Was Vienna Lager really that weak?

One of the features of Lager most praised when it first arrived in Britain was its relative lack of alcohol. Some even rashly declared non-intoxicating, which was clearly rubbish.

This is a follow-up to the series in the British Medical Journal on the Malt Liquors Sold in the United Kingdom. And throws doubt on the claim of the weakness of Vienna LAger.

"COMPARATIVE STRENGTH OF VIENNESE AND LONDON ALE AND BEER.
Some misapprehension prevails, we find, as to the real strength of the Viennese beer now being sold here at the very high price of sixpence per pint. It is presumed to have all the other qualities of good beer, but to be comparatively innocent of alcohol, and far less "heady", for example, than porter or what is called "fourpenny ale" (the quart). This is not so. The two samples of Vienna beer referred to in the report published in this Journal of the 23rd of January last showed an alcoholic strength amounting to about 4.45 per cent, by weight, or 5.55 by volume, of absolute alcohol, corresponding to an alcoholic content of 1.14 fluid ounce per pint of the beer. This is rather higher than the alcoholic strength of the best kind of London porter, which contains about 3.76 per cent, by weight, or 4.7 by volume, of absolute alcohol. The generality of what is called fourpenny ale (the quart) has much the same alcoholic strength. The better kinds of ale, such as Crowley's Alton ale and bitter ale, contain from 4.48 to 6.16 per cent, by weight, or from 5.6 to 7.7 per cent, by volume, of absolute alcohol; and old Burton ale contains as much as 8.32 per cent, by weight, or 10.32 per cent, by volume, of absolute alcohol. In point of alcoholic strength, therefore, the Vienna beer sold in London is somewhat superior to good porter; but in this respect it stands below the average of the ale commonly sold, and it is not much more than one-half as strong as the best kind of old Burton ale."
"British Medical Journal, Volume I 1869 January - June", 1869, page 148.

Was Vienna Lager really stronger than Porter and Four Ale (or X Ale as it was known within breweries)? You can probably guess what's coming. Because if there's one thing I have in abundance it's brewing records of London brewers. Let's take a look at some London Porters and X Ales, shall we?

First Porter:

London Porter 1867 -1870
Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
19th Oct	1869	Whitbread	P	1052.1	1013.9	5.06	73.40%	12.56	2.87
21st Jul	1869	Whitbread	P	1050.4	1014.4	4.76	71.43%	13.44	3.03
3rd Aug	1869	Whitbread	P	1050.1	1013.9	4.80	72.38%	13.87	3.08
5th Jul	1870	Truman	Runner	1056.8	1016.6	5.31	70.73%	10.3	2.64
4th Nov	1870	Truman	Runner	1055.4	1012.2	5.72	78.00%	11.1	2.62
10th Apr	1867	Barclay Perkins	TT	1054.0	1016.3	4.98	69.74%	5.47	1.42
24th Apr	1867	Barclay Perkins	TT	1054.8	1016.6	5.06	69.70%	9.41	2.43
average				1053.4	1014.8	5.10	72.20%	10.89	2.59
Sources:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/063.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/572.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/072.

Now X Ale:

London X Ale 1869 -1871
Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
14th Jan	1869	Whitbread	X	1052.1	1010.2	5.53	80.32%	6.42	1.61
31st Jul	1869	Whitbread	X	1054.3	1016.1	5.06	70.41%	9.67	2.50
5th Jul	1871	Truman	X Ale	1063.7	1011.1	6.96	82.61%	9.0	2.46
6th Jul	1871	Truman	X Ale	1063.4	1010.5	7.00	83.41%	9.0	2.45
18th Aug	1869	Barclay Perkins	X	1060.4	1015.2	5.97	74.77%	8.63	2.40
20th Aug	1869	Barclay Perkins	X	1060.1	1014.7	6.01	75.58%	12.45	3.55
30th Aug	1869	Barclay Perkins	X	1059.8	1018.3	5.50	69.44%	11.88	3.13
average				1059.1	1013.7	6.00	76.65%	9.58	2.58
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/034 and LMA/4453/D/01/035.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/1/579/1.
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/152.

The tables confirm what I suspected: London X Ale was a bit stronger than Porter. You can see that the X Ales averaged almost 1% ABV more than the Porters. Which brings us back to the original question - was Vienna Lager stronger than X Ale and Porter?

The answer is yes and no. Spookily, it was exactly half-way in strength between the two.