Wednesday 30 March 2011

1940 tax increase

I'm so excited. I just can't hide it. I've found a reference to Burton. You'd be surprised how rare they are, considering how common the beer once was. And it's from the war, so there's two boxes ticked.

This text discusses the impact of yet another tax increase:
"As the new beer duties were made dependent upon gravity, brewers who brew the stronger kinds of beer — pale ale, stout, and "Burton" — were placed somewhat in a quandary. Some brewers have ceased to brew these heavy beers altogether, others are brewing a modified type of beer retailed at 1d. per pint extra, whilst other brewers have increased the gravities of these beers and are charging the public an additional 2d. per pint. It is impossible as yet to forecast the effect on output of the recent increase in prices, but already there has been some diminution in the consumption of high-grade beers and an unparalleled demand for mild ales in saloon bars. That the high prices at which beer had to be sold to the public was affecting output, even before the recent Budget, is revealed by the figures of output for the month of June, which frankly are disappointing. The. output (in bulk barrels) for the United Kingdom for June was 1.04 per cent, down on that for the corresponding month of 1939, the output for England and Wales being 2.1 per cent., and that for Scotland -0.25 per cent.  At the same time the month of June revealed a levelling-up of output, probably due to the widespread dispersal of the Forces and the movement of evacuees to, for example, London and its environs. This comment on the recent levelling-up of output does not, of course, apply to certain coastal and defence areas where to-day trade has often been spectacularly diminished."
"The Brewers' Journal 1940" pages 627 - 628. (Published August 21st, 1940.)
If you've been paying attention the last few weeks, you'll understand what this means "unparalleled demand for mild ales in saloon bars". As I've repeated several times, Mild was the favourite in the public bar, Bitter was the drink of the saloon bar. Increasing prices had prompted trading down from Bitter to Mild. That's probably the last time in history there was a move in that direction. After the war, there was a gradual and then rapid swing to Bitter from Mild.


Three types are listed as examples of stronger beers: Bitter, Stout and Burton. Did some breweries really bump up their gravity? Not that I've seen Gravities only moved in one direction during the war: South. I bet you'd like to see some evidence to back that up. Alright then, here are Whitbread's beers in those three categories over the war years.


Whitbread Burton 1939 - 1945
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
21st Sep
1939
33
Strong Ale
1061.0
1020.0
5.42
67.21%
8.49
2.15
25th Apr
1940
33
Strong Ale
1059.7
1018.5
5.45
69.01%
8.50
2.06
11th Apr
1940
33
Strong Ale
1060.0
1019.0
5.42
68.33%
8.50
2.02
14th Aug
1940
XXXX
Strong Ale
1052.8
1014.5
5.07
72.54%
8.50
1.83
16th Oct
1941
XXXX
Strong Ale
1046.2
1012.5
4.46
72.94%
6.56
1.24
28th May
1942
XXXX
Strong Ale
1042.9
1013.5
3.89
68.53%
6.70
1.14
22nd Jul
1943
XXXX
Strong Ale
1042.8
1013.0
3.94
69.63%
6.67
1.25
24th May
1944
XXXX
Strong Ale
1042.9
1011.0
4.22
74.36%
6.64
1.19
8th June
1945
XXXX
Strong Ale
1043.4
1014.0
3.89
67.74%
6.44
1.19
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives
documents: LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112
xxx

Whitbread Pale Ale 1939 - 1945
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
27th Sep
1939
PA
Pale Ale
1048.2
1012.0
4.79
75.10%
7.33
1.41
30th Apr
1940
PA
Pale Ale
1047.2
1011.0
4.79
76.69%
7.33
1.44
14th Aug
1940
PA
Pale Ale
1043.1
1011.5
4.18
73.32%
7.25
1.34
11th Oct
1941
PA
Pale Ale
1042.5
1011.5
4.10
72.94%
5.62
1.00
29th May
1942
PA
Pale Ale
1038.6
1009.0
3.92
76.68%
6.03
0.96
23rd Jul
1943
PA
Pale Ale
1038.9
1008.5
4.02
78.15%
6.03
1.01
12th Apr
1944
PA
Pale Ale
1039.2
1011.5
3.66
70.66%
6.13
1.01
4th Apr
1945
PA
Pale Ale
1039.4
1010.0
3.89
74.62%
6.03
1.01
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives
documents: LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/109, LMA/4453/D/01/110, LMA/4453/D/01/111, LMA/4453/D/01/112


