Scottish Pale Ale in the 1950s and 1960s

Over 90% of what was brewed in Scotland was some form of Pale Ale. Most brewers produced parti-gyled Pale Ales at three strengths, and sometimes spun a Strong Ale out of the same basic recipe. It’s all pretty dull.

Most breweries produced three strengths of Pale Ale, usually parti-gyled from a single recipe, though that wasn’t the case at William Younger, who had always preferred to brew most of their beers single-gyle.

Most Scottish breweries produced a range of three Pale Ales, often referred to as 60/-, 70/- and 80/- by the brewery and Light, Heavy and Export by drinkers. Robert Younger, a relatively small Edinburgh brewer, had a larger range than most, producing a total of five.

Robert Younger Pale Ales in 1957
Date	Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
8th Aug	1957	54/-	1028	1010	2.38	64.29%	4.92	0.58
7th Aug	1957	60/-	1030	1011	2.51	63.33%	4.92	0.58
6th Aug	1957	70/-	1035	1011	3.18	68.57%	4.93	0.67
6th Aug	1957	80/-	1043	1012	4.10	72.09%	4.93	0.83
7th Aug	1957	Ex	1045	1012	4.37	73.33%	4.92	0.87
Source:
Robert Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number RY/6/1/2.

Note that, in typically Scottish fashion, there’s almost no difference between the FGs of the different strength beers. The hopping is very light, especially for Pale ales. As can be seen by a comparison with Whitbread’s Ales from the same year:

Whitbread's Ales in 1957
Date	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
31st Jan	FB	Brown Ale	1033.9	1007.0	3.56	79.35%	5.27	0.74
7th Jan	IPA	IPA	1035.8	1006.5	3.88	81.84%	8.53	1.26
11th Jan	Best Ale	Mild	1030.4	1010.0	2.70	67.11%	5.56	0.71
14th Feb	PA	Pale Ale	1039.6	1008.5	4.11	78.54%	5.59	0.93
Source:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives document number LMA/4453/D/01/124.

Robert Younger’s Pale Ales were hopped at a lower rate than even Whitbread’s Mild and Brown Ales.

At Whitbread Best Ale, IPA and PA filled the same gravity slots as Robert Younger 60/-, 70/- and 80/-. Which demonstrates that, while 60/- wasn’t technically speaking a Mild Ale, it played the same role as it in Scotland.

Drybrough’s Pale Ales look very similar to Robert Younger’s.

Drybrough Pale Ales 1954 - 1960
Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1954	B 60/-	1031.0	1011.0	2.65	64.52%	4.48	0.57
1954	60/-	1032.0	1011.0	2.78	65.63%	4.42	0.57
1954	XXP	1043.0	1011.5	4.17	73.26%	4.42	0.79
1954	Export	1045.0	1013.5	4.17	70.00%	4.48	0.83
1960	B 60/-	1030.0	1012.0	2.38	60.00%	4.48	0.56
1960	60/-	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	4.51	0.58
1960	B XXP	1037.0	1014.0	3.04	62.16%	4.49	0.69
1960	KH	1037.0	1014.0	3.04	62.16%	4.49	0.68
1960	XXP	1042.0	1014.0	3.70	66.67%	4.51	0.78
1960	Export	1044.0	1015.0	3.84	65.91%	4.48	0.82
Source:
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numberD/6/1/1/7.

A slightly worse rate of attenuation, but filling similar gravity slots and with a similar level of hopping. You’ll see that the names for the different strengths weren’t identical at Robert Younger and Drybrough. Both called the strongest Export and the one around 1030º 60/-. But the middle beer was 70/- at Robert Younger and KH – Keg Heavy – at Drybrough.

The above is an excerpt from my excellent book on Scottish brewing:

Which is also available in Kindle form:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8XHBL2

I love that the lion image isn't exactly centre on the cover. All my credit. Or fault. Or blame.

