Draught Bitter in 1960

Table time again. The words are still rationed, owing to me having spoken too much last weekend. I don’t have an infinite supply of these things, you know.

Having obtained some fresh, juicy numbers, courtesy of Boak and Bailey, I thought I’d do something with them. As 1960 marks the end of the period I’m currently focussing on, it seems a good excuse to take a look at the state of British beer then.

Boak and Bailey’s data came from a Which? Report into beer from 1960. It’s hard to imagine how much in the dark drinkers were about the strength of the beer back then. Brewers were very secretive about how strong their beer was. With good reason. Their reflex reaction to tax increases  had long been to cut gravities. By not telling their customers about gravities, they hoped they might not notice their beer was getting weaker.

This report and the occasional newspaper article were the only times beer strengths were ever detailed. I know kicking CAMRA is a modern sport, but it was they who dragged beer gravities out into the open. In the late 1970’s, as brewers wouldn’t say how strong their beers were, CAMRA had them analysed themselves. And published the results in the Good Beer Guide. Once the information was out in the open, some brewers started to publish their gravities. Eventually legislation obliged them to include it on beer labels.

But back in the dark days of 1970, the only way to get an idea of the strength of a beer was its name and price. Though those indicators weren’t 100% reliable. There are plenty of examples of Best Bitter in the tables below that aren’t very best. They range from 1032º to 1048º. As average gravity was around 1037º at this time, I would expect a Best Bitter to be stronger than that.

You’ll notice that several beers appear in both tables. I’m reassured that the prices mostly match, as do the gravities to within a few percentage points.

The bitterness number which appears in the Which? Table is something called “Index of Hop Bitter”. Not sure exactly what that is, but it doesn’t look far off an IBU number to me. Perhaps a touch lower. It amuses me that one of the beers with the highest bitterness is From William Younger, a Scottish brewery. Weren’t they supposed to use almost no hops in Scotland?

There’s a huge variation in value for money, as indicated by the final column, which gives the price in pennies of 1% ABV.  I’m pleased to see that the winner of this particular race, by a whisker, is Carlisle State Management. A nationalised brewery. And it’s reassuring to see that by far the worst value for money is a keg beer, Flowers Bitter. You’ll note that the average price per % ABV is very similar for both tables, 4.21d and 4.22d.

That’s me done. I’ll leave you with the lovely tables.

Draught Bitter in 1960
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	atten-uation	bitterness	price per % ABV
Ansells	Bitter	17	1045.3	1010.7	4.50	76.38%	31	3.78
Worthington	"E"	18	1041.8	1006.5	4.60	84.45%	28	3.91
Bass	Red Triangle	18	1043.1	1008.5	4.50	80.28%	34	4.00
Carlisle State Management	Bitter	14	1038.2	1008.2	3.90	78.53%	28	3.59
Charrington	India Pale Ale	19	1044.9	1013.25	4.10	70.49%	37	4.63
Courage & Barclay	Bitter	17	1040.3	1010.25	3.90	74.57%	40	4.36
Flowers	Keg Bitter	22	1039.1	1012.8	3.40	67.26%	33	6.47
Fremlins	Best Bitter	21	1044.7	1009.3	4.60	79.19%	34	4.56
Friary Meux	Bitter	13	1034.9	1007.2	3.60	79.37%	28	3.61
Georges	Bitter	13	1030.9	1004.75	3.40	84.63%	24	3.82
Greenall Whitley	Bitter	14	1034.4	1005.95	3.70	82.70%	40	3.78
Greene King	Bitter	15	1037.0	1006.25	4.00	83.11%	33	3.75
Hammond United	Best Bitter	16	1035.5	1004.05	4.10	88.59%	20	3.90
Ind Coope	Bitter (BB)	15	1037.7	1008.4	3.80	77.72%	36	3.94
John Smiths	Best Bitter	16	1036.8	1010.55	3.40	71.33%	40	4.71
Tennant	Best Bitter	16	1038.3	1006.05	4.20	84.20%	30	3.81
Tennant	Queen's Ale	18	1041.7	1008.6	4.30	79.38%	35	4.18
Thwaites	Bitter	16	1035.8	1006.6	3.80	81.56%	32	4.21
Truman	Bitter	16	1037.6	1007.6	3.90	79.79%	30	4.10
Ushers	Bitter	13	1031.9	1008.75	3.00	72.57%	25	4.33
Vaux	Best Bitter	15	1034.8	1005.6	3.80	83.91%	22	3.95
Watney	Special Bitter	19	1043.1	1014.5	3.70	66.36%	33	5.14
Whitbread	Bitter	17	1037.4	1009.65	3.60	74.20%	35	4.72
Wilson	Bitter	15	1036.1	1006.1	3.90	83.10%	35	3.84
Younger, Wm.	Bitter	18	1043.9	1010.8	4.30	75.40%	40	4.19
Average		16.44	1038.6	1008.4	3.92	78.36%	32.12	4.21
Source:
Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173.

