Watney's Strong Ales 1922 - 1965

Today is a real treataroonie. As long as you're a table fan. And I don't mean a rotating cooling device mounted on a desk. Probably didn't need to tell you that.

Watney. A name pretty much erased from history. I can remember when that process started. Back in the early 1980's I believe it was when Watney began removing their name from the outside of their tied houses. If you saw a pub without a brewery logo and some bollocks like "Traditional Ales" very prominent on the signage you could be sure it was an ashamed Watney's pub, trying to pretend it was something else.

The 1898 merger with Combe and Reid left Watneys as one of the largest brewers in the country, producing over 1 million barrels annually. They also had a considerable tied estate, especially in London. This was obvious before they started removing their name from their pubs.

Right let's crack on with the beer. Or beers, as there are a couple of different ones in the main table. The majority are KK or draught Burton. As I've told you 60 gazillion times, Burton was one of the standard draught beers in London pubs until the 1960's. Along with Mild, Bitter, Stout and in the 1920's, Porter. Also cropping up a couple of times is bottles Stingo, a type of strong beer mostly associated with Yorkshire. Feel free to think of it as either an Old Ale or a Barley Wine. It's your choice. Then at the end there's Export Gold, which I guess you could call a pale Barley Wine. If you were obsessed with labelling everything to within an inch of its life.

Starting with the Burton, you can that's mostly a tale of falling gravity. 1922 is the year when things got back to normal after WW I. Price controls were abolished the year before. The impact of a reduction in duty from 100s. per standard barrel to 80s. per standard barrel can be seen with the reduction in price from 9d. to 8d. per pint. At the same time the gravity was increased a little.

How does Watney's KK compare to other London Burton's? Let's take a closer look. The Whitbread Gravity book has lots of analyses for 1922, especially for London beers. This is no coincidence. With the end of price control, Whitbread would want to know what their competitors were up to.

London Strong Ales in 1922
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1922	Barclay Perkins	KK	9	pint	draught	1011.7	1056.2	5.80	79.18%
1922	Beasley	KK	9	pint	draught	1014.4	1056.6	5.49	74.56%
1922	Cannon Brewery	KK	9	pint	draught	1015.4	1054.4	5.06	71.69%
1922	Charrington	KK	9	pint	draught	1015.6	1055.9	5.23	72.09%
1922	City of London	KK	9	pint	draught	1008.5	1056.7	6.30	85.01%
1922	Courage	KK	9	pint	draught	1013.2	1053.7	5.27	75.42%
1922	Hoare	KK	9	pint	draught	1015.5	1056.5	5.33	72.57%
1922	Huggins	KK	9	pint	draught	1012.6	1056.1	5.67	77.54%
1922	Lion Brewery	KK	9	pint	draught	1010.7	1056.7	6.00	81.13%
1922	Mann	KK	9	pint	draught	1013	1057	5.73	77.19%
1922	Meux	KK	9	pint	draught	1007.4	1058.4	6.68	87.33%
1922	Truman	KK	9	pint	draught	1013.8	1052.8	5.07	73.86%
1922	Wenlock	KK	9	pint	draught	1010	1054	5.74	81.48%
1922	Whitbread	KK	9	pint	draught	1016.3	1054	4.89	69.81%
	Average		9			1012.7	1055.6	5.59	77.06%
1922	Watney	KK	9d	pint	draught	1012.5	1058.5	6.00	78.63%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

As you can see, all of the beers were pretty similar. Note, too, how many decent-sized breweries there still were in London. And see how they fit in with the last set of price controls:

Price control 1917-1921
	Oct 1917	Apr 1918	Feb 1919	Jul 1919	Apr 1920
2d				<1019
3d			<1023	1020-1026	<1019
4d	<1036	<1030	1023-1028	1027-1032	1020-1026
5d	1036-1042	1030-1034	1029-1034	1033-1038	1027-1032
6d			1035-1041	1039-1045	1033-1038
7d			1042-1049	1045-1053	1039-1045
8d			>1050	>1054	1045-1053
9d					>1054
Sources:
The Brewers' Almanack 1928 pages 100 - 101.
"The British Brewing Industry 1830-1980"

Most are just over 1054º, which was the minimum gravity to be able to charge 9d per pint.

For the rest of the 1920's the gravity was pretty stable: in the high 1050's. The price is equally rock solid. Of course, that all changed with the tax rise in 1931. The price remained 8d. per pint, but around 10 points were slashed from the gravity. I can't imagine that went unnoticed amongst Burton drinkers.