Christmas beer in Boston

Despite the war having been over for a few months, the public were still concerned about their Christmas beer supply.

The situation was exacerbated by holidaying or discharged servicemen returning. Who were most likely a thisty bunch.

There was good news and bad news. There was likely to be plenty of beer for Christmas itself, but a shortage afterwards.

"Christmas Beer
WHETHER the beer supplies in Boston will be equal to the increased demand over the long Christmas week-end is a problem which is concerning most local licensees. All over the country Service men and women leave and those already discharged will be foregathering at the “local” to celebrate the first peace Christmas. And, of course, all the regular customers will be in festive mood also.

The brewery companies are optimistic. They have been hard at it brewing in quantity and dispatching every available cask and bottle. And the transport situation is not so bad as it was. Boston should have plenty of beer for everyone.

But a temporary shortage is coming. In order to give their employees well-earned rest, the brewery firms in this part of the country are closing down for three days at Christmas, and this is bound to have its effect immediately afterwards. There is likely to be a few days’ dry period at the beginning the New Year."
Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian - Saturday 22 December 1945, page 8.

It took years after the end of the war for restrictions on brewing to be lifted.

Let's Brew - 1940 Barclay Perkins London Stout

The Black Beers of Barclay Perkins get very confusing during the war. This parti-gyle – ostensibly of LS and IBS – is betrayed in its primings record to contain seven different beers.

Exactly how they achieved this, I’m unsure. Especially as one of the beers mentioned is TT, Barclay’s Porter. I can imagine how you could conjure up the other beers through blending and priming, but how do you get one as weak as TT?

Should you want the bottling version of LS, just throw in an extra 0.25 lbs of No. 3 invert sugar. Based on a later brew of BS, the primings are again the difference. It looks like LS with enough primings to raise the effective OG to 1046º.

Not sure how you’d get TT, RNS or SBS. I know the primings but not the underlying blend of LS and IBS.

As was usual with Barclay’s Stouts, there are lots of elements to the recipe. Four malts, two adjuncts and three sugars. Roast barley – atypically for London brewers – provides the dark roast element.

1940 Barclay Perkins LS
mild malt	4.00 lb	40.98%
brown malt	0.50 lb	5.12%
amber malt	1.00 lb	10.25%
crystal malt 60 L	0.50 lb	5.12%
roast barley	1.00 lb	10.25%
flaked rice	1.00 lb	10.25%
lactose	0.25 lb	2.56%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	15.37%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.10%
Fuggles 105 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1043
FG	1015
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	65.12%
IBU	31
SRM	32
Mash at	142º F
After underlet	149º F
Sparge at	172º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Christmas as a POW

This letter from a British POW in Germany provides a fascinating insight into the life of prisoners.

It makes life as a POW sound not quite so bad.

"WAR PRISONERS' CHRISTMAS
Beer and Lemonade from Nazis
"Quite a nice Christmas, but of course not anywhere near a Christmas at home," was the verdict of a British prisoner in Stalag XXI D when he wrote to his mother.

In his letter — one of the first descriptions of Christmas and the New Year received by the Red Cross and St John — he states:—

"We had from Wednesday to Monday off, and received half a Red Cross parcel extra, some bulk issue from the International Red Cross  the German Government gave us five R.M. (Reichsmarks), four bottles of beer, and lemonade.

"The cookhouse made special efforts for dinner, and most of us had saved jellies, fruits, &c., from parcels, and the table looked like a schoolgirls' treat — tree and everything. Ken and I decided to have fish cakes for dinner, Ken frying . On frying the last one, he discovered he had gone to the treacle tin for the dripping! Toffied salmon cakes — try them — they are lovely!""
The Scotsman - Friday 30 January 1942, page 7.

There are some significant differences with the life of POWs as portrayed in multiple British films. A revealing phrase being: "We had from Wednesday to Monday off". Because, while films just show POWs hanging around getting bored, that wasn't the experience of most prisoners. Only the officers got to live a life of leisure. Enlisted men had to work.

Just like in WW I. When my uncle Tom was a POW and had to work. It wasn't a happy time for him.

Not sure I'd want to try treacle-soaked fish cakes.

I doubt very much the Germans gave POWs beer in later years. There was precious little for German troops, let alone prisoners.

US Northwest in May

I'm planning a trip to the Northwest in May. And would like to cross off a couple of new states.

Idaho and Utah are in my sights. If you'd like to do some sort of beer-related shit with me, get in touch.

Third week of May is the plan.

Foggy Noggin is obviously at the heart of my trip. I'll be talking my beery stuff a couple of nights.

Fermentation after WW II

In the immediate aftermath of WW II, most breweries still employed open fermenters. Either round or rectangular in shape. By this time they were usually constructed of metal or were at least metal lined.

Fermenters were fitted with attemperators – a series of metal pipes through which cold brine was passed. This was one of the huge innovations of the late 18th-century, allowing brewers to precisely control the fermentation temperature. It led to improved beer quality and the possibility to brew year round.

Many of the older systems of fermentation/cleansing were still in use.

Dropping System
Common in the South of England, in the dropping system two vessels were employed. The wort started fermentation in a tall, round fermenter and after a certain length of time – which could vary between 12 hours and 2 or 3 days, depending on the brewery – was dropped into a lower, shallow, square vessel.

The idea was to remove much of the yeast, which was either left in the upper round or quickly settled out in the lower square. This vessel was often called a “settling square”. The transfer between the two vessels also aerated the wort and reinvigorated the fermentation.

Yorkshire Square
As the name implies, this was popular in Yorkshire, but it was also extensively employed in the Midlands. There was a main square, usually made from slate but sometimes of metal, above which there was a second chamber. The fermenting wort was pumped to the upper chamber and then allowed to drain back down, leaving most of the yeast behind.

As with the dropping system, main purposes were to remove surplus yeast and to aerate the wort. Yeast used to operating in a Yorkshire square often struggles in a standard fermenter due to not being sufficiently roused.

There are still several breweries in the UK that employ this sort of fermenter.

Burton Union
This system was once common across the UK for brewing Pale Ales and wasn’t just limited to Burton. It is not, as people today seem to think, a fermentation vessel, but a cleansing vessel. Fermentation began in a conventional open round or square and the wort was only transferred to a union after a couple of days.

A union set is a series of linked casks. In the bung-hole of each cask there’s a swan-necked pipe through which yeast-laden wort rises and spills into a trough. The trough channels the wort back into the casks leaving the yeast behind. As with the other systems described above, it’s mostly about cleansing, that is removing yeast.


The above is an excerpt from my overly detailed look at post-war UK brewing, Austerity!

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344

Which is now also available in Kindle format.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1936 Barclay Perkins Doctor Brown

An old-fashioned Broan Ale recipe this time. Yum.

My first sighting of this beauty in the brewing records is April 1928. Which is about when I would guess the beer made its initial bow.

The second half of the 1920s, when the dust of WW I was finally being shaken off, was when many London brewers launched their version of this new style. Interpretations were diverse, but Barclay Perkins, in common with their local rival Whitbread, went for a relatively strong variant. And one brewed single-gyle, with its own specific grist.

The recipe had similarities with that of the Mild parti-gyle, including crystal malt and No. 3 invert sugar. Though it lacked the amber malt and contained rather less flaked maize.

Being honest, the grist isn’t a million miles away from Barclay’s Mild Ales. It was hopped at a similar level, too: 7.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt. It was, however, higher in gravity than any of the Milds. Because of what happened at racking.

The hops themselves were Worcester from the 1935 harvest, Mid-Kent from 1935 and Mid-Kent Goldings from 1934. All had been kept in a cold store.

The quantity of primings: 5 quarts per barrel, compared to just 2 quarts for the X Ale preceding it in the brewing book. Their addition boosted the effective OG from 1040.8º.

