Raw materials in WW II

We're back in WW II again. With that very informative article from Wallenstein Laboratories Communications.

This time it's a quick overview of the situation with raw materials.

"Raw Materials

Broadly speaking, these problems of manufacturing have arisen from the attempt to brew as much beer as in prewar times, from greatly reduced quantities of the usual raw materials. Importation of barley, corn (maize) and hops has ceased, while the use of rice is prohibited and that of sugar considerably restricted. At the same time, home-grown supplies of brewing quality have not correspondingly increased. The quantities of such available supplies are limited by the Ministry of Food, which issues them under special license. Furthermore the Ministry of Agriculture regulations Wave the effect of prohibiting any increase in the acreage under hop cultivation, although a small increase, about 800 acres (i.e., about four per cent of existing acreage) has been allowed as a result of strong representations by the Brewers' Society.

As regards barley, the Government does not publish the facts, but it is generally considered that such acreage in 1942 rose to about 66 per cent above that in 1938. There are no indications of any further increase this year. If the brewer secured his full share of the increased crop, it would offset the loss of imported barleys. But he does not. Last season, from January onwards, the Ministry of Food bought by order one third of the barley on the market for milling purposes. Presumably something similar will happen this season.

From time to time, other factors have restricted the output of beer by introducing a bottleneck at some stage in production. About a year ago there was danger of such a bottleneck in the malting industry, in which an acute shortage of skilled labor had for some time been making itself felt. The use of flaked barley was introduced mainly to conserve the diminishing supplies of malt. But there had also been grave losses resulting from bomb damage to many maltings and their stocks. It so happens that the much-bombed areas of East Anglia are the chief barley growing and malting country."
"Wallenstein Laboratories Communications, December 1943, Volume VI, number 19" pages 153 - 154.

Point one: "the attempt to brew as much beer as in prewar times" is a big deviation from the policy in WW I. Then temperance elements in the government tried to reduce as much as possible the amount produced of all alcoholic drinks. A policy not based on reason, but blind prejudice. In WW II the approach was much more pragmatic. A good supply of beer was seen as vital for morale. Pubs played a vital role as a forum to discuss what was happening in the war.

WW I had taught the authorities much about dealing with problems in food supply. Whereas in WW I government only really stepped in after 1916, halfway through the war, in WW II they acted immediately. It was assumed the law would be long and food supplies threatened. This week, a programme on the TV showed aerial footage of London just after the end of WW II. Parks and other open spaces are filled with allotments. It's a indication of the organisation and determination to use every resource fully.

I'd noticed the flaked barley turning up in recipes and wondered why that was. It never occurred to me that it might be due to problems in the malting industry. I knew barley had been used in bread, but hadn't realised how much more barley had been grown during the war years. Britain hadn't been self-sufficient in malting barley since the early 19th century.


If 800 acres is 4% of the total, that makes about 20,000 acres in all dedicated to hops. That's a big reduction from 100 years earlier. In 1848, there were 49,000 acres of hops. But it reflects the way the British brewing industry became dependent on foreign supplies of hops in the second half of the 19th century.

There's still lots more fun to be squeezed from this dirty old mop. Next instalment: more detail on wartime grists. See you then.

Mild Bitter Ale

It sounds like an oxymoron. How can a beer be both a Bitter and Mild at the same time?

Understanding the vocabulary of the past is crucial. The term Mild Bitter Ale is an excellent example of this. In this context "mild" means nothing more than "unaged". It should be recalled that the original 19th-century Pale Ales were Stock Beers. Brewed and then aged for long periods before sale. Remember that article of bottling in the 1860's? Pale Ale was matured for 9 months in cask before being bottled.

Later in the the 19th century a new type of Pale Ale or Bitter Beer emerged. Lighter in gravity than Stock Pale Ales and intended for rapid consumption. A variety of names were used, though ones like AK, Family Ale, Luncheon Ale and Dinner Ale were common. Some, like AK, were mostly draught beers. Others, like Family Ale and Dinner Ale, were usually bottled. There were sold much younger, after just two to four weeks*.

