James Calder beers 1922 - 1961

To break up those slabs of text from old books, there's something lighter today. Almost fluffy.

I promised you a look at James Calder's beers and here they are. Though, if you've been paying attention, you'll realise that none were brewed at Calder's Shore Brewery. That closed in 1921 and Calder's products were produced at Arrol's Alloa Brewery. Until 1951, when they moved to Jeffrey in Edinburgh.

The most surprising beer in the table below is the first: a Stout from 1922. Why is it unusual? Because of the attenuation, almost 80%. Scots loved their Stouts sweet and this one is surprisingly dry. You can see that later they did brew more Scottish-looking Stouts with low attenuation.

Brown Ale was one trend that did hit Scotland around the same time as England. I'm surprised that the OG of Calder's only fell five points between 1938 and 1950. Around double that woukld have been more typical. In the 1950's, most Brown Ales clawed their way above 1030. The name - Nut Brown Ale - signifies nothing in particular. It's a stock phrase that appears in several  poems and songs. A bit like "oinomata ponta" ("wine-dark sea") in Homer.

Here's one:

THE PLAYERS' SONG.

The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
Puts downe all drinke when it is stale,
The toast, the nutmeg, and the ginger,
Will make the sighing man a singer.

Ale gives a buffet in the head,
But ginger under proppes the brayne;
When ale would strike a strong man dead,
Then nutmegge tempers it againe,
The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
Puts downe all drinke when it is stale.

"Festive songs, principally of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Volume 23" by William Sandys, 1848, pages 81 - 82.

And here's another:

'When the chill sciroco blows,
And winter tells a heavy tale ;
When pies, and daws, and rooks and crows,
Do sit and curse the frost and snows ;
Then give me ale,
Old brown ale,
Nut brown ale,
Stout brown ale,

O give me stout brown ale -
Ale that the plowman's health up keeps,
And equals it to tyrant thrones ;
That wipes the eye that ever weeps,
And lulls in sweet and dainty sleeps.:
Th' o'er wearied bones
Old brown ale, &c.

From the comic opera "Robin Hood" by Robin Mcnally, 1783, page 31.

Do a search in Google Books and you'll find loads of works in which the phrase was used.

Considering that's what made their name, there are very few Pale Ales. Though that could be because of the source of the data. All analyses from 1950 on come from the Whitbread Gravity Book. With a big brand of Milk Stout (Mackeson), Whitbread were keen to see what its rivals were up to. They were also fascinated with Brown Ale.

See how the one 60/- is a Pale Ale. That's what 60/- was before WW II. I'd love to know how and when (and why, come to think of it) it became a type of Dark Mild.

Here's the table.

James Calder beers 1922 - 1961
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Attenuation
1922	Stout	Stout		pint	draught		1011	1052.99		5.47	79.24%
1922	Ale?	Ale?		pint	draught		1010.8	1052.34	70	5.41	79.29%
1928	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1037		3.77	78.38%
1937	Milk Stout	Stout		pint	bottled		1022.3	1055.75		4.32	60.09%
1938	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale		pint	bottled	0.06	1013.4	1039.4	10 + 40	3.36	65.99%
1939	60/- Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007.8	1036.75	11 – 12	3.77	78.91%
1939	Milk Stout	Stout	5d	half pint	bottled		1021	1052.5		4.06	60.00%
1940	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1005	1035.5		3.97	85.92%
1941	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009	1038.5		3.83	76.62%
1948	Stout	Stout		pint	bottled		1015	1039.5		3.16	62.03%
1948	Scotch Strong Ale	Scotch Ale		pint	bottled		1019	1065.5		6.04	70.99%
1948	Export Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1015	1045.5		3.95	67.03%
1949	Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006.5	1029		2.92	77.59%
1949	Stout	Stout		pint	bottled		1013	1038.5		3.30	66.23%
1950	Nut Brown Ale	Brown Ale	1/-	half pint	bottled	0.06	1011.4	1034.3	40 + 8	2.96	66.76%
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale			bottled	0.05	1014.2	1054.7	21.5 B	5.26	74.04%
1950	Milk Stout	Stout			bottled	0.07	1029.7	1069.3	1 + 14 B	5.10	57.14%
1954	Scotch Stout	Stout	1/2d	half pint	bottled	0.04	1015.9	1040.9	1 + 14	3.23	61.12%
1959	Scotch Stout	Stout	14d	halfpint	bottled		1021.5	1042.2	300	2.66	49.05%
1961	Export Ale	Pale Ale	15d	half pint	bottled	0.05	1009.9	1044.1	23	4.27	77.55%
1961	Stout (no lactose)	Stout	16d	half pint	bottled	0.06	1019.8	1041.3	250	2.69	52.06%
Sources:
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11
Whitbread Gravity Book document LMA/4453/D/02/001 held at the London Metropolitan Archives
Whitbread Gravity Book document LMA/4453/D/02/002 held at the London Metropolitan Archives