Hoare Strong Ale 1922 - 1933

Here's the final set of Hoare beers from the 1920's and 1930's.

I realise I've been a bit thick again. On page 119 in "The Red Lion Brewery" there's a photo of a Hoare price list of draught beers. Now I've looked at it properly, I can see that I made a few mistakes in this series of Hoare's beers.

Biggest surprise was seeing two draught Stouts. It explains quite a bit. My analyses were for two different beers. That's why the gravities seemed a bit odd.

Something similar is going on with their Strong Ale.  The one called XXX wasn't really a Strong Ale at all, but a stronger Mild. Though it's called Strong Ale in the Truman Gravity Book. Whitbread correctly identified it as XXX, but called Hoare's Burton KK, when the official name was XXXX. Confused?

There were also two different Milds amongst the samples, XX and XXX. Though both were called X in the Gravity Books.

In addition there are three beers for which I appear to have no samples at all: X, LA and IPA. It's annoying that the latter is missing. I can't recall another London IPA that was so strong. Unlike Barclay Perkins and Whitbread, Hoare's IPA was stronger than their PA. I understand now why only their Ordinary Bitter appeared with the other PA's in the Gravity Books. Because that was the beer Hoare called PA.

Here's what's in the price list:

Hoare draught beers September 1931
name	description	price per barrel (shillings)	retail price per pint
X	Mild Ale	98	5d
XX	Mild Ale	116	6d
XXX	Mild Ale	138	7d
XXXX	Burton Ale	184	9d
P	Porter	116	6d
S	Stout	160	8d
DS	Double Stout	184	9d
LA	Country Ale	98	5d
PA	Pale Ale	160	8d
IPA	India Pale Ale	184	9d
Source:
Hoare's price list.

And here's what the gravities of them all are. Mostly taken from analyses, but, in the case of X, LA and IPA, I've guessed them.

Hoare draught beer prices and OG 1923 - 1931
name	description	OG	retail price per pint
X	Mild Ale	1028	4d
XX	Mild Ale	1034	5d
XXX	Mild Ale	1045	6d
XXXX	Burton Ale	1054	8d
P	Porter	1034	5d
S	Stout	1046	7d
DS	Double Stout	1054	8d
LA	Country Ale	1028	4d
PA	Pale Ale	1047	7d
IPA	India Pale Ale	1054	8d

LA is a funny one. From its position on the price list, it must be a Pale Ale. But a very low gravity one. I've not seen an equivalent beer from other London brewers, though I have seen similar ones from country brewers. Whitbread had a beer called LA, but that was a 4d Mild Ale.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were only three base brews from which all these beers were parti-gyled: one for X, XX, XXX and XXXX; one for P, S and DS;; and one for LA, PA and IPA.

The Burton (XXXX for Hoare, KK or Strong Ale below) is very typical: mid 1050's and around 5% ABV. XXX at 1045 is right up at the top end gravity-wise of a 6d Mild. Most rival examples were a couple of degrees lower.

The one bottled example, Imperial Ale, is an intriguing one. It looks a similar beer to Barclay Perkin KK (Bottling), which was marketed as Old Southwarke Ale and had a gravity of around 1070.

Hoare Strong Ale 1922 - 1933
Year	Beer	Price	size	package	Acidity	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1922	KK	9d	pint	draught		1015.5	1056.5	5.33	72.57%
1923	KK	9d	pint	draught		1015	1055.5	5.26	72.97%
1923	KK	8d	pint	draught		1017	1055	4.93	69.09%
1926	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1052.2
1927	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1054.2
1928	KK	8d	pint	draught		1011.5	1052.1	5.28	77.93%
1928	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1045
1929	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.07	1017.5	1055.3	4.90	68.35%
1930	KK	8d	pint	draught		1016.5	1055	4.99	70.00%
1930	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1046.08
1930	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1053.2
1931	KK	8d	pint	draught	0.06	1015.9	1052.3	4.72	69.60%
1931	XXX	8d	pint	draught	0.07	1010	1045	4.55	77.78%
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1047.6
1932	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1043.7
1933	Imperial Ale	9d	half	bottled	0.10	1015.5	1077.9	8.18	80.10%
1933	XXX	7d	pint	draught	0.08	1011.7	1046	4.45	74.57%
1933	Strong Ale	8d	pint	draught			1049.4
1933	Strong Ale	7d	pint	draught			1047.13
Sources:
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

It seems like we've been on this series for ever. What will I do myself now it's done?