Let's see what the other London brewers did:

London Strong Ales in 1932
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1932	Barclay Perkins	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1051.9
1932	Beasley	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1048.4
1932	Charrington	Strong Ale	9	pint	draught			1050.7
1932	Courage	XXX	8	pint	draught	0.10	1010.2	1044	4.39	76.82%
1932	Hoare	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1047.6
1932	Ind Coope	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1052.3
1932	Mann	XXX	9	pint	draught	0.10	1015.2	1051	4.64	70.20%
1932	Meux	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1047.2
1932	Taylor Walker	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1049.1
1932	Truman	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught			1047.5
1932	Whitbread	Strong Ale	7	pint	draught			1045.3
	Average		8.1			0.10	1012.7	1048.6	4.52	73.51%
1932	Watney	XXX	8	pint	draught	0.06	1008.8	1046	4.84	80.87%
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Much the same as Watney - they cut the gravity and maintained the 8d. price. Only Charrington and Mann increased the price to 9d. and, unsurprisingly, those are two of the only three beers over 1050º. Watney's Burton was one of the weaker ones, a couple of points below the average gravity.

After the tax increase was reversed in 1934, Watney didn't revert to the pre-1931 gravity, but instead increased the gravity by a few degrees and dropped the price to 7d. What did their local rivals do? Let's take a look, shall we:

London Strong Ales in 1938
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	OG
1938	Barclay Perkins	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1056.0
1938	Charrington	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1056.5
1938	Courage	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1054.7
1938	Mann	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1051.8
1938	Meux	Strong Ale	7	pint	draught	1047.4
1938	Taylor Walker	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1053.6
1938	Truman	Strong Ale	7	pint	draught	1048.9
1938	Wenlock	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1053.6
1938	Whitbread	Strong Ale	8	pint	draught	1060.0
	Average		7.8			1053.6
1938	Watney	Strong Ale	7	pint	draught	1049.1
Source:
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Only Meux and Truman kept the 7d. price and a gravity below 1050º. All the others restored their gravities to something like the old level and maintained the 8d. price. Which left Watney's Burton 4.5 points lower than the average.

The war doesn't seem to have had that much impact on Watney's Burton, though there are only a couple of analyses. But their 1948 KKKK was hardly any weaker in 1948 than it had been in the 1930's. How did that compare with other brewers in London?

London Strong Ales in 1948-1949
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1948	Barclay Perkins	Burton	21	pint	draught	0.06	1010.5	1042.1	17 + 40	4.10	75.06%
1949	Charrington	Strong Ale	19	pint	draught			1044.2	132
1949	Courage	Strong Ale	19	pint	draught			1043.0	128
1948	Fullers	Strong Ale	16	pint	draught	0.07	1008.2	1043.6	8 + 40	4.61	81.19%
1948	Whitbread	Strong Ale		pint	bottled		1012	1045.5		4.35	73.63%
	Average		18.8			0.07	1010.2	1043.7		4.35	76.63%
1948	Watney	KKKK	21	pint	draught	0.06	1010.5	1046.1	18 + 40	4.63	77.22%
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive document TU/6/11

Watney's was a couple of points above the average gravity, but 2d. a pint more than the average price.

Moving on to the 1950's, I'm surprised at how strong Watney's Burton became, moving up to the mid-1050's. A level it hadn't attained since 1931. Here's a comparison with their competitors' beers:

London Strong Ales in 1954
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1954	Barclay Perkins	KK	21	pint	draught	0.06	1011.1	1043	19 + 40	4.14	74.19%
1954	Courage	XXX	20	pint	draught	0.08	1013.8	1046.2	31R + 40B	4.20	70.13%
1954	Mann	Dragon Ale	24	pint	draught	0.07	1019.1	1051.2	25R + 40B	4.15	62.70%
1954	Meux	Treble Gold	20	pint	draught	0.04	1006.5	1042.2	23	4.65	84.60%
1954	Taylor Walker	KKK	21	pint	draught	0.05	1017	1049.1	17R + 40B	4.15	65.38%
1954	Truman	SA	22	pint	draught	0.05	1009.3	1049.1	17 + 40	5.19	81.06%
1954	Whitbread	KKKK	23	pint	draught	0.06	1011.9	1051.2	15 R + 40 B	5.11	76.76%
	Average		21.6			0.06	1012.7	1047.4		4.51	73.54%
1954	Watney	KKKK	24	pint	draught	0.10	1013.5	1055.2	23R + 40B	5.42	75.54%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Watney's is the strongest of the lot: 1% ABV stronger than the average and 8 gravity points. But also 2.5d more per pint.