Draught Bitter in 1960
Brewer	Year	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	atten-uation	Colour	price per % ABV
Bass	Bitter	21	1044	1009.8	4.45	77.73%	19	4.72
Beasley	Bitter	15	1034.3	1004.5	3.72	86.88%	35	4.03
Blatch Brewery	Bitter	14	1031.8	1003.9	3.49	87.74%	20	4.01
Burt & Co.	Best Bitter	13	1032.6	1004.5	3.51	86.20%	20	3.70
Charles Wells	Bitter	18	1034.4	1006.6	3.48	80.81%	18	5.18
Charrington	Ordinary Bitter	14	1033.8	1008	3.35	76.33%	18	4.18
Charrington	Best Bitter	19	1044.5	1012.9	4.10	71.01%	24	4.64
Clinch	Bitter	13	1034	1006.1	3.49	82.06%	20	3.73
Courage & Barclay	Directors' Bitter	24	1048.8	1008.4	5.27	82.79%	26	4.56
Courage & Barclay	Bitter	17	1040.4	1009.1	4.07	77.48%	23	4.18
Courage & Barclay	Alton Pale Ale	17	1040.4	1009.4	4.03	76.73%	25	4.22
Dunmow Brewery	Bitter	14	1033.6	1006.6	3.37	80.36%	25	4.15
Flowers	Bitter	19	1040.6	1008.8	3.97	78.33%	24	4.78
Fremlin	XXX Bitter	14	1035.5	1005.7	3.72	83.94%	26	3.76
Friary	Bitter	14	1033.8	1005.2	3.57	84.62%	20	3.92
Friary Meux	Treble Gold	18	1042.3	1008.9	4.18	78.96%	23	4.31
Fullers	London Pride	20	1042.3	1010.5	4.13	75.18%	24	4.85
Fullers	Ordinary Bitter	16	1032.2	1005.3	3.50	83.54%	24	4.58
Garne & Sons	Best Bitter	17	1042.9	1009.5	4.18	77.86%	30	4.07
Garne & Sons	Bitter	13	1031.2	1004.3	3.36	86.22%	21	3.87
Gibbs Mew	Blue Keg Bitter	18	1036	1007.6	3.55	78.89%	25	5.07
Gray's	Bitter	13	1033.6	1006.1	3.44	81.85%	21	3.78
Greene King	Abbot Ale	22	1051.3	1007.9	5.43	84.60%	20	4.06
Greene King	Best Bitter	15	1038.4	1007.4	3.88	80.73%	20	3.87
Greene King	Ordinary Bitter	13	1033.9	1005.7	3.53	83.19%	26	3.69
Harvey's	Bitter	14	1033.8	1006.1	3.46	81.95%	22	4.04
Ind Coope	Double Diamond	19	1040.2	1010	3.92	75.12%	22	4.85
McMullen	Best Bitter	16	1041.1	1010.8	3.79	73.72%	25	4.22
McMullen	Ordinary Bitter	15	1037	1008	3.63	78.38%	22	4.14
Mew Langton	Best Bitter	18	1037	1008.6	3.55	76.76%	19	5.07
Morland	Bitter	14	1035.6	1006.1	3.69	82.87%	18	3.80
Morrell	Best Bitter	15	1035.3	1005.3	3.75	84.99%	23	4.00
Morrell	Light Bitter	12	1030.7	1005	3.21	83.71%	17	3.74
Rayments	Best Bitter	14	1035.7	1006.4	3.66	82.07%	22	3.82
Rayments	Bitter	12	1030.3	1004.1	3.27	86.47%	18	3.66
Ridley	Best Bitter	21	1047	1007.8	4.90	83.40%	22	4.29
Ridley	Ordinary Bitter	14	1034.2	1009.8	3.05	71.35%	19	4.59
Simonds	Best Bitter	19	1042.3	1007.5	4.35	82.27%	17	4.37
Simpson & Co.	Bitter	15	1036.2	1008	3.53	77.90%	24	4.26
Star Brewery	SPA	17	1039.5	1005.8	4.21	85.32%	22	4.04
Star Brewery	Bitter	12	1029.5	1003.3	3.28	88.81%	20	3.66
Tamplin	Bitter	14	1034.3	1006	3.54	82.51%	24	3.96
Tetley	Bitter	16	1037.9	1003.7	4.28	90.24%	20	3.74
Tollemache	Bitter	16	1033.3	1003.4	3.74	89.79%	20	4.28
Truman	Best Burton Bitter	18	1042.7	1009.7	4.29	77.28%	19	4.20
Truman	Ordinary Burton Bitter	16	1037.4	1007.6	3.87	79.68%	20	4.13
Usher	Ordinary Bitter	13	1032.5	1007.3	3.15	77.54%	18	4.13
Usher, Trowbridge	Best Bitter	18	1043.6	1010	4.20	77.06%	21	4.29
Watney	Special Bitter	19	1044.2	1009.6	4.50	78.28%	26	4.22
Wells & Winch	Bitter	16	1036	1010.3	3.21	71.39%	12	4.98
Wenlock	Bitter	16	1035	1008.7	3.41	75.14%	26	4.69
Whitbread	Bitter	17	1038.5	1011	3.56	71.43%	20	4.77
Young & Co	Best Bitter	20	1048.4	1011.5	4.61	76.24%	24	4.34
Young & Co	Ordinary Bitter	15	1037.5	1006.6	3.86	82.40%	19	3.88
Average		16.15	1037.7	1007.4	3.818	80.52%	21.81	4.22
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

I’ve a few other types of beer to plough through. Unless I get distracted.