Draught IPA in the 1950’s

As not promised, we’re looking at IPA in the 1950’s. For no good reason other than idleness. There are rather a lot of Mild analyses. And I’m not sure what the most instructive way to organise them is.

So I’ve gone for IPA instead. I’ve only a handful of analyses of those. So I can be done quickly.

First an advert that tells us something about the effect of the war on brewing. And IPA:

“The Bristol United Breweries, Ltd.
announce that deliveries of their celebrated I.P.A. on Draught (suspended during the war) begin to-day. Public Bar price 1/4 d per pint

A complete range of the Company products is given below -

I.P.A. ON DRAUGHT 1/4 d per pint
UNITED BITTER ON DRAUGHT 1/1 d per pint
HOME BREWED IN BOTTLE 10d small; 1/6d large
AMBER ALE IN BOTTLE 7d small; 1/1 d large; 2/1 d flagons
OAKHILL STOUT IN BOTTLE ... 1/- small; 1/10 d large

All brewed from the finest materials, of course.”
Western Daily Press - Tuesday 19 September 1950, page 5.

What’s revealing is how long after the war – more than five years – before IPA was brought back. Though why it was out of the picture quite so long, I’m not sure. At 16d a pint it couldn’t have had a gravity of much more than 1035º. While their Bitter probably didn’t scrape past 1030º.

Let’s have that table now:

Draught IPA in the 1950's
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1954	Charrington	IPA	19	0.06	1046	1008.8	4.84	80.87%	32
1954	Charrington	IPA	19	0.04	1046.7	1008	5.04	82.87%	27
1957	Charrington	Best IPA	19	0.05	1044.7	1011.3	4.34	74.72%	27
1954	Mann Crossman	IPA	20	0.10	1044	1009.8	4.45	77.73%	25
1954	Mann Crossman	IPA	20	0.04	1044	1011.6	4.20	73.64%	26
1957	Mann Crossman	IPA	20	0.12	1041.7	1006.1	4.64	85.37%	23
1956	Wenlock	IPA	16	0.04	1035.7	1010.8	3.22	69.75%	27
	Average		19.0	0.06	1043.3	1009.5	4.39	77.85%	26.7
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Only three different beers there, so quite a limited set. Even so, there are clearly two types: a strong one, with a gravity at the top end of Best Bitter; and a weak one. Confused? Wait until I show you the bottled examples. They’re all over the shop.

The stronger ones would have been some of the strongest beers available on draught. Only things like KKKK, not usually available all year, would have been stronger.

Average attenuation is similar to the Bitters we saw earlier. The colour though is quite a bit darker – the Bitters averaged 21-22. As they are at the strong end, that’s not so surprising. Except to modern geeks.

I’ve no idea of the bitterness levels. Though I’d be surprised if they were much different from Bitters of a similar strength. The term IPA wasn’t used with any precision. A brewers could just as easily have called these beers Best Bitter or Special Bitter.

Almost forgot to mention. I drank that Charrington IPA in the 1970's. A not that interesting Best Bitter is how I would class it.

Maybe I really will do Mild next.

Random Berliner Weisse stuff

Some random stuff about Berliner Weisse that I found in the newspaper archive. Though they do tell us something. And I don’t mean about the habits of German sailors

“SUNDAY IN A GERMAN WAR HARBOUR.
Sunday is the great day of recreation for the men of the German Navy at Kiel. As in Great Britain, the shops are shut, and churchgoers go to church in the morning, but the rest of the day is given up to pleasure. The Germans cannot be said a religious people from our standpoint—dogma being nebulous, and religion a State duty. One German Protestant cathedral that I know has as its chief pastor or dean a minister who openly doubts the existence of the Deity. On Sunday evenings there is much dancing and beer-drinking. Dancing is the rule of the day in every cafe of any size, and if energetic it is always orderly. The amount of beer that is consumed on these occasions is wonderful. A great favourite with the ladies is the frothy Berlin white beer, drunk out of large bowl-shaped glass, and with a liqueur-glass of raspberry syrup added to it. On these days the German sailor, and his beard trimmed to a point in a sort of goatee, appears resplendent his full uniform, bare-chested, and many buttoned to a perfectly surprising degree. Drunkenness is nowhere as obtrusive as in England, and any disorderliness in the street, at once leads to the offending sailor being arrested by the patrol, and promptly consigned to custody. Discipline is severe.— J. Morin in Chambers's Journal.”
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 01 November 1905, page 6.

