Aitchison beers 1925 - 1959

Aitchison. It's my new best mate. Remember I said That I felt a table coming on? It's come. The table, I mean. Today.

I'm quite lucky, having most of the 20th century covered. Pretty much right up until they closed in 1961.


As you can see, the majority are Pale Ales of various strengths. Mostly the two classic variations from between the wars: 60/- at around 1039º and 70/- at 1045. Roughly the equivalent to modern 70/- and 80/-. One of the things I like about the Thomas Usher Gravity Book are the descriptions of flavour. The ones for Aitchison's Pale Ales aren't particularly flattering : "thin sweetish flavour". I wonder if this is when sweet Pale Ales came into fashion in Scotland?

Note the watery Pale Ale sold as 90/-. The practice of calling Strong Ales 90/- in Scotland is very recent. I suspect it goes back at the very most to the 1970's. I can't remember seeing a 90/- in the 19th century. They tended to go for multiples of 20: 60/-. 80/-, 100/-, 120/-., 140/- and 160/-. 90 bob seems to have first appeared after WW I and referred to a weak, bottled Pale Ale or IPA. Why they're called 90/- when they're weaker than 60/- Pale Ales is a mystery to me. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Brown Ale, as in England, had a burst of popularity in Scotland in the 1920's and 1930's. The two pre-war samples here are right on the border between a standard and a Double Brown in terms of gravity. The post-war one, at just over 1040º, is a around 10º stronger than a typical 1950's Brown Ale. With a colour of 50 EBC, it's only slightly darker than Newcastle Brown.

The beers sold as Strong Ale and Scotch Ale are probably the same beer. 1070º to 1080º is decent gravity for the 1950's and is around what most domestic Scotch Ales were in the 1930's. You'll not that both are a fairly dark brown. Those two-number colours are about 90 - 100 EBC.

I was surprised to see there's only one Stout. And that isn't even an Aitchison's beer. It's a brand from brand from McLennan & Urquhart, whose Dalkeith brewery Aitchison bought in 1955 and closed in 1958. It looks a typical low-alcohol, Scottish sweet Stout. It's a shame there aren't some other Aitchison Stouts to compare it with.

That's it for now. Unless I can find any more Aitchison-related material.

Aitchison beers 1925 - 1959
Year	Beer	Style	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Flavour
1925	??	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009	1059.5	25	6.61	84.87%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006.3	1035.3		3.77	82.27%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1006	1035		3.77	82.86%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	6d	half pint	bottled		1009	1038	30	3.76	76.32%
1927	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	half pint	bottled		1011	1045	25	4.42	75.56%
1928	60/- Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1039.5		4.23	82.28%
1929	60/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009.8	1038.8		3.76	74.84%
1929	60/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1009.8	1040.3	Pale no. 1 - 2 glass paler than standard	3.96	75.78%	thin sweetish flavour with after bitter. Possibly indicates addition of priming.
1929	70/- Beer	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1045	Pale no. 2 half glass paler than our Newcastle 70/-	4.82	82.22%	Does not drink its gravity.
1929	60/- (pale)	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1045.5	Between 1 - 2. Same as our standard	4.89	82.42%	Thin sweetish flavour, but after bitter not so prounced as sample from ???
1931	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	7d	pint	bottled	0.05	1008.8	1039.3		3.96	77.61%
1931	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	8d	pint	bottled	0.06	1015.9	1047.9		4.14	66.81%
1931	XXXX Ale	Strong Ale	8d	pint	bottled	0.05	1009.9	1046.6		4.77	78.76%
1933	Brown Ale	Brown Ale		pint	bottled		1015.5	1045.5		3.88	65.93%
1934	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	draught		1007.3	1039.3		4.16	81.53%
1937	60/- Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1040	9 – 10	4.29	82.50%
1939	60/- Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1039	12	4.16	82.05%
1940	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1038		3.90	78.95%
1947	105/- Ale	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1008	1036		3.64	77.78%
1947	80/- Ale	Pale Ale	16d	pint	bottled		1008	1042		4.42	80.95%
1949	"Best Cellar"	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1010.5	1042		4.09	75.00%
1949	PA 90/-	Pale Ale		pint	bottled		1007	1029		2.85	75.86%
1950	Scotch Ale	Scotch Ale		half pint	bottled	0.13	1020.8	1080	4 + 40	7.73	74.00%
1950	Best Cellar Ale	Ale	1/1d	half pint	bottled	0.06	1011.3	1046.8	21 B	4.61	75.85%
1953	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1/3d	nip	bottled	0.07	1021.5	1072.6	9 + 40	6.64	70.39%
1956	Aitchie Blue Seal Pale Ale	Pale Ale	1/4d	half pint	bottled	0.05	1010.2	1030	26	2.56	66.00%
1956	Gold Seal Brown Ale	Brown Ale	10.5d	half pint	bottled	0.04	1013.9	1041.6	50	3.58	66.59%
1959	Dalkeith Sweet Stout	Stout	15d	halfpint	bottled		1021.3	1037.3	600	2.05	42.90%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive