Cannon Brewery Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925

Mixed results so far for Cannon. Their Mild came in a reasonable, but their Burton came last. How will their Bitter do?

Cannon's Clerkenwell Brewery in 1896

There was certainly money in the brewery. A former director left £100,000:

"WILL OF MR. W. M. WROUGHTON.
FORMER MASTER OF HOUNDS, WHO WAS KILLED WHILE HUNTING.
Mr. William Musgravo Wroughton, of 77 Chester-square, London, Creaton Lodge, Northampton, and Clarehavon, Melton Mowbray, a former Master the Pytchley and later of tho Woodland Pytchley Hunt, at one time a director Cannon Co.. who was killed on December 29th last whilst hunting with the Belvoir Hounds, aged 78 years, has left estate of the value of £99,515 with net personalty £73,038. Probate is granted to Mrs. Wroughton, the widow.

He gives Creaton Lodge, property and 1,150 preferred ord. shares in the Cannon Brewery Co. to his wife for life, and then in trust for his granddaughter, Antoniette Musgrave Morland; £200 each to Sub.-Lt. John A. D. Wroughton, and Walter P. Cazenove, and the Rev. John Maillard, and James Moore Hickson; and £300 to the Westminster Hospital. One half of the residue of the estate he leaves in trust for his wife for life, and, subject thereto, the whole trust for his two daughters Cicely Countess Coreth. and Dulce Musgravo Morland, and their children.'
Nottingham Evening Post - Friday 22 March 1929, page 1.

And in 1928 they made over £350,000. Quite a tidy sum for a brewery that wasn't enormous, as you can see from the map above.

"Brewery Company's Big Profits.
LONDON, Tuesday.
The Cannon Brewery report for the year shows a net profit of £352,170 compared with £338,043, while £157,542 was brought in. The distribution on the Deferred Ordinary shares unchanged in a dividend 16 cent., free of tax, and a bonus of £5 per share, free of tax, equivalent to 9 per cent, on the Deferred Ordinary capital before reduction. The allocation to reserve is again £50,000, while £184,603 is carried forward. The directors announce that the company has agreed to acquire the old established brewery of Messrs Christie and Co., Ltd., Hoddesdon, with the licensed houses attached."
Aberdeen Journal - Wednesday 21 March 1928, page 11.

And they had the money to be making acquisitions, which is what the smart and successful breweries of the 1920's did.

Cannon's beer is an 8d Ordinary Bitter, with a typical gravity of mid-1040's. It's another beer that looks pretty dry.

How does it score?

Cannon Brewery Pale Ale quality 1922 - 1925
Year	Beer	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Appearance	Flavour	score	Price
1922	PA	1008	1045.5	4.89	82.42%	bright	good	2	8d
1922	PA	1007.3	1044.8	4.89	83.71%	hazy	fair	1	8d
1922	PA	1008.4	1045.4	4.82	81.50%	brilliant	good	2	8d
1922	PA	1007.4	1046.4	5.09	84.05%	bright	Poor & thin	-2	8d
1923	PA	1009.6	1045.1	4.62	78.71%	brilliant	thin poor	-2	8d
1923	PA	1008.6	1045.1	4.75	80.93%		(rank aftertaste, no character	-3	8d
1923	PA	1010.3	1045.3	4.55	77.26%	fairly bright	unpleasant bitter	-1	8d
1923	PA	1009.8	1045.8	4.68	78.60%	brilliant	fair	1	7d
1923	PA	1010.6	1044.1	4.35	75.96%	fairly bright	going off	-2	7d
1924	PA		1044.5			bright	v fair	2	7d
1925	PA	1010.2	1045.2	4.55	77.43%	not bright	only fair	1	7d
Average		1009.0	1045.2	4.72	80.06%			-0.09
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Not brilliantly, is the answer. Just over 50% - six out of eleven - samples were clear. The same number got a positive score for flavour. There were some pretty bad examples - two -2 and 1 -3 - but also three +2. Another very mixed bunch.

Drinker beware, is my advice.