"Now beer can be made to vary greatly in its quality according to the way in which this process of brewing has been carried on. Of course, the stronger the wort the more sugar, and the more alcohol as the result of fermentation. But you may carry the fermentation up to various points. You may make, at first, a sweet beer or ale by stopping the fermentation, but which eventually shall become very strong by age and fermentation. Such are our sweet ales, and ales that get strong by keeping. By carrying on the fermentation you may exhaust all the sugar, and by using malt free from gum you get a clear pale ale, and by adding a larger quantity of hops, our pale bitter ales are produced. The fermentation of these ales being over, they can be sent to a distance: hence the practice of sending such ale to India. They are, however, generally strong ales, on account of the completeness of their fermentation, and are objectionable on that account. I find that our ordinary bottled pale ale contains more alcohol than hock, claret, or Moselle wines, and as much as Burgundy.

The brewing of the pale and bitter ales for the Indian market has led to a great change in public taste for beer, and milder pale and bitter ales are extensively brewed for domestic consumption. My own conviction is, that an immense benefit has accrued from this, as the strong and sweet ales formerly drunk were objectionable on many accounts. In the first place, they caused a greater consumption of alcohol than was beneficial; and in the next place, the sugar became a source of disorder and disagreement in the stomach. The increased quantity of hop also secures in the mild bitter ales a tonic effect which is very beneficial. For habitual consumption in families the mild bitter ale, with not more than half an ounce of alcohol in the pint, is to be commended above all others.

London porter, of which prodigious quantities are consumed daily in this metropolis, is coloured with the black malt. It contains about three quarters of an ounce of alcohol in the pint, and more sugar and less hops than the pale ales. It is, however, miserably drugged in the public-houses. Its strength is reduced by water, and its qualities are brought up again by treacle, liquorice, and salt, and various narcotic agents are added to make up for the loss of alcohol. To such a condition has the porter-drinking population been brought that they do not know genuine porter when they drink it, and having acquired a taste for this wretched substitute, they reject the unadultereated article.

Stout is only a stronger form of porter. Good draught stout contains about one ounce and a half of alcohol in the pint.

All beers, ales and porters may be bottled; and this is done before the active fermentation is over, so that this process engenders in the bottles liquid a quality of carbonic acid gas, which converts the stouts and porters which contain a great quantity of gum into one mass of froth. It is not so common in pale ale, but here it is not uncommon to lose half the ale by its seething over the glass when poured from the bottle.

Bottled ales are generally stronger than those on draught; and with some persons the frothing state of the beer seems to agree better than the less lively condition of that from the cask. It is the same with wines and water; and carbonated waters and effervescing wines have the same recommendation.

I have not time to dwell on the varieties of beers, ales and porters sold in this country. But they differ very much; and the impossibility of brewing the same beer in two different districts is an interesting fact. One of the most remarkable facts of this sort is the generally acknowledged excellence of the Burton beers. Now it appears there is only one condition at Burton that causes its beer to differ from all others, and that is, the presence in the water of a certain quantity of sulphate of lime. My friend, Dr. Letheby, has pointed out that this is the real cause of the success of the pale ale breweries of Burton. He says, such water will not extract the saccharine and albuminous matters of malt so fully as others, and that this is desirable in the manufacture of pale ales. I would, however, bear my testimony to the great intelligence and care with which the great pale ale breweries are conducted at Burton-on-Trent. Such prevision and intelligence brought to bear on the minutest details of a great manufactory, cannot fail to be productive of the best results."
"On food" by Edwin Lankester, 1864, pages 221 - 224

The author splits Pale Ales into two groups: the strong type and the light type. The strength of the former is "on account of the completeness of their fermentation". Or the very high degree of attenuation. We've seen Bass and Allsopp Pale Ales that were 85% to 90% attenuated. Their gravities weren't necessarily that high - mostly 1060 to 1070 - but the very high attenuation left some over 7% ABV.