1936 Barclay Perkins DB
pale malt	6.00 lb	59.52%
crystal malt 60 L	1.00 lb	9.92%
flaked maize	1.25 lb	12.40%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.25 lb	12.40%
brown sugar	0.50 lb	4.96%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.08 lb	0.79%
Fuggles 150 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
OG	1046.5
FG	1016
ABV	4.03
Apparent attenuation	65.59%
IBU	30
SRM	21
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	60.5º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Christmas will not be dry

Now there's good news. Though there was bad news, too. especially if you lived outside London.

"CHRISTMAS WILL NOT BE "DRY"
LITTLE WINE, BUT PLENTY OF BEER
Recent fears that this will be a "dry" Christmas have happily been dispelled. Although thgre is a severe shortage of wines and spirits there should be adequate supplies of beer.

Captain A. J. Dyer, Chairman of the National Consultative Council of the Retail Liquor Trade, said: "The same amount of bottled beer will be available in London this Christmas time as hitherto — and there will be plenty of draught beer.

"In the provices although beer is still virtually rationed, there will no further curtailment. With a return to cooler weather the shortage generally has been alleviated.

IN A JUG?
Many people may, have to carry their Christmas beer home in jugs if bottled supplies run short'

"There is still a serious shortage of glasses, despite the fact that the Board of Trade have increased our war-time quota — one-third oft pre-war supplies - by eight or nine per cent.

"There will be very little sherry or port, and spirits Will be shared out among regular customers."

A leading brewer said: "There is no reason to anticipate either a decrease of an increase in Christmas beer supplies." "
Lichfield Mercury - Friday 26 December 1941, page 3.

That's the first time I've seen a specific mention of the beer supply situation being better in London than elsewhere. I'm not sure why that should be, Other than that London always gets preferential treatment.

Fetching beer in a jug makes sense if bottled supplies run out. It's also cheaper to buy draught in a jug than bottled beer.

It's no wonder there are so many complaints by publicans about stolen glasses if they were only allowed 33% of the pre-war number. It also explains why there are so many court cases for seemingly petty offences of nicking a few glasses from a pub.

What's really odd is the date of this article: Boxing Day. Which seems rather later for a piece of news like this.

Hops in WW I

The UK started struggling to grow enough hops to satisfy demand from brewers in the 1850s. As the century progressed, more and more foreign hops were imported.

The principal source was the USA, initially from New York State, later California and Oregon. But hops were imported from every region in the world. Large quantities of European hops were imported, too. Bavarian and Bohemian hops were considered equal to quality UK hops. Lower quality hops from Belgium and France were also used, despite brewers not much caring for them. They did have the big advantage of being cheap.

Despite the UK being one of the world’s biggest producers of hops, it was enough to meet the needs of brewing.  The industry was dependent on importing large quantities of hops.

There was an enormous fall in the quantity of hops being imported, down to just a few hundred cwts. In 1918. Oddly, one country from which supplies continued to be imported was Belgium, despite most of the country being occupied by the Germans. The one corner still in Belgian hands just happened to include Poperinge, home to the Belgian hop industry.

You can see from the table below that hop imports came to an almost complete stop in the final two years of the war:

Hop production and imports (cwt)
year	Acreage	UK production	yield per acre	Average price of English hops			net imports of foreign hops	exports of British hops
				£	s.	d.
1910	32,886	302,675	9.20	5	6	6	172,032	8,927
1915	34,744	254,101	7.31	6	7	0	199,347	8,288
1917	16,946	225,763	13.32	8	15	0	8,530	12,796
1918	15,666	138,491	8.84	18	15	0	259	6,928
1919	16,745	187,795	11.21	20	5	0	154,091	2,606
1920	21,002	258,042	12.29	19	10	0	455,799	3,672
1921	25,133	236,172	9.40	19	10	0	216,571	2,200
Source:
1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119

The price of hops also increased dramatically to around three times the pre-war level.