What have we learned? That Berliner Weisse was popular with the ladies. And also that it was being served far from Berlin – Kiel is 350 km away.

But what really caught my attention was the reference to Berliner Weisse being drunk with raspberry syrup. I’d thought that this didn’t become a common practice until after WW I. Clearly it dates from before that.

Here’s a somewhat older article:

“EASTER ON THE CONTINENT.
The foreign correspondents, having little else to write about, have been giving us descriptions of the Easter customs in the countries where they live. In Germany, we read, there is a so-called Easter soup, which is the seasonable dish at dinner or supper. It is a species of egg-flip, but as the beer used in its composition is the Berlin white beer the result is proportionally thin, and unsatisfactory to the normal English palate. With regard to customs, the principal one unknown in England is that of concealing Easter eggs, made of sugar or chocolate, under the furniture, behind the sofa cushions, and in similarly undiscoverable hiding places, for the children to seek.”
Belfast News-Letter - Monday 05 April 1869, page 4.

Doesn’t sound like they were very keen on Berliner Weisse, even when it was made into soup.

Funny about the Easter-egg hiding tradition. We did it with our kids. Then again, it was Dolores’s idea and she is German.

Brewing in the 1950’s – where to put your brewery?

I’m returning to Jeffery’s "Brewing Theory and Practice" to look at a short passage that greatly intrigued me. It’s all about suitable – and unsuitable – locations for a brewery.

It warns something I’d never considered: contamination from neighbouring businesses.

“Contamination by impure air is a great danger, especially to beers of low alcoholic content. A district should be selected which is free from factories emitting noxious fumes, and in which such factories are unlikely to be erected. It is inadvisable to build a brewery in close proximity to farm buildings, as dust from hay and chaff is highly infectious. The authors know more than one instance where considerable trouble has been experienced owing to the introduction of bacteria from such a source. It is an interesting commentary on the weak and non-resisting low gravity beverages of to-day that not very long ago farmers used to brew their own beers on farm premises under conditions which to-day would be definitely impossible. The reason for their success was, of course, that the high alcoholic content acted as an antiseptic and preservative.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 18.

I can think of lots of breweries that were located close to factories. In fact a particular example comes to mind from South London. Not all that far from Barclay Perkins’ Park Street brewery:

As you can see, the Black Eagle Brewery was surrounded by other industries, most of them pretty filthy. There were loads of tanneries is the part of London. And slightly further to the east there’s a vinegar works. The railway lines behind are the approach to London Bridge. The same bit of railway whose arches house the Kernel.

The Black Eagle Brewery was owned by Noakes and Co. It was bought by Courage in 1930, which is why I have photos of some of their brewing records.

But what I find most interesting about this passage is the references to farmhouse brewing. And how modern, low-gravity beers could easily be contaminated. Mmm. Thinking of farmhouses, wasn’t the Batemans brewery originally a farm?

There were other potential contamination hazards:

“Flour mills should also be carefully avoided. It is only necessary to look at the roof of a mill near the outlet from the dust ventilator to obtain some idea of the dangers lurking for breweries in the district. Another dangerous neighbour is a fruit orchard. Not only is decaying fruit a prolific source of infecting organisms, but many varieties of so-called 'wild yeast' abound in the air around orchards. Many of these organisms can develop in wort and beer with undesirable results. Overhead expenses involved in the transport both of raw materials and of finished beers play an important part. Proximity to a railway, canal, or river is of the utmost value. There is no need to remark that, in view of the high cost of transport it is most desirable that a brewery should be situated as near as possible to the bulk of licensed houses which it serves. Where this is not possible, stores and depots should be established as near as possible both to the licensed houses and to the transport centres.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 18 - 20.

I suppose if you’re a Lambic brewery being close to an orchard isn’t such a bad idea.

The transport options listed are also striking: there’s no mention of road transport. I’m sure most beer is shipped by road today. Having your brewery close to your pubs is pretty damn obvious. Though several London brewers had breweries off in Burton, far away from the bulk of their tied estate.

And once again taxation is poking its nose in:

“In these days of heavy taxation it is natural that much thought should be given to assessments and local rates. Unfortunately, local taxation is irregular and liable to unexpected increases. At the same time, it is usually possible to form some idea of the probable future development of a district.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 20.

Those bastard politicians, eh, putting up the rates without warning.

I’ll be plucking some more gems from the book. Coolers next, just because I get so fed up with people calling them “coolships”.

Draught Bitter in the 1950’s

Seeing as we’ve looked at the handling of draught beer in the 1950’s at great length, I thought you might like to take a look at some of the beers themselves. And it’s a good excuse for loads more tables.

I’ve taken everything in my mega gravity spreadsheet that’s British, draught and is dated between 1950 and 1959. There will be posts on other styles later, but I’m going to kick off with Bitter, a style that was very much on the up in this period. On its way to becoming, albeit briefly, the nation’s favourite.

I’ve split them into four groups: Boys Bitter (OG < 1036), Ordinary Bitter (OG 1036 – 1037.9), Best Bitter (OG > 1038) and Keg Bitter. It’s a fairly arbitrary division. As would any be, really. I could easily have extended Ordinary Bitter by a gravity point or two at either end.

I’m thinking of assembling a new book covering 1945 to 1960. It’s an interesting period in British brewing, if only for its relative lack of dynamism. After the chaotic changes of the previous decades, it was a period of surprising calm. But it was also when British beer styles solidified into their modern forms.

On with the tables. Beginning with Boys Bitter:

Draught Bitter in the 1950's - Boys Bitter
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenua-tion	colour
1953	Steel Coulson	Edinburgh Ale P. 60/-	14		1030
1959	Wm. Younger	XXP Bitter	22	0.04	1030.4	1005.7	3.21	81.25%	21
1958	Bernard	No. 3 (Pale 1/1)	13		1031	1010	2.72	67.74%
1959	Fuller	Bitter	14	0.05	1031.6	1004.1	3.58	87.03%	23
1959	Charrington	BBB	17	0.04	1032.8	1007.8	3.24	76.22%	14
1954	Barclay Perkins	XLK	15	0.06	1032.9	1004.5	3.70	86.32%
1954	Meux	PA	17	0.04	1033.2	1005.3	3.63	84.04%	20
1954	Meux	PA	17	0.06	1033.7	1007.3	3.43	78.34%	24
1954	Barclay Perkins	XLK	15	0.04	1033.8	1006.9	3.49	79.59%	19
1953	Steel Coulson	PXA P. 70/-	19		1034
1954	Taylor Walker	EPA	17	0.06	1034	1008.6	3.29	74.71%	23
1958	Vaux & Co	Bitter Ale	17	0.05	1034.2	1007.8	3.43	77.19%	26
1953	Whitbread	Pale Ale	16		1035.1				22
1957	Ind Coope	Best Bitter	17	0.06	1035.2	1008	3.53	77.27%	19
1954	Mann Crossman	KK	17	0.04	1035.3	1007.7	3.58	78.19%	19
1957	Charrington	PA	15	0.06	1035.5	1004.9	3.98	86.20%	23
1959	Whitaker	Bitter	14	0.04	1035.6	1010.2	3.17	71.35%	22
	Average		16.2		1033.4	1007.1	3.43	79.0%	21.3
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
document from the Steel Coulson archive held at the Scottish Brewing Archives
T & J Bernard's brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

Spot anything interesting there? Average attenuation is pretty high at 79%. The only exception is Bernard’s No. 3. Not even sure that should really be in there. Or, for that matter, the two other Scottish beers above it. As they are all 60/-. Which I usually consider to be Mild. Even though I know it was parti-gyled with 70/- and 80/-.

That reminds me. Kristen suggested we write another Beer Style Guide for a different year. I had been thinking of 1927, but I’m tempted to go for a year in the 1950’s. What do you reckon? Any preference for a year? It’s all a bit academic, as currently lack the time to write it.

Getting back to the beers, the relatively high attenuation means that the average ABV comes out at almost 3.5%. Not bad, but it might have left the beers a bit thin.

Next it’s the turn of Ordinary Bitter.

Draught Bitter in the 1950's - Ordinary Bitter
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenua-tion	colour
1958	Bernard	No. 2 (Pale 1/2)	14		1036	1011	3.24	69.44%
1954	Watney	PA	17	0.04	1036.1	1009.7	3.42	73.13%	25
1957	Ind Coope	PA	17	0.05	1036.3	1006.5	3.88	82.09%	19
1953	Taylor Walker	Pale Ale	18		1036.3				27
1953	Truman	Pale Ale	17		1036.7				16
1954	Truman	PA	17	0.04	1036.7	1006.4	3.94	82.56%	18
1954	Watney	IPA	17	0.06	1036.7	1008.4	3.67	77.11%	23
1953	Meux	Pale Ale	17		1036.8				27
1954	Charrington	BBB	15	0.06	1036.8	1008.9	3.62	75.82%	26
1957	Watney	PA	17	0.06	1036.8	1006.9	3.89	81.25%	26
1953	Young & Co	Pale Ale	16		1036.8				20
1954	Truman	PA	17	0.05	1036.9	1006.8	3.91	81.57%	19
1953	Whitbread	Pale Ale	17		1037.0				24
1959	Websters	Bitter	15	0.07	1037	1005.4	3.95	85.41%	20
1953	Wenlock	Pale Ale	16		1037				24
1957	Truman	PA	17	0.07	1037.2	1007.1	3.91	80.91%	18
1953	Benskins	Pale Ale	16		1037.2				18
1953	Tetley	Pale Ale	16		1037.3				20
1953	Younger	Pale Ale	17		1037.4				30
1959	Ind Coope	Red Hand	22	0.04	1037.5	1011.5	3.37	69.33%	18
1953	Mann Crossman	Pale Ale	17		1037.5				25
1954	Courage	Alton PA	18	0.04	1037.7	1008.1	3.84	78.51%	24
1955	Truman	PA Burton Brewed	17	0.05	1037.7	1005.9	4.14	84.35%	17
1954	Whitbread	PA	17	0.06	1037.9	1004.8	4.31	87.34%	24
	Average		16.8		1037.0	1007.7	3.79	79.2%	22.1
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
T & J Bernard's brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

I’m surprised that there’s so little difference between the average price of these first two classes of Bitter. There’s a fair bit of price uniformity – 18 of the 24 cost either 16d or 17d a pint. The one outlier is Ind Coope Red Hand which I suspect might have been a keg beer.

There’s a very heavy London slant in this set. Only Bernard, Younger and Tetley are exceptions. Unsurprising, as the majority of the analyses come from Truman and Whitbread.

Once again, there are some very highly-attenuated examples – eight are over 80%, and the average isn’t far off 80%.

Now Best Bitter:

Draught Bitter in the 1950's - Best Bitter
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenua-tion	colour
1954	Taylor Walker	PA	17	0.04	1038	1009.9	3.64	73.95%	23
1959	Websters	Bitter	16	0.06	1038	1004.7	4.16	87.63%	22
1954	Courage	PA	18	0.06	1038.4	1006.4	4.16	83.33%	28
1954	Charrington	PA	15	0.04	1038.6	1008.1	3.96	79.02%	20
1957	Whitbread	PA	19	0.06	1038.6	1010	3.71	74.09%	20
1957	Whitbread	PA	19	0.06	1038.6	1010	3.71	74.09%	20
1957	Taylor Walker	PA	17	0.06	1038.8	1009.3	3.83	76.03%	19
1959	Ramsdens	Bitter	16	0.05	1038.9	1006	4.28	84.58%	16
1955	Hancock, Cardiff	HB			1039
1957	Barclay Perkins	PA	18	0.05	1039.5	1005.9	4.38	85.06%	26
1959	Bentleys	Bitter	16	0.04	1039.5	1010.2	3.66	74.18%	19
1954	Whitbread	PA	17		1039.5
1957	Courage	PA	18	0.08	1039.8	1005.4	4.48	86.43%	27
1954	Barclay Perkins	Best Bitter	18	0.06	1040.4	1007.5	4.28	81.44%	22
1959	Ramsdens	Bitter	16	0.05	1040.7	1006.2	4.31	84.77%	18
1959	Courage & Barclay	Bitter	22	0.04	1040.9	1009.8	4.04	76.04%	23
1959	Fuller	Best Bitter	19	0.05	1041.4	1006.1	4.60	85.27%	32
1953	Watney	Pale Ale	19		1042.8				27
1957	Ind Coope	Double Diamond	20	0.05	1043.8	1008.1	4.65	81.51%	20
1957	Watney	Best PA	21	0.06	1044	1014.2	3.86	67.73%	20
1957	Bass, Burton	Pale Ale	21	0.04	1044.6	1005.4	5.12	87.89%	21
1953	Bass, Burton	Pale Ale	19		1044.7				26
1953	Watney	Special Bitter	20	0.06	1044.9	1009.6	4.59	78.62%	28
1954	Watney	Special Bitter	20	0.04	1045.5	1013.7	4.12	69.89%	23
1954	Bass, Burton	Pale Ale	19	0.04	1046	1008.7	4.86	81.09%	20
1958	Bernard	Special No. 1 (Pale 1/4)	16		1046	1013	4.28	71.74%
1953	Charrington	Pale Ale	17		1046.4				29
1959	Charrington	Toby Ale	15	0.04	1046.6	1009.4	4.84	79.83%	20
	Average		18.1		1041.6	1008.6	4.52	76.68%	22.7
Sources:
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
“Cardiff Pubs and Breweries” by Brian Glover, 2005. pages 97-101
T & J Bernard's brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive

I’m wondering what to say about this lot. The attenuation is all over the place – 68% to 88% - but averages a little lower than the previous two sets.

I’m slightly surprised that Draught Bass was one of the paler examples. Though it’s also one of the strongest, at around 5% ABV. As a relatively expensive beer, it maintained its gravity better than most.

Again, it’s a very London-heavy set. Weird, isn’t it, to think how many big breweries used to have their home in London?

Finally, the geek’s favourite, nice expensive keg beer:

Draught Bitter in the 1950's - Keg Bitter
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenua-tion	colour
1959	Simonds	Keg Bitter	22	0.04	1037.4	1007.3	3.76	80.48%	19
1959	South London Brewery	Golden Keg	18	0.07	1037.9	1005.7	4.03	84.96%	19
1959	Watney	Red Barrel	22	0.04	1038.5	1010	3.70	74.03%	24
1959	Flowers	Keg Bitter	22	0.04	1039	1010.7	3.54	72.56%	23
1959	Whitbread	Tankard Bitter	22	0.05	1039.1	1011.9	3.52	69.57%	22
1957	Watney	Keg Bitter	24	0.06	1039.4	1007.6	4.14	80.71%	23
1959	Truman	Keg Bitter	22	0.04	1040.5	1008.8	4.12	78.27%	22
1957	Courage & Barclay	Keg Bitter	22	0.06	1042.8	1006.6	4.72	84.58%	22
1959	Wm. Younger	Keg Bitter	19	0.04	1043.7	1007.8	4.68	82.15%	55
	Average		21.4		1039.8	1008.5	4.02	78.6%	25.4
	Without Younger								21.75
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

As you can see, they’re all at Ordinary or Best Bitter strength. Except priced at a few pence more per pint.

The William Younger example is very dark for a Bitter. In fact it’s getting close to Dark Mile territory. But you know the Scots – they loved colouring up their beer. And in loads of different shades. Doubtless in some markets that beer was much paler.

Probably Mild next time.