Burton and other dark beers in 1955

I'm beginning to realise how many writers have used Andrew Campbell as a source. I'm not surprised. His "The Book Of Beer" is much more fact-heavy than other books of the period.

Today continuing with his description of 1950's beer types. First Burton and other strong, dark Ales:

"In winter months a still stronger type of dark beer is available which goes under the name of 'Burton' or 'old'. Prices will range from one shilling and sevenpence to one shilling an elevenpence a pint Burtons vary in flavour, some are quite strongly hopped, others retain the bitter-sweet flavour of mild beer. Gravities range from 1040º to 1050º.

Over 1050º beers may have the same dark colour as milds and Burtons, and as they are mostly rather sweet they could be grouped in the same family, but their strength and other qualities merit separate consideration.
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, pages 84-85.

He describes Burton as a winter seasonal beer. That's a change from 40 years previously, when it was a year-round brew. I suppose that was the first step on the path to obscurity, being available only part of the year. Which is how Burton still clings on today, in the form of Young's Winter Warmer. At most breweries the code used for Burton was KK.

The stronger dark beers referred to will be things like KKK and KKKK. Barclay Perkins brewed a KKKK for the Christmas period. In the 1930's, it had a gravity of around 1080º.

Here are some examples of such beers:

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Strong Ales in the mid 1950's
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	FG	OG	Colour	ABV	Atten-uation
1954	Barclay Perkins	KK	21d	pint	draught	1011.1	1043	19 + 40	4.14	74.19%
1954	Charrington	KK	1/7d	pint	draught	1010.7	1048.1	21 + 40	4.86	77.75%
1951	Charrington	Burton	1/8d	pint	draught	1012.1	1046.3	21 + 40	4.44	73.87%
1954	Courage	XXX	1/8d	pint	draught	1013.8	1046.2	31 + 40	4.20	70.13%
1951	Ind Coope	Double Burton	2/-	pint	draught	1013.9	1054.3	17 + 40	5.25	74.40%
1951	Mann Crossman	Burton	1/7d	pint	draught	1007.6	1041.5	24 + 40	4.41	81.69%
1954	Mann Crossman	Dragon Ale	2/-	pint	draught	1019.1	1051.2	25 + 40	4.15	62.70%
1954	Meux	Treble Gold	1/8d	pint	draught	1006.5	1042.2	23	4.65	84.60%
1955	Murray W	Heavy Ale	1/3d	nip	bottled	1021	1071.7	105	6.59	70.71%
1955	Norman & Pring [Exeter]	Nap Ale	1/-	half	bottled	1011.8	1037.7	33	3.35	68.70%
1954	Truman	SA	22d	pint	draught	1009.3	1049.1	17 + 40	5.19	81.06%
1954	Watney	KKKK	2/-	pint	draught	1013.5	1055.2	23 + 40	5.42	75.54%
1954	Whitbread	KKKK	1/11d	pint	draught	1011.9	1051.2	15 + 40	5.11	76.76%
1955	Young & Co	Celebration Ale	1/-	nip	bottled	1015.8	1076.2		7.91	79.27%
Source: Whitbread Gravity Book

Next come Brown Ales:

"Between mild beers and stouts lie many types of brown ale, finished and filtered milds specially brewed for bottling. Brown ales again are sweet in flavour, but less full and creamy than stouts. Brown ales will probably be non-deposit beers to pour clear and sparkling, but stouts will often be left to work after bottling. 'Home-brewed' is a title often given to brown ales, and will be met especially in the West Country. An average gravity for brown ale is about 1033º, which is a little above the weakest milds. Stouts range from this figure upwards. Price is a good guide to gravity, for if the price of the stout should be a fraction above that of a brown ale then it may be taken that the stout is a fraction stronger. The gravity of a pale ale and a brown ale may be the same if the price is the same, but the odds are that the pale ale will be a little lower."
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, page 85.

