Tetley's beers in 1868 (part one)

Time for the first quick run through of Tetley's beers. I'm starting at 1868 for no particular reason other tha that the logs are nice and easy to read. I'll be venturing further into the brewery's past when I can be arsed to struggle with the scrawly handwriting.

I'm kicking off with the Milds. And something that's either a Mild or a Strong Ale. I'm not totally sure. But, as contemporary Tetley adverts mention Strong Ale and it's the strongest beer in the logs, it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that XX is that Strong Ale.

Tetley's records are nicely detailed. Which means that it really gives racking gravities for the beers. Had it not been so precise, I might have wondered about some of those FG's. But they definitely are racking gravities. Two comments on the FG's. First, they vary an awful lot. Even between the same batch in different fermenters. Secondly, some look awfully high. In general they look high, the FG's.

But I've just checked Barclay Perkins and Whitbread beers of the same period. And the level of apparent attenuation of their Mild Ales is fairly similar: mostly between 65% and 70%. Which looks quite low to modern eyes. What is definitely different is the range of gravities covered by the London Milds and Tetley's Milds.

Tetley (1868): 1047, 1055, 1062, 1065, 1067
Whitbread (1868): X 1061, XL 1070, XX 1080
Barclay Perkins (1868): X 1061, XX 1080, XXX 1093
Truman (1871) X 1063, XX 1078, XXX 1090

The two weakest Tetley Milds had no equivalent at Barclay Perkins or Whitbread. And there was no Tetley beer matching the strength of London XX or XXX. The spread of gravities, and the differences between the individual beers, are much smaller at Tetley. The five Milds span just 20 points, while Barclay Perkins' three Milds covered more than 30 points.

What about hopping rates? Comparing beers with similar gravities - Tetley X with two lines to London X Ales - the results are confusing. Whitbread's X Ale, with around 1.5 lbs per barrel, is hopped rather less than the Tetley Mild. Barclay Perkins' and Truman's X, however, have between 2.5 and 3 pounds per barrel. So more than the Tetley beer. Not totally sure what to make of that.

You know the drill. There will be much, much more of this to follow.

Tetley Mild and Strong Ales 1868
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp	max. fermentation temp	length of fermentation (days)	comments
2nd Nov	1868	*	Mild	1046.5	1019.1	3.63	58.93%	6.00	1.17	1.5	2				60º	63º	6	Bohemian hops
5th Oct	1868	*	Mild	1047.1	1017.5	3.92	62.94%	6.00	1.11	1.5	1.5				63º	64º	5	Bohemian hops
1st Oct	1868	*	Mild	1047.4	1020.8	3.52	56.14%	6.00	1.11	1.5	2				66º	66º	4	Bohemian hops
19th Oct	1868	X (one line)	Mild	1054.8	1018.8	4.76	65.66%	6.00	1.24	1.5	2	2			61º	62º	6	Bohemian hops
2nd Nov	1868	X (one line)	Mild	1054.8	1021.6	4.40	60.61%	6.00	1.38	1.5	2				60º	65º	6	Bohemian hops
2nd Oct	1868	X (one line)	Mild	1055.4	1019.4	4.76	65.00%	6.00	1.30	1.5	2				59º	63º	6	Bohemian hops
1st Oct	1868	X (two lines)	Mild	1061.2	1018.8	5.61	69.23%	8.00	1.95	1.5	2				59º	66º	6	Bohemian hops
3rd Oct	1868	X (two lines)	Mild	1062.0	1017.2	5.94	72.32%	8.00	2.10	1.5	2				60º	66º	7	Bohemian hops
5th Oct	1868	X (two lines)	Mild	1062.0	1017.7	5.86	71.43%	8.00	2.00	1.5	2				62º	65º	9	Bohemian hops
3rd Nov	1868	X (two lines)	Mild	1065.4	1022.2	5.72	66.10%	10.00	10.00	1.5	2				61º	64º	7	Bohemian hops
20th Oct	1868	X (two lines)	Mild	1065.9	1016.9	6.49	74.37%	9.96	2.67	1.5	2				61º	65º	8	Bohemian hops
6th Oct	1868	X (three lines)	Mild	1066.5	1016.3	6.63	75.42%	10.00	2.86	2	2				61º	66º	8	Bohemian hops
19th Oct	1868	X (three lines)	Mild	1066.5	1022.2	5.86	66.67%	9.96	3.93	1.5	2				61º	65º	8	Bohemian hops
6th Oct	1868	XX	Strong Ale	1071.7	1019.4	6.93	72.97%	10.00	3.08	2	2				61º	66º	8	Bohemian hops
3rd Nov	1868	XX	Strong Ale	1073.7	1026.9	6.19	63.53%	10.00	3.09	1.5	2				61º	65º	7	Bohemian hops
20th Oct	1868	XX	Strong Ale	1074.5	1023.8	6.71	68.03%	10.00	3.02	1.5	2				60º	65º	8	Bohemian hops
17th Oct	1868	XX	Strong Ale	1074.8	1031.3	5.75	58.15%	10.00	3.04	1.5	1.5	1.5	2	2	59º	63º	6	Bohemian hops
9th Oct	1868	XX	Strong Ale	1075.3	1013.9	8.14	81.62%	10.00	3.10	1.5	2				60º	68º	8	Bohemian hops
Source:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service Leeds, document number WYL756/16/ACC1903