The 4d and 5d refer to the price, though as you see, there are some Milds that cost 6d a pint in the 5d table. I've really grouped them by gravity, as there are also quite a few I don't have a price for.
Some strange things happened to Mild in the first decades of the 20th century. Especially in London. Some of it seems to be the result of the price controls introduced in WW I. The usual trend is that when a style becomes popular, it begets multiple sub-styles. Pale Ale is a good example. First there was IPA, out of which PA and AK developed. But with Mild, the opposite happened. As Mild increased in popularity in the second half of the 19th century, the stronger varieties (XX, XXX and XXXX) gradually withered away. By 1914 the London brewers I have brewing records from were all down to just one Mild, X Ale.
Don't ask me why that happened. Possibly because, as the favourite of the working classes, Mild Ale was expected to be cheap. Which, at 2d a pint, it certainly was. As its popularity rose, so its gravity fell. Eventually Mild and Porter ended up with the same gravity, unsurprising since they cost the same price.
Here's an illustration of that in table form:
| Whitbread Mild and Porter gravities | ||
| Year | Porter | X Ale |
| 1837 | 1060 | 1074 |
| 1840 | 1062 | 1076 |
| 1850 | 1061 | 1070 |
| 1860 | 1054 | 1067 |
| 1870 | 1050 | 1061 |
| 1880 | 1056 | 1061 |
| 1890 | 1057 | 1060 |
| 1900 | 1056 | 1056 |
| 1914 | 1053 | 1053 |
| Source: | ||
| Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives | ||
In the latter years of WW I and the immediate post-war years, there was strict government control of brewing. Beers had controlled prices, based on their OG. Brewers, presumably trying to appeal to as broad a public as possible, started brewing Milds in several different price categories. It was simple enough, they just needed to parti-gyle beers of different gravities from the same worts.
When controls were lifted in 1921, brewers continued to make two or three Milds. Whitbread kept two, LA and X Ale. Though the sales of LA were much smaller than of X Ale and declined every year. It was the next war that killed off the weakest class of Mild. Restrictions on brewing materials and government controls forced down gravities so much, that there was barely a difference between Ale (the name usually given top the weakest type of Mild) and X Ale.
You can see that there were considerable differences in value for money amongst the 5d Ales. A few are only about 1030, while others are as high as 1037. Note that the 5d Ales mostly have a higher degree of attenuation than the 4d Ales. You might expect that brewers would have done the opposite, to try to get the highest possible ABV for the gravity. But I think they kept the FG relatively high to stop the beer tasting too thin. The FG's of the 4d Ales are very similar to those of the 5d Ales. And you have to remember that no-one knew the ABV of the beer they were drinking back then because brewers kept it secret.
None of the beers in the tables are particularly dark, but the darker ones (40 + something) are all 4d Ales. Camden XX is very pale. Mid-20's is a typical Bitter colour.
That's me done. Nothing left but the tables.
| London 4d Mild Ales | ||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | Price per pint (pence) | FG | OG | colour | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| 1922 | Camden | XX | 1030.2 | 25 | ||||
| 1923 | Camden | XX | 1029.9 | 25 | ||||
| 1924 | Camden | XX | 1006.1 | 1029.9 | 27 | 3.15 | 79.63% | |
| 1925 | Whitbread | LA | 1004.0 | 1027.3 | 40 + 2 | 3.08 | 85.32% | |
| 1926 | Buddon Bigg | Ale | 4 | 1030 | ||||
| 1926 | Isherwood | Ale | 4 | 1026.7 | ||||
| 1926 | Meux | Ale | 4 | 1032.1 | ||||
| 1926 | Whitbread | LA | 1005.5 | 1027.2 | 40 + 3 | 2.87 | 79.80% | |
| 1927 | Buddon Bigg | Ale | 4 | 1028.8 | ||||