Whitbread London Stout 1939 - 1945
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
23rd Nov
1939
LS
Stout
1045.5
1013.0
4.30
71.43%
6.89
1.29
2nd Apr
1940
LS
Stout
1046.4
1014.5
4.22
68.75%
6.93
1.34
9th Sep
1940
LS
Stout
1043.4
1012.5
4.09
71.20%
6.90
1.27
5th May
1941
LS
Stout
1041.8
1013.5
3.74
67.70%
5.59
1.01
6th Aug
1942
LS
Stout
1038.6
1012.5
3.45
67.62%
6.64
1.10
27th May
1943
LS
Stout
1039.2
1013.5
3.40
65.56%
6.29
1.08
22nd Sep
1944
LS
Stout
1039.8
1013.5
3.48
66.08%
6.55
1.15
24th Sep
1945
LS
Stout
1039.7
1012.0
3.66
69.77%
6.35
1.11
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives
documents LMA/4453/D/09/127, LMA/4453/D/09/128, LMA/4453/D/09/129


Whitbread Mackeson Stout 1939 - 1945
Date
Year
Beer
Style
OG
FG
ABV
App. Atten-uation
lbs hops/ qtr
hops lb/brl
23rd Nov
1939
MS
Stout
1051.4
1015.0
4.82
70.82%
6.89
1.46
1st Apr
1940
MS
Stout
1051.5
1013.5
5.03
73.79%
6.93
1.50
9th Sep
1940
MS
Stout
1051.3
1016.0
4.67
68.81%
6.90
1.50
8th May
1941
MS
Stout
1047.5
1015.0
4.30
68.42%
5.90
1.18
6th Aug
1942
MS
Stout
1042.3
1014.5
3.68
65.72%
6.64
1.21
27th May
1943
MS
Stout
1042.3
1015.0
3.61
64.54%
6.29
1.16
22nd Sep
1944
MS
Stout
1042.8
1014.0
3.81
67.29%
6.55
1.23
30th Sep
1945
MS
Stout
1042.9
1017.0
3.43
60.37%
4.84
0.93
Source:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives
documents LMA/4453/D/09/127, LMA/4453/D/09/128, LMA/4453/D/09/129

There's an easily identifiable pattern there. Gravities fell in the first half of the war, stabilised in 1942 and stayed at the same level until 1945.

5 comments:

athelstanbrewery said...

Is there any evidence that drinkers were mixing mild and bitter as in "a pint of mild and bitter"?

Ron Pattinson said...

athelstanbrewery, I'm sure sure drinkers mixed Mild and Bitter. Also Mild and Burton, Mild and Stout and various other combinations.

I can be pretty definite about that because I've seen the prices for various mixtures during WW I. As the practice continued until, well, today, I think it's safe to assume it was going on between those dates as well.

Thomas Barnes said...

Marginally relevant, but there was at least one US bomber based in the UK which was christened "Mild and Bitter" by its crew. No indication of whether the name refers to the mixture of the two, or just the usual English pub selection.

http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/B-26-Marauder/B-26-Photos/images/41-31819-B-26B-Marauder-9AF-322BG450BS-ER-X-Mild-and-Bitter-01.jpg

http://home.fuse.net/vaughan/Images/B-26%20web%20page%20photos/B-26%20Marauder%20photo%27s/pages/Mild%20and%20Bitter%2041-31819.html

Thomas Barnes said...

Why did gravities stabilize in 1942?

My guess is that it has to do with massive "Lend Lease" aid by the US which began in the last part of 1941 and really started in 1942. That and the brighter outlook for the UK once the US and USSR got into the war.

Ron Pattinson said...

Thomas Barnes, gravities probably stabilised because the amount of ingredients available stablised.

In WW II (unlike WW I) they took a long-term view virtually from the outset. The assumption was that the war would last many years and the food supply policy reflected that. By taking action early, food stocks never got into such a poor state as in WW I.

Production of barley in Britain shot up in the early war years, as they assumed no imported grain would be available. Really the gravity was determined by the quantity of home-grown grain available. It was possible to brew the required quantity of beer at the 1942 gravity using just domestic barley. Simple as that, really.