Mann Mild Ale quality 1922 - 1925

As we continue our slow inexorable crawl through London's breweries alphabetically we've come to M. And Mann.

Or Mann, Crossman and Paulin as they were officially known. According to Norman Barber, Mann's Albion Brewery was originally built in 1818*. It was located on the Whitechapel Road. Still is, I suppose, as parts remain standing. The company merged with Watney, Combe, Reid in 1958 to form Watney Mann*. The Albion Brewery survived longer than Watney's own Stag Brewery, only closing in 1979*.

It was another of the Ale brewers which had done particularly well at the latter end of the 19th century, when public taste was moving away from Porter. Their crowning achievement in the 1890's was introduction of the first modern Brown Ale.

They seem to have got through WW I in better shape than many of their rivals, as they made several acquisitions in the just after the war's end:

1919 Young & Co, Stamford Hill Brewery, Stoke Newington
1920 Brandon's Putney brewery, Putney
1924 Best's Brewery, Larkhall Lane, Wandsworth
1925 Hornchurch Brewery of Harman's Uxbridge Brewery
1929 Henry Luker & Co., Southend**

Mann's Albion Brewery in 1896

These are all 7d/6d X Ales. The examples from 1922 are a bit weak for the class - 1042 to 1043 was more typical. Once again the attenuation, which averages 80%, is pretty high. That seems to be pretty standard.

Mann Mild Ale quality 1922 - 1925
Year	Beer	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Appearance	Flavour	Score
1922	X	1006	1038.7	4.23	83.98%	not bright	quite sound	1
1922	X	1007	1038.5	4.16	83.12%	hazy	good	2
1922	X	1008	1040.2	4.19	80.10%	almost bright	mawkish	-2
1922	X	1008	1039.6	4.16	80.81%	brilliant	v good	3
1923	X	1008	1038	3.90	78.95%	bright	v fair	2
1923	X	1010	1041.8	4.09	75.36%	v dark bright	v good	3
1923	X	1010	1042.5	4.22	76.47%	bright	v fair	2
1923	X	1007	1041.7	4.49	82.73%	bright	poor	-1
1923	X	1008	1042.4	4.42	80.19%	brilliant	v good	3
1923	X	1008	1040	4.16	80.00%	not quite bright	poor	-1
1923	X	1010	1040	3.89	75.00%	brilliant	good v full	2
1924	X		1044.6			not bright	good	2
1924	X	1007	1043.7	4.74	83.30%	bright	good	2
1924	X	1008	1043.4	4.57	80.88%	brilliant	only fair	0
1925	X	1009	1043.8	4.47	78.54%	brilliant	v fair	2
	Average							1.33
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Ten out of fifteen are bright, which isn't too bad. And a couple more were almost bright. None sound that bad.

As for flavour, the standard is pretty high. Only three negative scores and eight of 2 or 3.

The overall score of 1.33 is pretty good. I think I'd have gambled on a Manns pub. That last sentence could be misinterpreted when spoken. Though a lot probably really were men's pubs.




* "A Century of British Breweries Plus" by Norman Barber, 2005, page 86.
** "The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records", edited by Lesley Richmond, Alison Turton, 1990, page 225.