These are Whitbread's two Pale Ales of about the same period. PA (Pale Ale) and FA (Family Ale):

Whitbread Pale Ales in 1872
Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenu-ation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp	pale malt	sugar	total
1872	PA	1059.6	1016.1	5.75	73.02%	14.17	4.25	58º	78.26%	21.74%	100.00%
1872	FA	1051.2	1011.6	5.24	77.30%	10.09	2.44	58º	84.83%	15.17%	100.00%
Sources: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives Document: LMA/4453/D/01/038

I wonder why the author considers light Pale Ales so much healthier than sweet Ales (I assume he means Mild Ale)? It's not just the greater amount of alcohol the latter contained: "the sugar became a source of disorder and disagreement in the stomach". What the hell does that mean. Funny he considers sugar bad for the stomach, but a high level of CO2 good. I can't see that myself. But it fits in with what another author wrote about bottled beer, claiming the carbonation made it better for those with delicate stomachs. Personal experience tells me the opposite is true.

Porter is, once again, accused of being routinely adulterated. Whether or not this was true, it was obviously generally believed to be. I guess we'll have to wait until my time machine is fully operational to discover if this was just slander. And it's confirmed that Stout is indeed just a stronger form of Porter.

The author correctly identified the high calcium sulphate content of Burton water as the secret behind the success of the PAle Ales brewed there. I wonder when this was first discovered? I need to dig around in more books.



* "Minutes of evidence taken before the Departmental committee on beer", 1899, pages 190-191.

Very old Worthington Burton Ale

It's a funny old book, Barnard's "Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland". Much of it is detailed descriptions of the physical forms of breweries. Little is said of the beers brewed within them. Except for the odd remark about how particularly fine this or that brewery's AK is. But occasionally there's more detail.

In this case, rather a lot more detail. Age, that's what it's all about. It was the age of this particular beer - around 100 years - that made it the subject of such detailed study.

"Before leaving this most interesting department of the brewery, we saw and tasted a sample of what is probably the oldest beer in the world, being no other than a strong ale brewed by Worthington, in the latter days of the last century to commemorate the birth of the late Mr. Wm. Worthington. This extraordinary beer owes its preservation to the lucky accident of having been built up in the vault of an old building, where it was found some years ago during the progress of alterations. The antiquated style and venerable appearance of the bottle itself quite bore out what was told us as to the age of the contents. When the cork was drawn, an agreeable ethereal odour diffused itself through the room, reminding one of the bouquet of a very old Madeira. The beer has maintained its colour and is perfectly sound, but it has so far lost its character as a beer as to puzzle those who are not in the secret of its true nature. Its prevailing characteristic is the extraordinary bouquet we have already referred to. Occasionally, strange to relate, a bottle is opened which is still charged with gas, and in which the yeast cells of the sediment still retain a certain amount of vitality. This beer is so entirely unique, and is of so interesting a nature, that we venture to append its analysis and the scientific report upon it with which we were favoured.

ANALYSIS OF OLD STRONG ALE.

Specific gravity at 60° F.	1030.45
Original specific gravity	1110.38
Percentage of alcohol by weight	8.7

On evaporation, in order to expel the alcohol, the solid residue was found to have the following composition:—

Fermentable maltose	32.55
Malto-dextrm	9.32
Dextrin	17.61
Albuminoids	12.64
Optically inactive carbohydrates, ash, etc.	27.88
	100

When the results of the analysis were calculated upon the total solids originally present before fermentation, the following numbers were obtained :—

	Percentage.
Fermented matter	59.98
Fermentable maltose	13.02
Malto-dextrin	3.72
Dextrin	7.05
Undetermined	16.23
	100

Determination of Acidity.