The above is an excerpt from Armistice,  my this wonderful book on brewing in WW I.

There's now also a Kindle version.

The problem of providing beer for troops overseas

Learning new stuff. It's the main resaon I do all my research. I'm always happy to be pointed at something I'd never contemplated.

In this case, it's about all the beer shipped to the British troops serving abroad. Well, not so much the beer, as the bottles, crates and barrels in which it was packaged. It shouldn't come a surprise that virtually none of the packaging was returned. Which was a big problem during the war and its immediate aftermath as they could not easily be replaced.

The head of the off-licence trade organisation was very aware of this problem and made an appeal to the public in this letter:

"Christmas Beer
Sir —Despite acute shortages of hops, barley, labour and transport, the brewing industry is doing its best to provide Christmas beer for the public and our troops overseas.

Of the millions of beer bottles sent overseas very few return, and the consequent strain on supplies for home distribution is enormous. Brewers, licensees and off-licence holders will be faced with a breakdown in the bottled beer supply over the festive season unless they have the wholehearted co-operation of the public in returning all empty bottles, complete with stoppers, whatever their condition and wherever they may be unearthed.

May I, therefore, appeal to every beer consumer to search his cupboards and deliver to his "local” or off-licence every bottle he can find, and to renew the effort after the holiday.—Yours etc.
GEO BIRMINGHAM,
Secretary, National Federation of Off-licence Holders’ Association."
Birmingham Daily Gazette - Monday 17 December 1945, page 2.

Here are UK wartime exports by destination:

UK beer exports by destination 1939 - 1945
Destination	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
Egypt	26,597	28,857	28,519	3,658	45	4,804	2,966
Irish Free State	52,081	35,306	25,843	16,730	14,810	4,878	128
British W. Africa	12,468	13,873	22,328	15,544	19,161	10,225	1,190
India & Straits Settlements	63,186	69,963	62,260	11,523	638	2,506	38,333
Brit. West India	10,925	8,499	8,081	5,082	6,629	1,701	7
Belgium	29,140	13,080
Other Countries	89,577	97,188	78,521	42,259	65,736	53,483	78,732
Total	283,974	266,766	225,552	94,796	107,019	77,597	130,443
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 57.

Why the big fall in 1942? Could it be connected with the USA's entry into the war?

Another new Kindle edition

This time it's Armistice!

Let's Brew - 1942 Drybrough 54/-

On the face of it, not much has happened to 54 bob since 1941. But on digging deeper, there’s one big change.

Like most UK breweries, Drybrough used some flaked maize pre-war. It was the favourite adjunct. As all maize had to be imported, its use became problematic once the conflict kicked off. Most breweries initially substituted flaked rice for maize, then went over to flaked barley.

Drybrough was a little different. Yes, like everyone else they dropped maize soon after the start of the war. But, after briefly flirting with flaked rice in the summer of 1940, they went over to just malt and sugar. Until early in 1942. When flaked barley was added to their grists.

One thing hadn’t changed. 54/- remained as watery as fuck. Though an increase in the percentage of chocolate malt meant it was darker, as brewed. A little. Though who knows what colour it was when it hit your glass.

1942 Drybrough 54/-
pale malt	5.00 lb	80.06%
enzymic malt	0.125 lb	2.00%
chocolate malt	0.05 lb	0.80%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	8.01%
malt extract	0.07 lb	1.12%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	8.01%
Fuggles 135 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1028
FG	1012.5
ABV	2.05
Apparent attenuation	55.36%
IBU	15
SRM	6.5
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

UK beer imports Imports 1936 - 1965

On the face of it, the UK had a big trade deficit in beer, importing around 1 million barrels more than it exported. But it’s not quite as simple as that. As more than 1 million barrels of those imports came from a country not so far away: Ireland. And the vast majority of that beer was Guinness Extra Stout.

