Pages

▼

Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Truman's Ales in 1914

I've moved further back in time. With the Truman's brewing records. Back to 1914. Almost at the end of The Happy Time. (That's also what I call the period before we had kids. The Happy Time. For some reason, it pisses the kids off when I use the phrase.)

If you though the 1964 names weren't very descriptive, take a look at these:


The beers just have numbers, apart from P1, P2, P3 and 8K. They have a letter and a number. And A. That just has a letter. The biggest sellers were, in descending order, P2, 8k, 8 and 7. If you can remember as far back as last week, you'll have noticed that only P1, P2 and 7 were still being brewed in 1964.

If you're wondering why there are no details for P1, 1 and 9. it's because I don't have photos of the logs. All were produced in tiny quantities and there were probably only a handful of sheets for them in the log book. And I missed them. Sorry.

It looks like they were using a numbering system similar to Bass. Starting with No.1 Ale as the strongest. The P's were for three different strengths of Pale Ale. That's another reason why I suspect these logs are from Truman's brewery in Burton.

What are the numbered Ales? Stock and Mild Ales I expect. The advert says East India Pale and Strong Burton Ales. And Mild Ales. I think I can spot the Pale Ales. What about the rest?

5 comments:

  1. Stonch31 March 2009 at 08:01

    Every time I see one of these tables I sigh. When are we going to get another travel report, Ronbo?

    Could you do two separate blogs - one for the American homebrewers and beer geeks and one for those of us who admire your beery exploits?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ron Pattinson31 March 2009 at 11:08

    Jeff, you're an impatient bastard.

    I can only write travel reports when I travel. . .

    . . . the past.

    See what I've just posted.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ron Pattinson31 March 2009 at 11:34

    Jeff, anyway the whole point of this blog is the mix. Educate the geeks, geekucate the eds.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rob Sterowski31 March 2009 at 14:46

    Presumably when Truman built their Burton brewery they recruited brewers who had previously worked at Bass. Is it possible that they just gave the beers the same names they were used to?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous31 March 2009 at 15:32

    Since Truman's, like Bass, called their strongest Burton ale No 1, my suspicion would be that 8 and 7 are Burtons, or Burton-stule milds. P1 was what was later known as Ben Truman, P2 the ordinary bitter.

    ReplyDelete