Barclay Perkins Ale production 1861 - 1870

There's something else I finally got around to in my last visit to the archives in London. Looking at the last in a set of documents called the Sanctum Sanctorum. They detail how much of each Ale was made in a year and the materials used to brew it. Dead handy figures to have.

For a random reason I can no longer remember, I hadn't photographed the one covering 1861 to 1870. A real shame, and not just for reasons of completeness. The 1860's was a crucial decade in the rise of Mild Ale and in particular X Ale.

You can see the Barclay Perkins output of X Ale more than doubled in the 1860's, from 47,000 to 97,000 barrels. Not only did the output of X Ale increase in real terms, the proportion of X Ale compared to other Ales also rose. It went from around 70% of the total to 88%. Gradually, all the stronger X Ales faded away. The same was true of London brewers, too. by 1900 XX, XXX and XXXX had disappeared from all the big London brewers' portfolios. The only stronger Ales brewed were in the form of Stock Ales: KK and KKK.

Barclay Perkins Ale production 1861 - 1870 (barrels)
Year	malt (qtrs)	hops (lbs)	X	XL	XX	XXX	KK	KKK	KKKK	Table	total	% X
1861	21,930	288,028	47,285	604	5,474	1,102	6,723	4,676	100		65,964	71.68%
1862	21,045	286,027	46,781	1,177	4,097	1,675	8,909	4,399	111	1,172	68,321	68.47%
1863	23,500	335,936	48,604	1,209	4,496	1,329	13,064	4,401	225	1,174	74,502	65.24%
1864	22,200	249,717	50,168		3,887	1,292	7,385	4,741	492		67,965	73.81%
1865	23,846	267,602	58,391		5,016	1,032	5,935	4,310	134		74,818	78.04%
1866	23,242	247,040	63,427		4,897	791	3,569	2,318	229		75,231	84.31%
1867	24,446	237,896	68,333		4,966	908	4,173	2,605	112		81,097	84.26%
1868	24,416	226,664	73,601		5,368	1,029	3,129	1,309			84,436	87.17%
1869	30,140	311,128	87,421		5,892	871	2,937	6,199	1,062		104,382	83.75%
1870	31,266	321,375	96,999		4,709	599	5,172	2,055	102		109,636	88.47%
Source:
Barclay Perkins document held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/672

Here's a little more historical context for those 1860's numbers:

Barclay Perkins Ale production 1834 - 1855 (barrels)
Year	malt (qtrs)	hops (lbs)	X	XX	XXX	XXXX	KK	KKK	KKKK	Table	total	% X
1834	5,695	51,270	3,434	8,014	812		622	507		985	14,374	23.89%
1840	22,111	239,324	16,936	9,514	2,804	302	4,589	6,575	466		41,186	41.12%
1845	24,810	402,083	22,497	8,502	3,274	98	4,366	5,313	176	1,164	45,390	49.56%
1850	23,625	327,556	32,604	7,765	1,975		2,686	7,351	204	1,097	53,682	60.74%
1855	20,018	294,198	35,153	4,870	1,018		5,445	2,722	102	960	50,270	69.93%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins documents held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/669, ACC/2305/01/670 and ACC/2305/01/671

It's odd what happened with X Ale in London. As it became the dominant style, the range of different X Ales contracted. Usually the opposite is true. When a style becomes more popular more different-strength versions appear. That's certainly what happened with Pale Ale. Not quite sure why it was the other way around with Mild.

The stronger Ales all had their peak output early on: XX in 1836, XXX in 1838 and XXXX in 1837.Clearly the working man had decided that X Ale was his favourite. When you look at the strength of these beers it's easy to see why:

BP Ales in 1839
Beer	OG
X	1071.7
XX	1087.5
XXX	1104.4
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/550.

Even a bottom of the range X Ale was a pretty powerful beer. Gravities fell a little over the century, but in 1869 the X Ales were still pretty formidable. Not something I'd want to drink a gallon of. Not something I could drink a gallon of.

BP Ales in 1862
Beer	OG
X	1066.2
XX	1081.2
XXX	1098.6
Source:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/569.

Before 1834, Barclay Perkins had been a Porter-only brewery. Wisely, they had moved into Ale in the 1830's when the swing from Porter to Mild started. You can see that move accelerating in the 1860's and by the end of the decade more than 25% of Barclays output was Ale. Porter and Stout remained more important for London brewers than those in the provinces, but by the end of the 19th century they  were brewing more Ale than Porter. At Whitbread Ale first outstripped Porter in 1876*. At Barclay Perkins it took a little longer.

Barclay Perkins output 1834 - 1870
Year	Ale output	total output	% Ale
1834	14,374	343,569	4.18%
1840	41,186	400,838	10.27%
1845	45,390	396,784	11.44%
1850	53,682	397,360	13.51%
1855	50,270	357,836	14.05%
1861	65,964	373,043	17.68%
1862	68,321	383,436	17.82%
1863	74,502	418,461	17.80%
1864	67,965	415,721	16.35%
1865	74,818	415,142	18.02%
1866	75,231	428,000	17.58%
1867	81,097	423,444	19.15%
1868	84,436	405,622	20.82%
1869	104,382	409,327	25.50%
1870	109,636	410,710	26.69%
Sources:
Barclay Perkins documents held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/669, ACC/2305/01/670, ACC/2305/01/671and ACC/2305/01/672
"The British Brewing Industry, 1830-1980" T. R. Gourvish & R.G. Wilson, pages 610-611

* Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/041 and LMA/4453/D/09/070.