This is a bit more contentious. He calls Brown Ale nothing more than bottled Mild. I believe he was right in many cases, but there were still plenty of stronger Brown Ales that were quite different from Mild. And, of course, a beer like Newcastle Brown is a very different beast from ordinary Mild.

Just to show you what I mean, here's a variety of Brown Ales of the period:

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Brown Ales in the mid 1950's
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	FG	OG	Colour	ABV	Atten-uation
1956	Aitchison & Co	Gold Seal Brown Ale	10.5d	half pint	1013.9	1041.6	50	3.58	66.59%
1955	Alnwick Brewery Co	Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1020.6	1062.5	110	5.43	67.04%
1955	Alton Court Brewery	Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1008.4	1033.3	80	3.23	74.77%
1955	Ansell, Birmingham	Nut Brown	9.5d	half pint	1004.3	1036	35	4.13	88.06%
1953	Beasley	Coronation Ale	1/2d	half pint	1008.6	1043.1	21 + 40	4.49	80.05%
1952	Birkenhead Brewery	Nut Brown Ale	8d	half pint	1005.8	1031.4	13 + 40	3.33	81.53%
1952	Brickwoods	Brown Brew	9d	half pint	1008.9	1032.2	10 + 40	3.02	72.36%
1956	Bullard & Sons [Norwich]	Brown Ale	1/-	half pint	1004.4	1039.6	85	4.59	88.89%
1952	Cobb & Co	Brown Ale	1/6d	pint	1007.5	1034.3	10 + 40	3.48	78.13%
1956	Cobbold & Co, Ipswich	Cobnut Brown Ale	11.5d	half pint	1011.8	1035.7	75	3.09	66.95%
1955	Darley, Thorne	Barley Brown	1/1d	half pint	1012.3	1040.1	250	3.60	69.33%
1953	Duttons Brewery Blackburn	Nut Brown Ale	9d	half pint	1006.1	1031	3 + 40	3.23	80.32%
1955	Everards	Burton Brown	11d	half pint	1006.6	1033.1	75	3.44	80.06%
1956	Felinfoel	John Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1010.5	1037.7	120	3.52	72.15%
1955	Flowers	Poacher Ale	11d	half pint	1014.2	1034.9	115	2.67	59.31%
1956	Georges & Co, Bristol	Brown Ale	1/-	half pint	1010.8	1035.2	90	3.16	69.32%
1954	Gibbs Mew & Co. Ltd.	Moonraker Brown Ale	8d	half pint	1009.5	1034.8	135	3.28	72.70%
1956	Greene King	Harvest Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1013.9	1035.2	105	2.75	60.51%
1952	Greenhall Whitley	Wilderspool Brown Ale	10d	half pint	1008.5	1038.7	10 + 40	3.92	78.04%
1952	Hammonds United Breweries	Brown Jack Ale	9d	half pint	1005.8	1029.5	16 + 40	3.08	80.34%
1952	Hey & Son [Bradford]	White Rose Ale	1/8d	pint	1007.9	1040.7	5 + 40	4.27	80.59%
1952	J Bernard Ltd	Double Brown Ale	1/3d	half pint	1009.9	1047.5	40 + 0.5	4.89	79.16%
1956	Kemp Town Brewery, Brighton	Double Dolphin Ale	1/2d	half pint	1013.8	1043.6	100	3.86	68.35%
1952	McMullen, Hertford	Nut Brown Ale	9d	half pint	1012.6	1035.5	17 + 40	2.96	64.51%
1952	McMullen, Hertford	Olde Time Ale	1/3d	nip	1015	1060.6	16 + 40	5.94	75.25%
1955	Mitchell & Butler,	Sam Brown	11.5d	half pint	1011.2	1036.9	85	3.33	69.65%
1952	Morgans Brewery Ltd [Norwich]	Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1005.2	1034.7	8 + 40	3.84	85.01%
1952	Newcastle Breweries	Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1009.9	1052	1.5 + 40	5.49	80.96%
1954	Newcastle Breweries	Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1010	1048.9	51	5.06	79.55%
1952	Northampton Brewery	Brown Ale	1/6d	pint	1013	1038	31 + 40	3.23	65.79%
1955	Northern Clubs Federation	High Level Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1016.5	1053.6	75	4.81	69.22%
1955	Offilers	Nut Brown	9.5d	half pint	1010.1	1034.6	75	3.17	70.81%
1952	Peter Walker Ltd	Brown Peter Ale	10d	half pint	1006.7	1038.6	1 + 40	4.15	82.64%
1952	Plymouth Breweries	Double Brown Ale	9d	half pint	1008.3	1035.3	4.5 + 40	3.50	76.49%
1955	Ruddle	Nut Brown Ale	9.5d	half pint	1008.2	1033.1	95	3.23	75.23%
1955	Samuel Smith Tadcaster	Taddy Nut Brown	10d	half pint	1010.5	1035.2	100	3.20	70.17%
1955	Samuel Webster	Sam Brown Ale	9.5d	half pint	1013	1035.7	95	2.93	63.59%
1952	Shipstone	Nut Brown Ale	1/3d	pint	1006.7	1033.3	5.5 + 40	3.45	79.88%
1952	Simonds	Berry Brown Ale	9.5d	half pint	1005.5	1032	5 + 40	3.44	82.81%
1952	St. Anne's Well Brewery [Exeter]	Brown Ale	9.5d	half pint	1005.1	1034.1	15 + 40	3.77	85.04%
1952	Steward & Patteson, Norwich	Brown Ale	11.5d	half pint	1010.3	1032.5	7 + 40	2.87	68.31%
1956	Stroud Brewery Ltd	Cotswold Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1010.1	1037.1	90	3.50	72.78%
1953	Tamplin	Baby Browm	8d	nip	1007.9	1034.3	10 + 40	3.43	76.97%
1955	Tennant Bros. Ltd, Sheffield	Lion Brown Ale	11.5d	half pint	1011.4	1034.9	85	3.04	67.34%
1955	Tennant Bros. Ltd, Sheffield	Family Brown Ale	1/6d	pint	1007.5	1031.9	50	3.16	76.49%
1952	Tetley	Family Ale	1/3d	pint	1009	1035.5	3.5 + 40	3.44	74.65%
1955	Unknown Brewer	Burton Nut Brown Ale	1/-	half pint	1008.4	1035.6	75	3.53	76.40%
1952	Ushers Trowbridge	Brown Ale	8.5d	half pint	1007.7	1033.6	10 + 40	3.36	77.08%
1953	Ushers Wiltshire Brewery [Trowbridge]	Triple Brown	1/6d	half pint	1013.6	1063.4	12 + 40	6.50	78.55%
1953	Vale of Neath Brewery	???? Brown Ale	1/3d	half pint	1019.3	1070.6	34 B	6.68	72.66%
1955	Vaux & Co	Double Maxim Ale	1/-	half pint	1012.8	1048.5	110	4.63	73.61%
1955	Wadworth	Middy Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1012.9	1034.5	95	2.79	62.61%
1952	Whitbread	Double Brown	1/3d	half pint		1053.8
1954	Whitbread	Forest Brown	10.5d	half pint	1012.2	1034.8	14 + 40	2.92	64.94%
1956	Wm. Younger & Co	"Wee Willie" Brown Ale	1/-	half pint	1009.6	1033.5	70	3.10	71.34%
1956	Wm. Younger & Co	Edinburgh Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1013.2	1046.8	75	4.36	71.79%
1955	Worthington	Nut Brown Ale	11d	half pint	1008.6	1036	80	3.56	76.11%
1953	Young & Son Portsmouth	Chestnut Brown Ale	1/1d	half pint	1016.5	1055.1	33 + 40	5.01	70.05%
Source: Whitbread Gravity Book

Still several more types of beer to go. Then we'll get onto the specific brands. That will be particularly revealing.