Hoare draught Stout 1870 - 1933

Here, as threatened, is my second instalment on Hoare's beers. This time it's the turn of draught Stout.

Which was, along with Porter, their original specialisation. This time I've split it into two parts, one for draught versions the other for bottled. You'll see why that makes so much sense when you've looked at the tables.

I'll start with the three examples from 1870. They come courtesy of the British Medical Journal. I can make a decent stab at what they were sold as. In ascending order of strength: Stout, Double Stout and Treble (or Imperial) Stout. Don't believe me? Well here are Truman's equivalents from the very same year:

Stout	1070.1
Double Stout	1079.5
Imperial	1083.7
Source:
Truman brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/072.

It's very strange what happens in the 1930's. At the beginning of the 1920's, it's very much what you would expect: 9d a pint and a gravity in the mid-1050's. (If you're wondering, Guinness Extra Stout was 1055 in the 1920's.) Then after 1923 the price drops to 8d a pint. Now I understand why the gravity would drop in 1931: Snowden's emergency budget that raised beer duty from 80 shillings a standard barrel to 114 shillings.

Hoare draught Stout 1870 - 1933
Year	Beer	Price	size	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1870	Stout			0.23	1025.9	1090.9	8.29	71.49%
1870	Stout			0.20	1014	1068.1	6.96	79.43%
1870	Stout	3.5d	pint	0.22	1014.5	1078.4	7.81	81.50%
1921	Stout	9d	pint		1023.2	1054	3.97	57.04%
1922	Stout	9d	pint		1020.8	1056.8	4.65	63.38%
1922	Stout	9d	pint		1018.7	1054.2	4.59	65.50%
1923	Stout	9d	pint		1020.4	1055.4	4.52	63.18%
1923	Stout	8d	pint		1017.4	1054.4	4.79	68.01%
1923	Stout	8d	pint		1017.5	1050.5	4.27	65.35%
1925	Stout	8d	pint		1013.2	1052.7	5.13	74.95%
1928	Stout	7d	pint		1013.6	1046.6	4.28	70.82%
1928	Stout	7d	pint		1012.6	1053	5.26	76.24%
1929	Stout	8d	pint	0.12	1010.9	1052.1	5.37	79.08%
1929	Stout	8d	pint	0.09	1018	1056.2	4.95	67.97%
1930	Stout	8d	pint		1022.6	1055	4.18	58.91%
1930	Stout	8d	pint	0.08	1013.9	1053	5.08	73.77%
1930	Stout	8d	pint		1019.2	1047	3.58	59.15%
1930	Stout	8d	pint		1015.2	1050	4.51	69.60%
1930	Stout	7d	pint			1048.2
1931	Stout	8d	pint	0.06	1016.5	1044.8	3.66	63.17%
1931	Stout	8d	pint	0.14	1012.6	1054.2	5.41	76.75%
1931	Stout	8d	pint		1015.2	1041	3.33	62.93%
1931	Stout	8d	pint			1038.3
1932	Stout	8d	pint	0.07	1015	1041	3.36	63.41%
1932	Stout	8d	pint	0.06	1012	1042	3.89	71.43%
1932	Stout	8d	pint			1039.1
1932	Stout	8d	pint			1042.4
1933	Stout	8d	pint	0.11	1013.8	1042.2	3.67	67.30%
Sources:
British Medical Journal June 25th 1870, page 658.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252

The gravity of Stout prior to the budget makes working its effect a piece of piss. Because averaging around 1055, it was standard gravity (a standard barrel was 36 gallons of beer with an OG of 1055). Which means the tax on a barrel of Stout increased by 34 shillings. Or 11.33d per gallon. That's near as dammit 1.5d per pint.

What most breweries in London did was to cut the gravity of their draught Stout to 1047 and increase the price from 8d to 9d. Here are some examples:

London draught Stouts
Date	Brewer	Beer	Price	size	OG
1931	Barclay Perkins	Stout	9d	pint	1050.9
1931	Barclay Perkins	Stout	9d	pint	1049.6
1931	Charrington	Stout	9d	pint	1049.3
1931	Charrington	Stout	9d	pint	1043
1931	Courage	Stout	8d	pint	1047.6
1931	Courage	Stout	8d	pint	1046.9
1931	Mann Crossman	Stout	9d	pint	1046.3
1931	Mann Crossman	Stout	9d	pint	1046.8
1931	Taylor Walker	Stout	8d	pint	1049.5
1931	Taylor Walker	Stout	9d	pint	1046.9
1931	Truman	Stout	8d	pint	1044.3
1931	Truman	Stout	8d	pint	1048.8
1931	Watney	Stout	8d	pint	1047.8
1931	Watney	Stout	8d	pint	1043.3
1931	Wenlock	Stout	8d	pint	1046.7
1931	Wenlock	Stout	8d	pint	1045.6
1931	Whitbread	LS	8d	pint	1045.3
Average					1047
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numberLMA/4453/D/09/124

That gravity cut and price increase makes sense when you look at the tax paid: per bulk barrel at the rate of  114 shillings per barrel:

OG	tax per barrel (shillings)
1041	85.0
1039	80.8
1047	97.4

At 1047, about 17.5 shillings more tax was due, which is about 6d per gallon or 0.75d per pint.

The table tells you what Hoare did: they dropped the gravity so much that the tax die was about the same as before the budget, namely 80 shillings per barrel. I guess most breweries thought that was just too drastic. I agree with them. A gravity of 1040-ish is just too low for a Stout.