	Percentage.
Volatile acid, chiefly acetic, but with a trace of formic	0.1404
Fixed acids, calculated as lactic acid	0.4691
Total acid per cent, on beer	0.6095

The alcoholic distillate possessed in a marked degree the curious bouquet of the original beer; and since, on redistillation with a little barium hydrate the second distillate was quite free from the Madeira-like odour referred to above it was evident that the bouquet was attributable to the presence of volatile compound ethers (ethereal salts). The development of the characteristic bouquet of old wines is due to the presence of compound ethers, which may be looked upon as combinations of the fatty acids and alcohol with the elimination of water. Berthelot, many years ago, devised a simple method for the determination of the compound ethers of wine, consisting in digestionon of the distillate containing the ethers with a given amount of decinormal soda solution, and determining the amount of soda used up by the acid of the compound ether, a correction, of course, being applied for the free acid present in the distillate. This method applied to the old beer gave the following results, the numbers being expressed as percentages of alcohol present as compound ethers:—

	Per Cent.
Alcohol present as volatile compound ethers in the old beer	0.0315
Alcohol present as volatile compound ethers in  a strong ale of eighteen months old	0.0175

Although the amount is actually small, it is seen to be much in excess of the ethers in a comparatively young, strong ale, and quite sufficient to account for the powerful bouquet."
"Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1" by Alfred Barnard, 1889 pages 434 - 436.

A beer that was more than 100 years old, in corked bottles, yet some retained their carbonation. That's pretty incredible. Most corked bottles of Harvey's Imperial Stout had lost theirs after just a couple of years. Bricked up in a cellar and forgotten. It's surprising how often that's happened. Fifteen years back I drank a Crombé Kriek that was more than 40 years old. Same story: left in a forgotten cellar.

The description of the beer's flavour is intriguing. Like very old Madeira. So, just the odd touch of oxidation.I like the way that they attempted to track down the chemical source of the Madeira flavour. I wonder if the volatile ethers really were responsible?

"The beer has maintained its colour" fascinating. But what colour was that? It would be nice to know. At one time strong Burton Ales were dark in colour. I wonder if this one was. I don't suppose we'll ever know now.

The level of acidity is pretty high at 0.61%. Fresh, sound beer is 0.04% or so. Lambiek is over 1%.

Low-nitrogen barleys in WW II

We're back with the Wallenstein Laboratories Communications article about brewing in wartime Britain.

This section explains why British barley was mostly low in nitrogen and why Californian 6-row barley had been so popular before the war.

Low-nitrogen barleys

This yeast trouble has been increasingly aggravated in recent decades by the tendency to use barley of very low nitrogen content. The new hybrid barleys which command by far the greater part of the British brewing market — Plumage-Archer and Spratt-Archer — have been selected, propagated, grown and manured with the object, among others, of reducing the nitrogen content of the grain. The reasons for this procedure are to be found in the brewers' fear of bacterial and of protein instability arising from the use of malt of high nitrogen content. Under the British system of brewing, a nitrogen content of upwards of 1.6 to 1.7 per cent of the moisture-free grain would be regarded as high in many quarters. Barleys as low as 1.2 to 1.3 per cent are commonly obtainable. Furthermore the low-nitrogen barleys normally have a better appearance and yield more extract, for which reasons they are more highly valued.

The result has been that farmers have been aiming over a period of years at producing a low-nitrogen barley in order to compete successfully for the high competitive prices obtainable for such barley. Very much of the malting barley grown here today is of this type, but the conditions of brewing are not always such that malt made from low-nitrogen barley is the right type to use. In some breweries and for some beers the grists, type of yeast and fermentation technique used may be ideally suited for these malts; in others, malt of higher nitrogen content might better be employed.

In normal times almost all British brewers use flaked corn or sugar as a malt adjunct. The former helps to give a paler and brighter beer; the latter aids clarification. Both adjuncts, however, reduce the proportion of yeast nutrients such as nitrogen, "bios" and minerals in the wort. The disappearance of the corn and reduction of sugar, and their replacement by malt extracts improved yeast nutrition until the effect of lowered gravities came into operation. The net result in most breweries has probably been that the one effect just counterbalanced the other.

In general, undernourishment of the yeast has not appeared in those breweries where it was not experienced before the war. Tolerably good yeast crops can be skimmed from worts of even the lowest original gravity, 1030 and slightly less. But in a few breweries yeast weakness is worse than ever. Lower gravities mean proportionally less nutriment per cc, but the yeast increase (including that which ultimately settles to the bottom of the fermenting vessel), is not proportionately less. Taken by itself, a very low original gravity leads to a markedly reduced top crop available for skimming, and to slight undernourishment of the yeast. In time the latter effect is cumulative.

While this trouble was widespread even before the war, there were means for overcoming it then that are not available now. For example, when yeast trouble was aggravated by a season's home barley which gave poor modification, resort could be had to certain imported barleys, notably Bohemian, which are normally rich in nitrogen yet modify easily. The blending of malts made from California six-rowed barleys was almost invariably practiced as it helped to mask the seasonal fluctuations in homegrown barleys. Admittedly many British brewers have discovered as a result of wartime conditions, that they can brew successfully without California malt, a practice which they would not have followed otherwise. Their philosophy generally is not to risk experiments where results are already satisfactory. Nevertheless, this degree of latitude in the freedom to reject an unsuitable homegrown barley after a bad season and purchase an imported barley in its place enabled the brewer to steer a successful course before the war. Now this is denied him.

There is normally less home-grown barley of good malting quality than is needed to meet the demand, so that some less satisfactory material is malted and used. In England most malt is not made by the brewer himself, but by a maltster who sells it. The latter naturally tries to buy barley of low nitrogen content which will malt easily. The brewer whose yeast is liable to undernourishment is more than ever in trouble today under these conditions. To brew the low-gravity beers he needs barleys of higher nitrogen content, but which modify well, and he cannot always get such as there is not enough to go around.
"Wallenstein Laboratories Communications, December 1943, Volume VI, number 19" pages 154 - 155.

I'd never realised that Plumage-Archer and Spratt-Archer had been deliberately manipulated to give them a low nitrogen content. (Plumage-Archer is the variety Fullers used in Past Masters XX.) I suppose it makes sense, if you expected to have Californian and other foreign barley available. If you knew cheap, high nitrogen barley could be found, it was logical to keep the nitrogen content of British barley low.

Another strange effect of the war was the increase in the proportion of malt in the grist. The flaked maize used in brewing had been imported. When the war began, the supply was cut off. The amount of sugar available for brewing was also reduced as it was diverted for other uses.

"In normal times almost all British brewers use flaked corn or sugar as a malt adjunct." This is often ignored by those trying to impose on the past their own ideas of what it should have been. Sugar in particular has been an integral part of British brewing since the 1860's. I've recently been collating information from Whitbread's brewing records of the late 19th century. This is a good one. Guess which of these beers contained sugar and which didn't: X Ale, PaAle Ale, KK (Stock Ale) , KKK, Porter, SS (stout) and SSS? The two cheapest beers - X Ale and Porter - were the only two that were all-malt. The sugar was in the more expensive beers.

It's funny what is reflected in the brewing records and what not. I knew all about the changes in ingredients. But the problems with yeast health I'd been totally unaware of. That's what makes this article so useful. It adds an extra layer of detail.

Two V's

This ad has been appearing on my blog in Holland:

Because of the election (one of the ones I can't vote in) coming up. Annoying. I try to keep this a politics-free zone. The odd mention of Stalin excepted.

Andrew's advice: "Don't trust a party with two V's."

Lexie's: "Chips for the poor." 

Two V's. Conjours up an image in my mind.

A Kentish Hopyard (part three)

Today's the last instalment on the article "A Kentish Hopyard". It covers that most strange phenomenon: betting on the hop duty.

"Judge Maule, who drank porter to "reduce my wits to the level of counsel's," might have modified this obiter dictum, if he had known all the stirring Borough betting associations which cling to the Barley Bride in her course from the blossom to the pewter. "The pavement near the Town Hall," says a writer, "was the Tattersall's of these peripatetic philosophers ; and every hop county sent its speculative contingent on a Monday. They would meet at ten o'clock and bet till one ; then fly to Mark Lane, and have another bet or two there, amongst the corn-stands. If the May-fly came, speculation would begin about the 30th of the month, and be at its hottest in July. Fully a hundred and fifty men would have books on the crop; and the great brewers would send their commissioners to back or lay against the duty. They always looked upon Tattersall's with contempt, on the short and not unreasonable ground that 'if you back the duty it always comes out fair ; but a horse may tumble down, or be squared, or a thousand things.' And who can gainsay their preference ? Year after year the names of Kenward, Harriman, Monk, Clements, Goble, Trimmer, &c, ruled the market; and those did best who always made Kent their guide. Father and son often follow the same trade. There is a story of a father remonstrating with his first-born upon the practice, and offering to settle £100 ayear on him if he would leave it off. 'That would never do, father,' was the reply: 'I win £200 a-year off you." And 'I'll bet you £50 you don't,' was the rejoinder. Those who 'backed the duty' (i.e. to be over a certain amount) won seven years out of ten, and their loss was the most provoking when, in 1855, they braced themselves up to back £400,000, and it only fell £2000 short of it. One great hop factor always laid against the duty, and was only on the right side twice in twenty years. He was a good man for the farmer, as the more he laid against the duty, the more he 'rose the price' of hops. He always speculated, as a factor, for a short crop; so much so, that when others were backing £100,000 duty unlimited, he would be laying against £60,000 unlimited, and trusting to his double pull to get through. With a less daring outlay, the system might have answered, as what was lost in bets might have been more than made-up by sale commissions. On one occasion, when a great grower had a large quantity of hops to sell, he laid two factors £500 each, when hops were at £5 10s., that they did not reach £7 per cwt. The knowledge of the bet sent up the market, and thus the grower dropped £1000, and yet won £500 on the transaction by the enhanced price of his hops. One man's losses alone have been known to reach £30,000 in a year ; and one annus mirabilis saw a factor leave off with £60,000, a triumph which he celebrated by a dinner worthy of Apicius, and half-guinea whist points after. Hop-bettors generally whetted their tusks each Monday with a rubber at whist on the railway journey to town, and the dinner-table was also a favourite 'Change. They would bet upon anything, and one of them was once so uplifted by good cheer and loyalty, that he laid £100 to £1, before the cloth was drawn, on the taking of Sebastopol.

"The crop of 'Sixty was a wretched one, and it is a cherished tradition of the Borough, that a speculator, who did not believe the signs of the times, bought largely at £7 per cwt., and held till they were down at 25s. The most careful men seldom opened their mouths on Monday, unless they had first-rate information, or had made a Kentish journey of observation the week before, and determined to back their judgment; and one first-class judge would make £5000 a-year this way, by almost invariably backing the duty. The great secret was always proclaimed on November 5th in the Gazette. On December 1st the bettors met to compare books, and I O Us for the losses were handed over, made payable for New Year's day; but five per cent, was always deducted for ready money payments. Old speculators yearn for those days once more, and Guy Fawkes only seems like the wan ghost of a duty they adored. Some of them tell tales, which lengthen at each repetition like the sea-serpent, of the smashing blows which were dealt against the duty by their metallic heroes, and the equally daring defence; and regard the Borough as a very Waterloo in which they fought and 'bled.' "
"The Gentleman's magazine, 1868, Volume 1", 1868, pages 536 - 538.

I realise now, checking the dates, that the article was behind the times. Hop duty was abolished in 1862, putting an end to this bizarre form of speculation.

Hops are a very variable crop to this day. Unsuitable weather and disease can drastically reduce of the crop, causing the price to rise sharply. There were huge fluctuations in the price of hops during the 19th century. Betting for or against the duty seems to have been a method of mitigated the risks involved in the trade. And it was fairer than gambling on horses.

Cask conditioning in WW II

I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a mad collector when it comes to beer books. (I've just ordered another one: Ross Mackenzie's "A Standard Manual of Brewing and Malting and Laboratory Companion". Please don't tell Dolores.) Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to going through them properly.

Wallenstein Laboratory Communications. Great name for a publication. I stumbled across it when doing some web search or other. It looked like they contained interesting information, so I bought a couple. Most articles are very technical. Stuff about yeast and that sort of thing. At one time I would have found such material deathly dull. Now I'm frustrated by my lack of scientific education. If only I'd taken A-level chemistry. Then I might have understood the organic chemistry bits better.

As usual, I've wandered away from the primary thrust od this post. An article in Communications, published at the end of 1943 about brewing in wartime Britain. Beer in the two world wars is one of my specialist subjects. (And the subject of my subtly-named book "War!".) A lot of the topics covered in the article - like the use of flafed barley and oats - I already knew about. But I wouldn't be bothering you with any of this if I hadn't found much that was new to me. Expect a few more posts over the coming week. That's if I can find room between all Allsopp and Bass posts.

Cask conditioning was pretty much universal in 1940's Britain. Unlike the USA. The problem being, that when something is so common and everyday, people don't bother describing it in detail. They assume it's a waste of time explaining something everyone already knows. Fortunately, this article was written for an American audience. Hence the author relates details he wouldn't have if he'd had British readers in mind.

"Cask conditioning

In Great Britain cask conditioning is done as follows: After the primary fermentation is completed, the top yeast skimmed and most of the remainder has settled to the bottom, the beer is racked into casks containing just enough primary yeast in suspension to promote conditioning in cask; this varies from 0.2 to 2 million healthy cells per cc of beer. To induce quick conditioning and consumption of the beer as nearly as possible within a day or two of its attaining the optimum of condition, just the right concentration of yeast cells and fermentable sugar (whether priming be added for the latter purpose or not) should be present. The casks are maintained at about 55-60º F and rolled at intervals - or if in conditioning tanks the beer is roused - to keep the yeast in suspension. Later the beer is fined very shortly before drinking. Everything depends on the above conditions being controlled, and the beer delivered to the tied house a day or two before it is to be drunk.

The tied house in England, with good pre-war transport facilities available, developed a quick trade in draught beer, and the whole of the brewery was organized to produce and deliver twice per week. Nowadays deliveries are being restricted to once per week. This change has probably had more influence on the quality of the draught beer as consumed than all the technological problems discussed above. Medium and low, especially low-gravity beers, are perishable commodities and should be treated as such. A twice weekly delivery of milk would have alarming effects on a community which does not possess one refrigerator to a hundred working-class houses. The longer storage of the beer enforced in the public house is more often the cause of its deteriorated quality than was the case in peacetime; even in those days, it was here that the brewer most usually failed. Another effect of distribution difficulties has been the frequent practice of brewers who do a considerable trade in a distant town - distant by British standards — to enter into a reciprocal agreement with a firm in that town to supply beer to their consumers. We may take the case of brewery "A" which sells beer in the town in which brewery "B" is situated, while brewery "B" has a good trade in town"A". As a result of the agreement brewery "B" brews special beer to brewery "A's" prescription, as regards original gravity, hop rate, etc., and supplies it as brewery "A's" beer to the latter's licensed houses. Similarly brewery "A" performs the same service for brewery "B" in town "A." Amusing cases are reported such as that of a consumer in "B's" public house drinking what he thinks is "B's" brew and declaring how greatly superior it is to "A's" beer, when, in fact, "A" has made the beer. More often, however, when the beer supplied has been changed for the above reasons there is a notice exhibited stating so, and the consumer knows what he is getting."
"Wallenstein Laboratories Communications, December 1943, Volume VI, number 19" pages 158 - 159.

Priming. It was a key technique in the 20th century. Key to getting cask beer into condition and ready to drink as soon as possible. It seems to have been rather forgotten about, though I'm sure many breweries in Britain do still prime, especially the older ones.