| 1927 | Fuller | Ale | 4 | 1036.5 | ||||
| 1927 | Isleworth | Ale | 4 | 1033.1 | ||||
| 1927 | Meux | Ale | 4 | 1028.7 | ||||
| 1927 | Truman | Ale | 4 | 1029.7 | ||||
| 1927 | Whitbread | LA | 1005.5 | 1027.2 | 40 + 4.5 | 2.87 | 79.76% | |
| 1927 | Young & Co | Ale | 4 | 1029.6 | ||||
| 1928 | Barclay Perkins | Ale 4d | 4 | 1006.5 | 1028.8 | 34 | 2.95 | 77.43% |
| 1929 | Barclay Perkins | A | 1007.5 | 1028.7 | 38 | 2.80 | 73.83% | |
| 1929 | Whitbread | LA | 1007.5 | 1027.1 | 40 + 1.5 | 2.59 | 72.29% | |
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Barclay Perkins brewing records | ||||||||
| Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives. | ||||||||
| Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252 | ||||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001 | ||||||||
| Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/092 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives. | ||||||||
| London 5d Mild Ales | ||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | Price per pint (pence) | FG | OG | colour | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| 1922 | Barclay Perkins | 5d | 5 | 1006 | 1030 | 3.12 | 80.00% | |
| 1922 | Beasley | MA | 5 | 1010.4 | 1034 | 3.05 | 69.41% | |
| 1922 | Camden | XXX | 1008.9 | 1036.8 | 32 | 3.70 | 75.94% | |
| 1922 | Cannon Brewery | X | 6 | 1007.4 | 1036.4 | 3.77 | 79.67% | |
| 1922 | City of London | X | 6 | 1005.2 | 1034.2 | 3.77 | 84.80% | |
| 1922 | Courage | 6d | 6 | 1007 | 1034 | 38 | 3.51 | 79.41% |
| 1922 | Hoare | X | 6 | 1008.8 | 1034.3 | 3.31 | 74.34% | |
| 1922 | Huggins | X | 6 | 1006.5 | 1038 | 4.10 | 82.89% | |
| 1922 | Truman | MA | 5 | 1007.6 | 1029.6 | 2.85 | 74.32% | |
| 1922 | Wenlock | X | 6 | 1005.8 | 1037.2 | 4.09 | 84.41% | |
| 1922 | Whitbread | MA | 5 | 1004 | 1030.7 | 3.47 | 86.97% | |
| 1923 | Camden | XXX | 1036.6 | 32 | ||||
| 1923 | Cannon Brewery | X | 6 | 1007.4 | 1034.9 | 3.57 | 78.80% | |
| 1923 | City of London | X | 5 | 1007.3 | 1033.3 | 3.37 | 78.08% | |
| 1923 | City of London | X | 6 | 1006.6 | 1035.6 | 3.77 | 81.46% | |
| 1923 | Courage | X | 5 | 1007.5 | 1034.5 | 3.51 | 78.26% | |
| 1923 | Forest Hill Brewery | XX | 1008.6 | 1037.1 | 3.70 | 76.82% | ||
| 1923 | Hoare | X | 6 | 1011.8 | 1034.3 | 2.91 | 65.60% | |
| 1923 | Huggins | X | 6 | 1007.6 | 1037.6 | 3.90 | 79.79% | |
| 1923 | Meux | MA | 5 | 1006.4 | 1028.9 | 2.92 | 77.85% | |
| 1923 | Truman | MA | 5 | 1007.8 | 1030.8 | 2.98 | 74.68% | |
| 1923 | Wenlock | X | 5 | 1007.6 | 1034.1 | 3.44 | 77.71% | |
| 1923 | Wenlock | X | 6 | 1006.8 | 1037.3 | 3.97 | 81.77% | |
| 1924 | Camden | XXX | 1008.9 | 1036.6 | 33 | 3.66 | 75.76% | |
| 1924 | Cannon Brewery | X | 5 | 1031.7 | ||||
| 1924 | Courage | X | 5 | 1007.9 | 1036.9 | 3.77 | 78.59% | |
| 1925 | Courage | X | 5 | 1007 | 1035.6 | 3.72 | 80.34% | |
| 1926 | Cannon | Ale | 5 | 1031.6 | ||||
| 1926 | Commercial Brewery | M.A. | 1036.2 | |||||
| 1926 | Courage | Ale | 5 | 1037 | ||||
| 1926 | Wenlock | Ale | 5 | 1027.7 | ||||
| 1928 | Courage | X | 5 | 1006.5 | 1035 | 3.70 | 81.43% | |
| 1929 | Courage | X | 5 | 1006.4 | 1037 | 3.98 | 82.70% | |
| 1929 | Friary | Ale | 1010.6 | 1039 | 3.68 | 72.82% | ||
| 1929 | Hoare | LA | 5 | 1007.5 | 1034.1 | 3.45 | 78.01% | |
| 1929 | Wenlock | Ale | 5 | 1037.2 | ||||
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Camden Brewery brewing records document number ACC/2305/9/5 held at the London Metropolitan Archives. | ||||||||
| Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252 | ||||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001 | ||||||||
| Whitbread brewing records document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/090, LMA/4453/D/01/091, LMA/4453/D/01/092 and LMA/4453/D/01/095 held at the London Metropolitan Archives. | ||||||||
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