Tuesday 15 November 2011

Samuel Webster beers 1959 - 1989

Request time again. We're still in Yorkshire, this time in the west of the county. In Halifax.

I went to Halifax once. Only place I've ever seen a "Men Only" sign. That, coincidentally, was a Webster's pub.

I did drink a bit of Webster's in my youth, as they had several pubs in Leeds. What was that one in Armley called? They used to sell the Dark Mild, which wasn't that common. Most places seemed to sell Green Label rather than the Dark Mild.

That 1950's lineup is a good one. Something you see both sides of the Pennines. Mild, Best Mild and Bitter. With Best Mild pale and Mild dark. Though, in this case, the Mild isn't all that dark. 80 or 80 EBC is more typical for a Dark Mild. 55 EBC is more like Banks's Mild.

Look at that attenuation in the 1950's. Those draught beers must have been pretty dry. I'm being kind. Watery, more like. 

Those two 1980's Milds, Light and Dark with the same OG. I wonder if they were the same beer, just the one got extra caramel? What am I saying? That's obviously the case. Who the hell would have bothered brewing two different Milds to the same gravity?

Here's a question to ponder. That Sam Brown Ale: is it a Northern or Southern type?

On that note, I'll pass you over to the numbers:


Samuel Webster beers 1955 - 1989
Year Beer Style Price size package Acidity FG OG colour ABV App. Atten-uation
1955 Sam Brown Ale Brown Ale 9.5d half pint bottled 0.05 1013 1035.7 95 2.93 63.59%
1956 Velvet Stout Stout 1/2d half pint bottled 0.05 1022.3 1045.1 425 2.93 50.55%
1959 Velvet Stout Stout 13d halfpint bottled 1019.8 1040.1 300 2.61 50.62%
1959 Dukes?? Ale Pale Ale 10d half pint bottled 0.04 1006.8 1035.3 19 3.56 80.74%
1959 Old Brown Brown Ale 15.5d nip bottled 0.05 1023.1 1071.4 110 6.27 67.65%
1959 Velvet Stout Stout 14.5d halfpint bottled 0.05 1019.3 1046.1 300 3.45 58.13%
1959 Old Tom Old Ale 13d halfpint bottled 0.05 1012.5 1045.1 150 4.23 72.28%
1959 Green Label Ale Mild, Light 11.5d halfpint bottled 0.04 1006.7 1039 24 4.20 82.82%
1959 Sam Brown Ale Brown Ale 9d halfpint bottled 0.04 1011.1 1036.8 95 3.33 69.84%
1959 Bitter Pale Ale 16d pint draught 0.06 1004.7 1038 22 4.16 87.63%
1959 Best Mild Mild, Light 13d pint draught 0.05 1004.4 1034.9 20 3.81 87.39%
1959 Mild Mild 12d pint draught 0.06 1005.7 1032 50 3.29 82.19%
1959 Bitter Pale Ale 15d pint draught 0.07 1005.4 1037 20 3.95 85.41%
1959 Best Mild Mild, Light 13d pint draught 0.06 1005.9 1035 20 3.64 83.14%
1959 Mild Mild 12d pint draught 0.05 1004.8 1031.6 55 3.35 84.81%
1964 Sam Brown Ale Brown Ale 20d pint bottled 0.04 1009.6 1036 95 3.30 73.33%
1977 Pennine Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1977 Best Mild Mild, Light pint draught 1033.8
1979 Pennine Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1979 Best Mild Mild, Light pint draught 1033.8
1979 Nut Brown Mild pint draught 1033.8
1981 Yorkshire Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1981 Yorkshire Light Mild, Light pint draught 1033.8
1981 Yorkshire Dark Mild pint draught 1033.8
1982 Yorkshire Dark Mild pint draught 1033.8
1982 Yorkshire Light Mild pint draught 1033.8
1982 Yorkshire Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1983 Yorkshire Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1983 Yorkshire Light Mild, Light pint draught 1033.8
1983 Dark Mild Mild pint draught 1032
1986 Yorkshire Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1037.5
1986 Green Label Best Mild, Light pint draught 1033
1986 Webster's Choice Pale Ale pint draught 1032
1989 Yorkshire Bitter Pale Ale pint draught 1036
1989 Green Label Best Mild, Light pint draught 1033
1989 Webster's Choice Pale Ale pint draught 1045
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990

20 comments:

Matt said...

I see they were brewing Old Tom in 1959, a bit of a blow to the theory you hear a lot in Stockport that Robinsons called their strong ale that after the name of the brewery cat.

Ron Pattinson said...

Matt, I've found three other breweries that made a beer called Old Tom: Bent, Hammonds and Selby.

Rob Sterowski said...

Maybe all the cats were called Tom.

StringersBeer said...

Now then lad, what's wrong with dry beers? When I was I little kid, loads of the pubs round our way were Webster's and they weren't short of customers.

Thom Farrell said...

The spring water they used to brew it was full of magnesium sulphate, with the sulphate adding dryness to the beers.

Thom Farrell said...

Are the draught beers cask or keg or both?

Thom Farrell said...

Is that right? The OG of Webster's Choice was 1032 in 1986 and 1045 in 1989.

Thom Farrell said...

Very interesting Ron.

Andrew Booth said...

Hi Ron do you have recipes for any of the Websters bitters?/ I have been set a challenge to recreate some of them

Ron Pattinson said...

Andrew Booth,

no, I'm afraid I don't.

Andrew Booth said...

Well I’ve just brewed a 1959 recipe from a ledger I acquired from a former brewer at Fountains head Brewery it’s a tad on the strong side but a gorgeous pint.

Ron Pattinson said...

Andrew Booth,

would you be willing to share some photos of that ledger with me?

Andrew Booth said...

Ordinarily I would but the person who let me copy the recipes for Nut Brown and Green Label plus one or two others made me promise not to pass on the information since everything Websters is owned by a guy in Edinburgh. As a aside when Websters Brewery was shut down in 1996 all the records were stuck in a container and sent to John Smiths in Tadcaster where they still are the copy I got was kept by someone who worked in the labs at Ovended Wood.

Andrew Booth said...

I’m afraid i can’t the person allowed my to copy what he had and use for my own use I have been requested to brew some of the old Websters Recipes. The person who kept the ledger after closure is worried that they could be identified as everything Websters is owned by a guy in Edinburgh. All the brewery records are in a container at John Smiths in Tadcaster where they were taken in 1996 after closure of the Ovendon Wood Site.

Dave Lines wasn’t far out in the book Brew Beers Like Those you Buy he basically got the hops slightly wrong.

In my brew I used a Wyeast West Yorkshire Yeast as that is a very close strain of yeast to the one that was used at Websters.

Andrew Booth said...

The recipe for best is straight forward after a little more research I have discovered the brewery archives for Websters is held by Calderdale Archive Service so have booked a appointment there to further my knowledge the Dave Lines Book recipe for Websters Yorkshire Bitter is out by a country mile on the amounts of grain and hops I suspect the recipe he was given was a wartime recipe when both malts and hops were in short supply

Ron Pattinson said...

Andrew Booth,

good to know that their records have been properly archived.

Andrew Booth said...

Hi Ron you might be pleased to know that I have finally found the core recipes for Websters Beers from the 1980s I have brewed both Green Label and Pennine both turned out well I’m hoping to resurrect the brewery at the Birthplace of Samuel Webster himself.

Andrew Booth said...

Hi Ron, could you tell me source of the figures myself and another person are relaunching Websters ales from next January.

Ron Pattinson said...

Andrew Booth,

it says at the bottom of the table:

Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990

Andrew Booth said...

Thankyou very Much Ron