Initially, only tiny amounts were imported from elsewhere, fewer than 50,000 barrels.

The amount of beer coming in started to rise from the middle of the 1950s, mostly due to a jump in imports from Denmark. So loads of Carlsberg and Tuborg.

That the numbers fell again after 1960 is probably attributable to one factor: Carlsberg starting to brew in the UK.

It’s safe to assume that almost 100% of the beer imported from Continental Europe was Lager of some kind.

UK beer imports 1936 - 1953
Country of Origin	1938	1950	1951	1952	1953
Irish Republic	836,624	1,031,159	1,025,902	1,023,031	1,088,076
Other British Countries	108	22	31	133	422
Total British Countries	836,732	1,031,181	1,025,933	1,023,164	1,088,498
Denmark	25,459	17,686	23,058	30,959	36,410
Germany	18,813	-	-	-	2,307
Netherlands	8,708	2,685	3,492	5,905	8,910
Belgium	821	700	1,150	2,136	2,205
Czechoslovakia	3,810	915	903	702	713
Other Foreign Countries	278	224	1,703	1,922	244
Total Foreign Countries	57,895	22,110	30,306	41,624	50,879
Total Bulk Barrels	894,627	1,053,291	1,056,239	1,064,788	1,139,377
Total Standard Barrels	856,331
Source:
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, page 60.

UK beer imports 1954 - 1959
Country of Origin	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Irish Republic	1,099,717	1,166,980	1,281,064	1,234,214	1,196,066	1,232,946
Other British Countries	408	689	100	317	486	601
Total British Countries	1,100,125	1,167,669	1,281,164	1,234,531	1,197,152	1,233,547
Denmark	45,238	77,125	98,216	139,682	154,726	209,244
Germany	4,366	6,651	7,627	10,272	9,372	13,523
Netherlands	9,560	17,707	21,540	26,549	24,564	28,473
Belgium	1,024	3,181	4,349	7,138	8,180	13,084
Norway	-	-	-	1,215	1,586	3,075
Czechoslovakia	688	16	140	1,033	935	1,164
Sweden	-	-	-	662	692	734
Other Foreign Countries	384	505	1,101	266	145	352
Total Foreign Countries	62,160	105,185	132,973	186,817	200,200	260,049
Total Bulk Barrels	1,162,285	1,272,854	1,414,137	1,421,348	1,397,352	1,503,196
Source:
“1962 Brewers' Almanack”, page 58.

UK beer imports 1960 - 1965
Country of Origin	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
Irish Republic	1,257,695	1,329,752	1,245,451	1,215,539	1,281,126	1,215,168
Other British Countries	940	1,740	2,303	3,793	3,007	3,344
Total British Countries	1,258,635	1,331,492	1,247,758	1,219,332	1,284,133	1,218,512
Denmark	184,076	178,975	148,018	149,974	159,164	143,189
Germany	7,476	8,926	7,601	9,805	13,925	12,485
Netherlands	27,444	28,077	21,212	23,321	28,245	28,363
Belgium	8,704	8,907	8,391	5,303	5,803	5,053
Norway	3,019	2,390	2,308	3,887	4,491	6,081
Czechoslovakia	1,174	1,083	1,038	922	1,391	1,276
Sweden	1063	670	578	1,112	459	460
Other Foreign Countries	402	655	589	853	1,392	1,166
Total Foreign Countries	233,358	229,689	189,795	195,177	214,870	198,073
Total Bulk Barrels	1,491,993	1,561,181	1,437,553	1,414,509	1,499,003	1,416,585
Source:
“1971 Brewers' Almanack”, page 55.

The above is an excerpt from my overly detailed look at post-war UK brewing, Austerity!

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/austerity/23181344

Which is now also available in Kindle format.

We don't recognise your vegetables

Let's Brew! - Kindle version

Due to popular demand - well, one person requested it - I've created a Kindle version of Let's Brew!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08348M2D7