036
1983	Hansons	Mild			1036
1983	Hansons	Mild			1036
1986	Hansons	Mild			1035
1986	Hansons	Mild			1035
1989	Hansons	Mild		1008	1035		3.50	77.14%
1989	Hansons	Mild		1008	1035		3.50	77.14%
1977	Holden	Mild			1036
1979	Holden	Mild			1036
1981	Holden	Mild			1036
1982	Holden	Mild			1036
1983	Holden	Mild			1036
1989	Holden	Black Country Mild		1010.2	1038		3.60	73.16%
1994	Holden	Holden's Mild					3.70
1989	Sarah Hughes Brewery	Original Dark Ruby Mild			1058
1977	Simpkiss	Mild			1034
1979	Simpkiss	Mild			1034
1938	Walsall & District Clubs	Mild	0.06	1005.4	1047.9	0.5 + 40	5.56	88.73%
Sources:
The Best of British Bottled Beer
Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984,1987, 1990, 2005
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.