London vs provincial beer in the 1930's: Stout and Porter

I bet you just love all these interminable series. Though I'm fairly rattling through this one. we're already on Porter and Stout.

These are the beers on which London had built its brewing reputation and they were still a big part of their business. At Truman, 23% of the output of their Brick Lane brewery was Porter or Stout in 1930*. For Whitbread, they were even more important: 28% of production**.

I can tell you one thing for certain: there's not a single Porter in the London table. All of the beers are too strong. Well, maybe No. 17 could just about be a Porter. But it would be right at the very, very top end.

Don't believe me? OK, here is a selection of London Porters from the period:

London Porter in 1930
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Courage	Porter	5d	0.07	1038	1012.8	3.26	66.32%
Courage	Porter	5d	0.10	1036	1008.4	3.58	76.67%
Hoare	Porter	5d		1035	1010.8	3.13	69.14%
Hoare	Porter	5d		1037	1009	3.63	75.68%
Hoare	Porter	5d	0.07	1034	1006.6	3.56	80.59%
Hoare	Porter	5d		1037	1010.2	3.47	72.43%
Wenlock	Porter	5d	0.08	1038	1014.2	3.07	62.63%
Wenlock	Porter	5d		1037	1009.8	3.53	73.51%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Convinced now?

The London Stouts show the greatest concentration of residual sugars we've seen so far, both in absolute terms and in relation to the amount of alcohol. The ones over 4.5% ABV look like typical draught London Stouts, with gravities in the 1050-1055 range. The modest ABV is explained by apparent attenuation of less than 70%, which was common.

Composition of London Beers
					Calories per pint.
	Total Solids per cent.	Absolute Alcohol (by weight) per cent.	Ratio of Total Solids to Alcohol (T.S.=1).	ABV	Solid Matter.	Alcohol.	Total.
Stouts and Porters.
No. 15	7.04	3.82	1:0.04	4.85	164	152	316
No. 16	5.77	3.53	1:0.61	4.48	134	140	274
No. 17	4.75	3.10	1:0.05	3.94	110	123	233
No. 18	6.11	4.23	1:0.69	5.37	142	168	310
No. 19	5.69	3.40	1:0.59	4.32	133	135	268
No. 20	5.40	3.42	1:0.63	4.34	126	136	262
No. 21	6.08	4.20	1:0.69	5.33	142	167	309
No. 22	5.42	4.30	1:0.79	5.46	126	171	297
Average	5.78	3.75	1:0.64	4.76	134	149	283
Source:
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 38, Issue 1, January-February 1932, pages 84 - 88.

Relatively high levels of alcohol and lots if unfermented stuff give London Stout the highest value rating so far, reaching almost 300 calories.

Now for the country beers:

Composition of Country Beers
					Calories per pint.
	Total Solids per cent.	Absolute Alcohol (by weight) per cent.	Ratio of Total Solids to Alcohol (T.S.=1).	ABV	Solid Matter.	Alcohol.	Total.
Stouts and Porters.
No. 71	5.02	3.65	1:0.72	4.64	117	145	262
No. 72	5.78	4.55	1:0.78	5.78	135	181	316
No. 73	4.57	3.16	1:0.69	4.01	100	125	231
No. 74	5.29	3.14	I:0.59	3.99	123	125	248
No. 75	3.86	2.58	1:0.66	3.28	90	102	192
No. 76	4.12	3.08	1:0.74	3.91	96	122	218
No. 77	5.12	3.50	1:0.68	4.45	119	139	258
No. 78	6.19	3.98	1:0.64	5.05	144	158	302
Average	4.09	3.45	1:0.69	4.38	116	137	253
Source:
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 38, Issue 1, January-February 1932, pages 84 - 88.

We see the pattern of lower alcohol levels in the country beers continue. This time the residual sugars are much lower in the country beers.

And finally my comparison of the averages.

Porter and Stout					Calories per pint.
	Total Solids per cent.	Absolute Alcohol (by weight) per cent.	Ratio of Total Solids to Alcohol (T.S.=1).	ABV	Solid Matter.	Alcohol.	Total.
London	5.78	3.75	1:0.64	4.76	134	149	283
Country	4.09	3.45	1:0.69	4.38	116	137	253
% difference	-41.32%	-8.70%	0.08%	-8.70%	-15.52%	-8.76%	-11.86%

Once again, more of just about everything in the London beers. If the London and country beers sold for the same price, it's clear which were better value.




* Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
** Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/096, LMA/4453/D/01/097 and LMA/4453/D/01/098.