Wednesday 17 September 2014

Watney Stout quality 1922 - 1925

I just noticed that I'd jumped over Watney. How on earth did I manage overlook them? Not to worry, that will all be put right now.

Since starting this series I've come to have a sneaking respect for Watney's beers. Their consistently high scores can't be a fluke. Yes they were the largest brewery in London and one of the largest in the country. The biggest brewery making the best beer. It's not a situation you'd find today.

I'd thought about publishing a whole load more financial stuff about Watney. But I can't be arsed to traipse through the newspaper archive looking for their annual results for the 1920's. Sorry, but I'm an intensely lazy person at heart. But this one I did find should give a good impression of the state of Watney's finances.

"Watney Combe.
It was announced Friday afternoon that the dividend on Watney Combe Reid stock was to be increased from 17 per cent, to 19 per cent, for the year to June 30 last. The report is now available, and shows trading profits of £1,365,483. This compares with £1,340,735 the year before.

Another £400,000 is placed to general reserve, but it is stated that a similar amount placed to reserve last year has been expended improving properties and converting leaseholds into freehold. The general reserve is £759,455.

The financial position is very sound. There are investments in Government securities for £532,879."
Dundee Courier - Monday 30 July 1928, page 2.

It looks like they were rolling in money. They probably brewed around ten times as much beer as Wenlock Brewery. So you'd expect their profits to be ten times higher. In 1927 and 1928 Wenlock's net profits were £119,201 and £122,047 respectively, meaning Watney's profits were indeed about ten times those of Wenlock.

That's it for the money stuff. I've decided to talk about Watney's other Stouts instead. Like many London brewers, they made several Stouts. They were: Family Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Special Stout and Special Stout for Belgium. All were in bottled form. In addition there was at least one, and possibly two, draught Stouts.

Watney Stouts 1921 - 1929
Year Beer Price size package Acidity OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation
1921 Family Stout 17d quart bottled 1046.3 1012.5 4.39 73.00%
1922 Family Stout 17d quart bottled 1043.9 1010.9 4.28 75.17%
1922 Family Stout 9d pint bottled 1044.3 1012.5 4.12 71.78%
1923 Family Stout bottled 1046.5 1011 4.61 76.34%
1921 Reids Family Stout 9d pint bottled 1045 1010.7 4.46 76.22%
1926 Reids Family Stout 8d pint bottled 1048.5
1927 Reids Family Stout bottled 1047.7 1012.3 4.60 74.21%
1928 Reids Family Stout 8d pint bottled 1050.2 1012.7 4.87 74.70%
1929 Reids Family Stout 8d pint bottled 0.18 1047.8 1007.3 5.28 84.73%
1921 Reids Oatmeal Stout 9d pint bottled 1045.5 1009.7 4.66 78.68%
1922 Oatmeal Stout bottled 1047.4 1009.3 4.96 80.38%
1928 Reids Oatmeal Stout 8d pint bottled 0.07 1050 1015.6 4.46 68.80%
1928 Reids Special Stout pint bottled 1056 1014.7 5.37 73.75%
1921 Special Stout 13d pint bottled 1059 1016.2 5.56 72.54%
1922 Special Stout bottled 1057.8 1015.9 5.44 72.49%
1923 Special Stout bottled 1054.3 1013.8 5.26 74.59%
1922 Special Stout (Belgian sample) 9d pint bottled 1067.1 1023.8 5.60 64.53%
1929 Stout 8d pint bottled 1047 1010.8 4.71 77.02%
1929 Stout 8d pint bottled 0.06 1046 1010.8 4.57 76.52%
1921 Stout 9d pint draught 1053.4 1014.8 5.01 72.28%
1921 Stout 9d pint draught 1054.5 1014.4 5.21 73.58%
1921 Stout 9d pint draught 1045.7 1009.8 4.67 78.56%
1926 Stout 8d pint draught 1053.9
1926 Stout 8d pint draught 1052.7
1926 Stout 8d pint draught 1053.6
1929 Stout 8d pint draught 0.08 1055.9 1014.5 5.38 74.06%
1929 Stout 8d pint draught 0.07 1052.9 1012.1 5.31 77.13%
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's not always made clear in the sources exactly how these beers were branded. Sometimes they are describes as Reid, but others not. Watney seemed to prefer to brand its bottled Stouts as Reid, presumably because, as an old Porter brewery, they would be associated with Stout. Watney's continued to use the Reid name for at least 30 years after the Griffin Brewery in Clerkenwell closed.

Doubtless Watney parti-gyled these Stouts in various combinations. Family Stout, Reids Family Stout, Oatmeal Stout and Reids Oatmeal Stout all look like the same beer to me. I bet they pulled the trick of throwing the odd pound of oats into the grist for all Stouts so they could legally describe some of it as Oatmeal Stout.

Special Stout and Reids Special Stout are probably the same beer as each other and the draught Stout. Though possible they've been slightly tweaked. The Belgian Special Stout probably resembles Watney's pre-war Stout. That's what most breweries did: kept brewing export versions at pre-war strength.

With a couple of exceptions, the rate of attenuation is high, with a couple even over 80%. Were they getting some extra conditioning before bottling?

Right, now on to their draught Stout. It's of the 9d (8d after 1923) type. It's a little stronger and more highly-attenuated than average, but not by a huge amount.  The sample that's only 1046.3 looks like it's a weaker 8d/7s Stout./ Unless it's been seriously watered. But it does look suspiciously like Family Stout. It's been sold at 9d a pint, which screams "cheating landlord" at me.

Will their Stout continue Watney's good run?

Watney Stout quality 1922 - 1925
Year Beer FG OG ABV App. Atten-uation Flavour score Price
1922 Stout 1014.7 1057.7 5.59 74.52% clean 1 9
1922 Stout 1012.4 1055.9 5.67 77.82% good 2 9
1922 Stout 1013.2 1056.2 5.60 76.51% good 2 9
1922 Stout 1012.8 1054.8 5.47 76.64% poor -1 9
1922 Stout 1013.7 1055.2 5.40 75.18% yeast bitter -1 9
1923 Stout 1013 1056.5 5.66 76.99% fair 1 9
1923 Stout 1013.6 1056.1 5.53 75.76% fair 1 9
1923 Stout 1015.2 1056.2 5.33 72.95% good 2 8
1923 Stout 1010.8 1046.3 4.61 76.67% only fair 1 9
1923 Stout 1012 1055 5.60 78.18% v fair 2 9
1923 Stout 1013.2 1055.2 5.46 76.09% v fair 2 8
1923 Stout 1013.8 1054.8 5.33 74.82% v fair 2 8
1923 Stout 1012.5 1054.5 5.47 77.06% very fair 2 9
1924 Stout 1015.4 1053.4 4.93 71.16% good 2 8
1924 Stout 1013.2 1054.9 5.43 75.96% v poor -2 8
1925 Stout 1015.4 1055.9 5.26 72.45% good 2 8
Average  1013.4 1054.9 5.40 75.55% 1.13
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

Yes, it will. Thirteen from sixteen achieved positive scores, including 9 2's. The overall average is a very decent 1.13.

It'll feel weird seeking out Watney's pubs when I'm holidaying in the 1920's. But they're probably the safest bet.

1 comment:

Tandleman said...

Why was the Dundee Courier so keen on this kind of thing? Seems a rich source for you.