Bottled Beers 1900 - 1909

I'm very surprised that Bottled beers in the 1870's was one of the most poular posts in September. No idea why, but it's had four times the views of any other post in this series. The best I can come up with is that you're a weird lot.

I have a lot more examples for this time slice. And it's not just a question of having found more price lists for this period. A much higher percentage of the price lists include bottled beer. There's a simple enough explanation: by this time a large percentage of breweries had started bottling themselves. It doesn't mean their beers weren't available in bottled form before. Before 1880 most beer was bottled by independent bottlers. The price lists I've used as sources were mostly advertisements placed by breweries. When they weren't producing and selling it themselves, why should they bother including bottled beer in an advert?

In the case of the Young's beers in the table, these were the first produced by the brewery. Which seems a little late to me.

This time I decided to lump the Light Bitters in with Dinner Ales. It's a bit arbitrary, but what the hell. My reasoning was to show the different strands of Pale Ale establishing their own identity. Those were IPA, Pale Ale and Light Bitter/Dinner Ale. It would be neat to say I've listed them in descending order of strength and price, but that isn't necessarily so. Light Bitter/Dinner Ale was always the weakest of a brewery's Pale Ales, but the position of IPA and Pale varied from brewery to brewery. For example, Whitbread's IPA was weaker than their Pale Ale.

style	no. examples	%
Stout	38	37.62%
IPA	18	17.82%
Dinner Ale	16	15.84%
Ale	9	8.91%
Pale Ale	8	7.92%
Lager	2	1.98%
Mild	2	1.98%
Porter	2	1.98%
Strong Ale	2	1.98%
Cooper	2	1.98%
Low Alcohol	1	0.99%
Brown Ale	1	0.99%
Total	101	100.00%

There are the most examples of Stout by a street, more than double the second best represented style, IPA. But, if I lump together all the Black Beers (Stout, Porter and Cooper) and all the Pale Ales (IPA, Pale and Dinner Ale) it's a dead heat, with 42 of each. This is a fairly random selection of examples, but I believe it does show general trends in bottled beer. Pale Ales and Stouts were far and away the most popular styles in bottle.

style	no. examples	%
Stout	38	37.62%
Porter	2	1.98%
Cooper	2	1.98%
subtotal	42	41.58%
IPA	18	17.82%
Pale Ale	8	7.92%
Dinner Ale	16	15.84%
subtotal	42	41.58%
Total	101	124.75%

You may have spotted that, for the first time, there's a Brown Ale. I confess that I'm not 100% sure that Maxim Ale was a Brown Ale at this point. That's just a guess on my part. In my defence, 1909 is about a decade after the first appearance of Brown Ale. So it's not a totally unreasonable assumption.

One word about pricing. At first I thought 1s 4d for 4 quarts of Truman Family Ale or Oatmeal Stout must be wrong. It sounded far too cheap. But it only works out to 4d a quart - the equivalent of 2s per dozen Imperial pints. Cheap, but not unreasonably so. And quarts were the cheapest format to produce. It looks like crates of 4 quarts were competing directly with draught beer fetched in a jug from the local pub. 4d a quart is the same price X Ale sold for in the public bar.

I'm pretty sure that I can match up Truman Family Ale with a beer in their brewing records. LK - London Keeper - appeared sometime between 1900 and 1905. It had a very low gravity for a London Pale Ale of the period: just 1046º at a time when their X Ale was over 1050º

I feared that I would struggle to spot the Oatmeal Stout. Turned out to be a piece of piss. As there was a thing called "Bottling" in the only brews that contained oats. It was parti-gyled with Country Runner, a Porter. So while it was marketed as a Stout, it was really a Porter. And the weakest one of Truman's Porters at that. It just shows how arbitrary the distinction between Porter and Stout was.

There were a few Milds this time, including Rogers' Imperial Mild Ale. Judging by the price - 3 shillings for a dozen reputed pints - it truly was Imperial. That's the equivalent of 4s 6d for a dozen Imperial pints. The only other beers in the table costing that much were Bass Pale Ale and Guinness Extra Stout, both beers that were sold at a premium. My guess would be that the Imperial Mild had an OG between 1090º and 1100º.

This time around, I've got brewing records for two breweries: Tetley and Truman. Which means another two tables. Aren't you lucky.

Truman Family Ale and Oatmeal Stout
Year	Beer	Style	OG	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1909	Bottling	Porter	1052.6	7.5	1.82
1909	LK	Pale Ale	1045.7	6.2	1.30
Source:
Truman brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, documents numbers B/THB/C/112 and B/THB/C/190.