I'm not sure what more I can say about Stingo other than that it's very strong and quite highly attenuated. I'm pretty sure it was still brewed after WW II, but sadly I have no analyses from later than 1938.

Export Gold looks very similar to Whitbread's Final Selection, another beer of the same era. Both are pale in colour, have gravities of just under 1080º and around 85% apparent attenuation.

Wasn't that both entertaining and informative. I've still a little more information to pass on. About what sort of condition Watney's Burton was in when served. That's for next time.

Watney's Strong Ales 1922 - 1965
Year	Beer	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	colour	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1922	KK	9d	pint	draught		1012.5	1058.5		6.00	78.63%
1922	KK	9d	pint	draught		1012.2	1057.2		5.87	78.67%
1922	KK	9d	pint	draught		1013.9	1055.9		5.46	75.13%
1922	KK	9d	pint	draught		1010.8	1056.3		5.94	80.82%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1012.9	1059.4		6.06	78.28%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1013.6	1056.6		5.60	75.97%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1015	1059.5		5.79	74.79%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1015	1059		5.72	74.58%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1014.2	1058.2		5.73	75.60%
1923	KK	8d	pint	draught		1014.8	1061.8		6.12	76.05%
1923	KK	8d	pint	draught		1010.6	1061.6		6.67	82.79%
1924	KK	8d	pint	draught		1014.1	1059.5		5.91	76.30%
1924	KK	8d	pint	draught		1015.1	1060		5.84	74.83%
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1059.1
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1057.2
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1057.9
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1055.7
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1058.1
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1059.1
1927	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1059.4
1928	KK	8d	pint	draught		1017.9	1058.2		5.23	69.24%
1928	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1056.4
1928	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1058.3
1929	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.06	1014.2	1057.3		5.61	75.22%
1929	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.10	1013.5	1057.7		5.76	76.60%
1929	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1058.1
1930	KK	8d	pint	draught		1017	1060		5.59	71.67%
1930	KK	8d	pint	draught		1011	1059		6.27	81.36%
1930	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.09	1009.2	1056		6.12	83.57%
1930	KK	8d	pint	draught		1016.2	1059		5.56	72.54%
1930	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1057.6
1930	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1058.6
1931	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.07	1014.4	1058.7		5.77	75.47%
1931	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1054.6
1931	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1055.6
1931	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1046.5
1931	XXX	8d	pint	draught	0.07	1011.4	1047		4.63	75.74%
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1047.4
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1046.08
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1044.4
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1047.8
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1048.1
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1047.5
1932	XXX	8d	pint	draught	0.06	1008.8	1046		4.84	80.87%
1933	Stingo	6d	nip	bottled	0.10	1017.7	1090		9.51	80.33%
1933	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1045.6
1933	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.5
1933	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1046.2
1933	Strong Ale	10d	pint	bottled	0.06	1021.6	1070		6.29	69.14%
1933	Strong Ale	6d	half	bottled	0.10	1010.4	1068.7		7.65	84.86%
1933	XXX	8d	pint	draught	0.08	1013.4	1048		4.49	72.08%
1934	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1048.4
1934	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1048.6
1935	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.06
1935	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.5
1935	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1048.5
1935	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1048.4
1936	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.7
1936	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.7
1936	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1050.6
1937	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1045.78
1937	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1048.64
1938	Stingo Ale	7d	7 oz	bottled	0.07	1020.3	1092.8		9.53	78.13%
1938	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.43
1938	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.5
1938	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1047
1938	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1049.1
1939	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1050.3
1944	Strong Ale	1/4d	pint	draught	0.10	1011.8	1044.9	19 + 40	4.30	73.72%
1948	KKKK	1/9d	pint	draught	0.06	1010.5	1046.1	18 + 40	4.63	77.22%
1950	Strong Ale	18d	half	bottled	0.10	1014.5	1061.1	40 + 16	6.07	76.27%
1954	KKKK	2/-	pint	draught	0.10	1013.5	1055.2	23R + 40B	5.42	75.54%
1955	Burton Ale	17d	half	bottled	0.05	1018.5	1054.1	100	4.61	65.80%
1960	Burton Ale	16d	half	bottled	0.06	1019.7	1053.6	125	4.38	63.25%
1964	Export Gold	19d	nip	bottled	0.06	1012.1	1078	23	8.67	84.49%
1965	Export Gold	19.5d	nip	bottled	0.06	1010.6	1078.6	30	8.96	86.51%
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book document B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives