You know me by now. I've ridiculous piles of information. If you'd been around mine you'd realise just how literal the piles are. I was sure I had older examples of beers specifically labelled "Christmas".
Being labels, it makes more sense to do this visually:
My guess is that they are all from the 1950's.
These I have from the Whitbread Gravity Book:
1956 Well's & Winch Christmas Ale 4.97%
1950 Younger, Geo. Gordon Xmas Ale (bottled in Antwerp) 7.58%
These from brewing records:
1902 Fuller, Smith & Turner XK for Xmas 5.83%
This is a Lovibond record from 1864:
The beer, coincidentally, will feature in our special Christmas Eve Let's Brew.
Ron - the Lovibonds XXXX is the beer I brewed about two years ago at The Old Brewery, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI still have one corked bottle left for the next time you're in London!
I was looking into the age of Christmas ale, too. I came across a single entry newspaper advertising Christmas Ale from Thomas' Brewery in Brooklyn, back in '65...1865, that is.
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