Whitbread Stout quality 1922

I just found myself subconsciously singing "My Way" in my head. Can't possibly think why

Finally we're there. At the final set of analyses. The very first part of this series, "Was Watney's Mild crap in the 1920's?" was on the 26th January 2014. So I've been at this for just about nine months. Scary to think it's taken as long to form as a baby.

But don't get too carried away yet. I've still a Stout roundup and then an overall league table to compile. There are still a few steps left in our journey.

How appropriate that Whitbread, the people we have to thank for this lovely information, comes last. Just an alphabetical coincidence, but still appropriate. I thought: "What extra crap, sorry background detail, can I stick in?" Why not something about the beers? The grists are an obvious one. But I know so much more about Whitbread beers. A great excuse for lots more tables.

For example, they very handily have tables at the back of their brewing books showing how much of each type of beer they brewed each week of the year, with monthly and annual totals. Which lets me put together tables like this:

Whitbread Porter and Stout output 1921 - 1929
	P		S		CS		LS		ES		Total
year	barrels	%	barrels	%	barrels	%	barrels	%	barrels	%
1921	15,688	6.57%	58,452	24.50%			133,563	55.97%	30,920	12.96%	238,623
1922	16,562	8.59%	47,530	24.66%	84,703	43.95%	15,340	7.96%	28,582	14.83%	192,717
1923	14,165	8.33%	39,960	23.51%	68,326	40.20%	20,866	12.28%	26,660	15.68%	169,977
1924	15,948	8.95%	37,834	21.23%	74,258	41.67%	23,442	13.16%	26,710	14.99%	178,192
1925	14,943	9.12%	35,396	21.59%	62,357	38.04%	22,262	13.58%	28,974	17.67%	163,932
1926	13,511	8.02%	34,567	20.51%	20,721	12.30%	69,724	41.38%	29,990	17.80%	168,513
1927	10,708	7.15%	30,087	20.09%			86,569	57.82%	22,361	14.93%	149,725
1928	10,105	7.11%	30,017	21.12%			85,992	60.49%	16,039	11.28%	142,153
1929	5,558	6.48%	17,284	20.15%			51,624	60.18%	11,313	13.19%	85,779
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/09/113, LMA/4453/D/09/114, LMA/4453/D/09/115, LMA/4453/D/09/116, LMA/4453/D/09/117, LMA/4453/D/09/118, LMA/4453/D/09/119, LMA/4453/D/09/120, LMA/4453/D/09/121, LMA/4453/D/09/122.

It tells us a few things. Like their Porter started its terminal decline in 1926. That Country Stout (CS) had a brief life, at first almost sucking the life out of London Stout (LS) then withering itself away. LS bounces back to over 90,000 barrels a year in 1930. Don't know what happened in 1929, but the following year total Porter and Stout production was over 150,000 barrels again. Overall, Whitbread's Stout sales were in decline in the 1920's. In the 1930's they stabilised at around 120,000 barrels.

Now details of the beers. On the face of it, there were 7 beers: P (Porter) CS (Country Stout), COS (Country Oatmeal Stout), LS (London Stout), LOS (London Oatmeal Stout), S (Stout) and ES (Extra Stout). In reality there just three. As this table shows:

Whitbread Porter and Stout in 1922
Date	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)	boil time (hours)	Pitch temp
12th Jun	P	Porter	1028.0	1007.0	2.78	74.98%	7.47	0.93	1.5	1.75	64º
12th Jun	CS	Stout	1045.7	1013.0	4.32	71.54%	7.47	1.52	1.5	1.75	61.5º
12th Jun	COS	Stout	1045.7	1013.0	4.32	71.54%	7.47	1.52	1.5	1.75	61.5º
6th Jun	LS	Stout	1054.6	1015.0	5.23	72.51%	7.44	1.77	1.75	2	61.5º
6th Jun	LOS	Stout	1054.6	1015.0	5.23	72.51%	7.44	1.77	1.75	2	61.5º
6th Jun	S	Stout	1054.6	1015.0	5.23	72.51%	7.44	1.77	1.75	2	61.5º
6th Jun	ES	Stout	1054.6	1015.0	5.23	72.51%	7.44	1.77	1.75	2	61.5º
Source:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/115.

Now the grists:

Whitbread Porter and Stout grists in 1922
Date	Beer	Style	OG	pale malt	brown malt	black malt	no. 3 sugar	oats	hops
12th Jun	P	Porter	1028.0	63.96%	14.15%	13.02%	8.30%	0.57%	Oregon hops
12th Jun	CS	Stout	1045.7	63.96%	14.15%	13.02%	8.30%	0.57%	Oregon hops
12th Jun	COS	Stout	1045.7	63.96%	14.15%	13.02%	8.30%	0.57%	Oregon hops
6th Jun	LS	Stout	1054.6	64.69%	14.93%	12.09%	7.58%	0.71%	Oregon hops
6th Jun	LOS	Stout	1054.6	64.69%	14.93%	12.09%	7.58%	0.71%	Oregon hops
6th Jun	S	Stout	1054.6	64.69%	14.93%	12.09%	7.58%	0.71%	Oregon hops
6th Jun	ES	Stout	1054.6	64.69%	14.93%	12.09%	7.58%	0.71%	Oregon hops
Source:
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/115.

The recipes are elegantly simple: pale, brown and black malts, No. 3 invert sugar and a handful of oats for legal reasons. I should say recipe rather than recipes, because, though P, CS and COS were parti-gyled together, as were LS, LOS, S and ES, the same basic recipe was used for both sets. If I'm honest, Whitbread's records are terribly dull in this period.

One odd feature: 100% Oregon hops. It's really unusual to see all American hops in a beer. It implies to me that these are all early additions. They would normally use US hops for later additions. British brewers weren't keen on the flavour of American hops.

The ingredients are the same as they had been 50 years earlier. Look:

Whitbread Stout grists in 1870
Date	Beer	Style	OG	pale malt	brown malt	black malt	Sugar
8th Aug	SS	Stout	1080.9	73.11%	13.71%	4.57%	8.61%
8th Aug	SSS	Stout	1098.3	73.11%	13.71%	4.57%	8.61%
4th Nov	xp S	Stout	1070.4	68.59%	18.29%	4.57%	8.55%
19th Jan	K	Porter	1055.6	70.00%	25.00%	5.00%
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/09/063 and LMA/4453/D/09/064.

A little more pale malt and less black malt, but not really that much different.

That was fun. Now finally to today's beer, Whitbread draught Stout. Or London Stout, as it clearly was. It terms of spec, it's a touch stronger than average. Oh, and it's the more expensive 9d type of Stout. But what about its performance?

Whitbread Stout quality 1922
Year	Beer	FG	OG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	Flavour	score	Price
1922	Stout	1011.9	1055	5.61	78.36%	good	2	9
1922	Stout	1018.2	1055.7	4.86	67.32%	good	2	9
1922	Stout	1014.2	1055.2	5.33	74.28%	v . fair	2	9
Average		1014.8	1055.3	5.27	73.32%		2.00
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001

We're ending on a high note. Only three samples, but all get an impressive 2 score. I could work out the average without the benefit of a computer.

Whitbread pubs will (or should that be were?) be full of time-travelling Stout lovers.