I suppose I should decode the Tetley beers for you. I think K is the Dinner Ale, PA is definitely the East India Pale Ale, P is definitely the Family Porter and S definitely the Extra Stout. Special Mild Ale, Imperial Ale and Strong Ale are probably X2, X3 and XX respectively. It would be easier to work out if they all had come in the same size bottle.

Tetley beers in 1904
Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	barrels
1904	K	Pale Ale	1045.4	1007.8	4.98	82.93%	7.72	1.45	211.25
1904	P	Porter	1050.4	1017.2	4.40	65.93%	4.91	1.03	41.75
1904	PA	Pale Ale	1059.8	1010.8	6.49	81.94%	11.13	2.96	333.25
1904	S	Stout	1066.8	1020.5	6.12	69.29%	4.91	1.36	28
1904	X	Mild	1038.8	1010.0	3.81	74.29%	4.01	0.61	273.25
1904	X Pale	Mild	1042.1	1008.3	4.47	80.26%	5.71	0.96	56.25
1904	X1	Mild	1046.3	1010.5	4.73	77.25%	4.24	0.78	163.5
1904	X1 Pale	Mild	1047.9	1012.2	4.73	74.57%	5.71	1.12	28
1904	X2	Mild	1056.8	1013.3	5.75	76.59%	7.18	1.59	280.75
1904	X2 Pale	Mild	1056.2	1013.3	5.68	76.35%	5.71	1.31	53
1904	X3	Mild	1061.4	1017.7	5.77	71.11%	8.06	1.99	113.75
1904	XX	Mild	1071.7	1017.2	7.22	76.06%	8.06	2.33	112.25
Source:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service Leeds, document number WYL756/51/ACC1903.

And finally, here's the full table:

Bottled beers 1900 - 1909
Brewery	Place	year	beer	style	price per dozen	size	source
Barbe, H.J. & Co.	Ashton Clinton	1900	Ale	Ale	2s 6d		Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1909	Imperial	Ale	2s 6d	pint
Rochdale & Manor Brwry.	Rochdale	1909	Star Ale	Ale
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Bristol Ale	Ale	2s	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Bristol Ale	Ale	1s 3d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Monarch Ale	Ale	2s 6d	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Monarch Ale	Ale	1s 6d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Imperial (non-deposit) Ale	Ale	2s 2d	pony bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Walker & Homfray	Salford	1908	Comet Ale	Ale
C. Vaux & Sons Ltd	Sunderland	1909	Maxim Ale	Brown Ale
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	Cooper	Cooper	2s 6d		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	Cooper	Cooper	2s	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Light Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Light Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	1s 6d	half pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Aylesbury Brewery	Aylesbury	1900	ABC Light Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Aylesbury Brewery	Aylesbury	1900	ABC Light Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	1s 6d	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bailey & Tebbutt	Cambridge	1908	Light Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint
Daniell & Sons	Colchester	1900	Sparkling Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1902	Light D. A.	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint	Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	Light Bitter Ale	Dinner Ale	2s	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	AKK Light Bitter Ale	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	AKK Light Bitter Ale	Dinner Ale	1s 6d	half pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Light Bitter	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	pint screw	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Light Bitter	Dinner Ale	1s 6d	stoppered half pint	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Dinner Ale (Light Bitter)	Dinner Ale	1s 6d	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Dinner Ale (Light Bitter)	Dinner Ale	2s 6d	large bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Threlfall's	Salford	1905	XX Dinner Ale	Dinner Ale
Truman	London	1908	Truman's Family Ale	Dinner Ale	1s 4d	4 quarts
Allsopp	Burton	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	3s	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	1s 9d	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	3s 6d	pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	1s 9d	half pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Bass	Burton	1900	India Pale Ale	IPA	4s 6d	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bass	Burton	1900	India Pale Ale	IPA	2s 3d	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bass	Burton	1903	India Pale Ale	IPA	4s	pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Bass	Burton	1903	India Pale Ale	IPA	2s 6d	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Bass	Burton	1904	India Pale Ale	IPA	2s 3d	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	India Pale Ale	IPA	3s		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	India Pale Ale	IPA	3s	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	East India Pale Ale	IPA	3s 3d	pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	East India Pale Ale	IPA	1s 9d	half pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	3s	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	East India Pale Ale	IPA	1s 9d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley	Leeds	1904	East India Pale Ale	IPA	2s	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Threlfall's	Salford	1905	India Pale Ale	IPA
Young's	London	1905	IPA	IPA		First bottled beers.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Lager Beer	Lager	3s 6d	pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Lager Beer	Lager	2s 3d	half pint	Gloucester Citizen - Monday 04 June 1900, page 1.
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Hop Ale (Non-Intoxicating)	Low Alcohol	1s	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Bailey & Tebbutt	Cambridge	1908	Strong Ale	Mild	4s	pint
Bardsley Brewey	Ashton-Under-Lyne	1908	Best Mild (light Mild)	Mild
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Imperial Mild Ale	Mild	3s	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Special (non-deposit) Mild Ale	Mild	3s	large bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	2s 6d		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1902	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	3s 6d	pint	Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1909	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	3s 6d	pint
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	2s 6d	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Icon Heppenstall	Goole	1902	SBA Ale	Pale Ale	1s 6d	half pint
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	3s	pint screw	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	1s	stoppered half pint	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Young's	London	1905	PA Pale Ale	Pale Ale		First bottled beers.
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Family Porter	Porter	1s 6d	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Family Porter	Porter	2s 6d	large bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Stout	Stout	4s	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Allsopp	Burton	1900	Stout	Stout	2s	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bailey & Tebbutt	Cambridge	1908	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	2s 6d	pint
Bailey & Tebbutt	Cambridge	1908	Nourishing Stout	Stout	2s 6d	pint
Barbe, H.J. & Co.	Ashton Clinton	1900	Stout	Stout	3s		Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Bardsley Brewey	Ashton-Under-Lyne	1908	Double Stout	Stout
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	Single Stout	Stout	2s 6d		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	Double Stout	Stout	3s		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Breeds & Co	Hastings	1905	Oat Malt Stout	Stout	2s 6d		Kelly's Directory of Sussex, 1905
Combe & Co.	London	1900	Stout	Stout	3s	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Combe & Co.	London	1900	Stout	Stout	1s 9d	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Daniell & Sons	Colchester	1900	Creamy Stout	Stout	2s 6d	pint
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1902	Nourishing Stout	Stout	3s 3d	pint	Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1902
Godsell & Sons	Stroud, Gloucs	1909	Nourishing Stout	Stout	3s 3d	pint
Guinness	Dublin	1900	Stout	Stout	4s 6d	pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Guinness	Dublin	1900	Stout	Stout	2s 3d	half pint	Bucks Herald - Saturday 03 November 1900, page 1.
Guinness	Dublin	1903	Stout	Stout	4s	pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Guinness	Dublin	1903	Stout	Stout	2s 6d	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Guinness	Dublin	1904	Guinness	Stout	1s 11d	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Guinness	Dublin	1904	Guinness	Stout	3s 6d	large bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	Nourishing Stout	Stout	2s 6d	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Headington & Son	Wokingham	1903	Double Brown Stout	Stout	3s	half pint	Reading Mercury - Saturday 21 March 1903, page 10
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	2s 6d	pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Heavitree Brewery	Exeter	1909	Oatmeal Stout	Stout	1s 6d	half pint	Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 05 July 1909, page 2
Icon Heppenstall	Goole	1902	Double Stout	Stout	1s 6d	half pint
Rochdale & Manor Brwry.	Rochdale	1909	Oatmeal Nourishing Stout	Stout
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Bristol Stout	Stout	2s	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Bristol Stout	Stout	1s 3d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Monarch Stout	Stout	2s 6d	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Monarch Stout	Stout	1s 6d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	Imperial Double Stout	Stout	3s	reputed pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Family Stout	Stout	1s 6d	stoppered half pint	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Seth Senior and Sons	Huddersfield	1900	Extra Stout	Stout	1s 9d	stone bottle	Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 22 December 1900, page 1
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Extra Stout	Stout	1s 9d	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.
Truman	London	1908	Truman's Oatmeal Stout	Stout	1s 4d	4 quarts
Young's	London	1905	Oatmeal Stout	Stout		First bottled beers.
Young's	London	1905	Double Stout	Stout		First bottled beers.
Young's	London	1905	Stout	Stout		First bottled beers.
Rogers' Ales	Bristol	1900	XXXXX Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1s 9d	imperial half pint	Western Daily Press - Saturday 15 December 1900, page 3
Tetley	Leeds	1904	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	2s	small bottles	“Quality Pays . . the Story of Joshua Tetley & Son” by Clifford Lackey, 1985, page 99.

I'm not sure if I'll continue this further into the 20th century. I start getting information overload after WW I when I have Whitbread's and Truman's Gravity Books to play with.