By 1943, the war had put a dent in beer gravities. As you can see from these tables:

Whitbread beers in 1939
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	barrels	lbs hops	qtrs malt	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	colour
9th Aug	1939	MS	Stout	1051.0	1015.5	4.70	69.61%	6.94	1.41	290	930	134	1.25	1.42	19 brown 1 red
10th Aug	1939	P	Porter	1029.7	1007.5	2.94	74.75%	6.89	0.83	65	937	136	1.25	1.42	15 brown 1 red
10th Aug	1939	LS	Stout	1045.2	1013.5	4.19	70.13%	6.89	1.26	216	937	136	1.25	1.42	18 brown 1 red
10th Aug	1939	LOS	Stout	1045.2	1013.5	4.19	70.13%	6.89	1.26	190	937	136	1.25	1.42	18 brown 1 red
27th Sep	1939	PA	Pale Ale	1048.2	1012.0	4.79	75.10%	7.33	1.41	695	982	134	1.17	1.08	22
26th Sep	1939	IPA	IPA	1037.1	1008.0	3.85	78.44%	10.00	1.51	740	1120	112	1.5	1.75	18
26th Sep	1939	X	Mild	1033.9	1010.5	3.10	69.03%	8.27	1.11	809	897	108.5	1.25	1	17 + 40
25th Sep	1939	LA	Mild	1028.4	1009.0	2.57	68.31%	8.27	0.93	30	897	108.5	1.25	1	11 + 40
21st Sep	1939	DB	Brown Ale	1054.5	1018.0	4.83	66.97%	8.49	1.92	175	1146	135	1.25	1	16 + 40
21st Sep	1939	33	Strong Ale	1061.0	1020.0	5.42	67.21%	8.49	2.15	376	1146	135	1.25	1	18 + 40
Sources: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives Documents: LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/_4453/D/09/126

Whitbread beers in 1943
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	barrels	lbs hops	qtrs malt	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	colour
1st Apr	1943	IPA	IPA	1031.2	1005.5	3.40	82.37%	8.53	1.13	818	921	108	1.25	1.25	20
3rd Apr	1943	PA	Pale Ale	1038.5	1009.5	3.84	75.32%	6.03	1.01	752	760	126	1.08	1.25	26
5th Apr	1943	XX	Mild	1027.8	1008.0	2.62	71.22%	6.07	0.76	1605	1220	201	1	1.25	15 + 40
24th Apr	1943	XXXX	Strong Ale	1043.8	1013.0	4.07	70.32%	6.70	1.25	292	365	54.5	1	0.75	17 + 40
4th Feb	1943	MS	Stout	1042.5	1014.0	3.77	67.06%	5.00	0.93	712	660	132	1	1.25	19 brown 1 red
9th Feb	1943	LS	Stout	1039.8	1012.0	3.68	69.85%	6.52	1.13	379	860	132	1	0.75	16.5 brown 1 red
9th Feb	1943	LOS	Stout	1039.8	1012.0	3.68	69.85%	6.52	1.13	379	860	132	1	0.75	16.5 brown 1 red
Sources: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives Documents: LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/_4453/D/09/127

XX Mild had fallen below 1030. IPA, their biggest-selling bottled beer, was just above that mark. London Stout and PA (their standard Bitter) don't look that bad by modern standards at 1039. But that's between 7 and 9 points lower than four years earlier. And the gravity cuts were by no means over. Gravities finally hit their nadir in 1947, a couple of years after the ned of hostilities.

MS, in case you're wondering, is Mackeson.

Cask beer remains a product with a limited shelf life. Especially the low-gravity beers which still make up the majority of trade. You can see the sense of weekly deliveries from a fuel conservation point of view. I'd never considered delivery schedules as a possible threat to beer quality.

I love story about drinkers praising beer, not realising it came from a brewery they didn't like. The same phenomenon can be observed in blind tastings. Often drinkers will pick as their favourite a beer they thought they hated.