Adnams Mild 1945 - 1959

As we’ve seen from the figures for Adnams output around the time of WW II, Mild was Adnams biggest seller, around 60% of what they brewed in 1951.

Though its share was slowly and steadily being whittled away by Bitter. I don’t have any solid numbers after 1951, but my guess would be that Bitter overtook Mild in sales sometime around 1960. That’s based on the trend 1940 to 1951.

As you can see from the table header, Adnams Mild went under two different brewhouse names in this period, XX and XXX. The name change happened in 1951. There doesn’t seem to have been any change in the beer itself, other than the gravity increasing by one point. Random name changes happened more often around WW II. In 1940, Whitbread changed the name of its Mild from X to XX for no apparent reason. Maybe to hide the fact it was getting weaker.

I’ve already mentioned that Adnams Mild is notable for having a higher gravity in 1950 than in 1939. Something true of almost no beer. All through the 1930’s XX, as it was then called, had an OG of 1029º. Or a bit weak. I’ve always considered 1030º the minimum gravity for serious beer.

A fairly high degree of attenuation drags it just about into intoxicating territory. Most of the time. Though I imagine that the examples from the early 1950’s with over 80% attenuation must have tasted rather thin.

Hopping is fairly modest, as you expect in this period Mild. The rise in the hopping rate after 1950 almost certainly was a consequence of hops becoming available in greater quantities and brewers being allowed by the government to use more.

Not much more to say about the bare specs of the beer. Here’s the table:

Adnams XX and XXX 1945 - 1959
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)
1st Jan	1945	1027.0	1006.1	2.77	77.43%	4.63	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1946	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.63	0.50	2
15th Apr	1946	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.63	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1947	1027.1	1005.5	2.86	79.59%	4.60	0.50	2
6th Jan	1947	1027.1	1005.5	2.86	79.59%	4.60	0.50	2
2nd Jan	1948	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.60	0.50	2
2nd Jun	1948	1027.0	1005.5	2.84	79.48%	4.60	0.50	2
17th Jan	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	4.60	0.49	2
7th Apr	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	4.60	0.49	2
5th Oct	1949	1027.0	1005.0	2.91	81.53%	5.40	0.57	2
2nd Jun	1950	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	5.15	0.60	2
1st Sep	1950	1030.0	1005.0	3.31	83.38%	5.15	0.60	2
1st Aug	1951	1031.0	1004.4	3.51	85.70%	5.15	0.63	2
7th Nov	1951	1031.0	1005.5	3.37	82.13%	5.03	0.64	2
9th Jan	1952	1031.0	1006.1	3.29	80.34%	5.15	0.63	2
6th Mar	1952	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	4.79	0.57	2
2nd Nov	1953	1030.0	1007.2	3.02	75.99%	4.79	0.57	2
9th Nov	1953	1030.0	1006.1	3.16	79.69%	5.24	0.62	2
15th Sep	1954	1031.0	1007.8	3.07	74.98%	4.94	0.64	2
20th Jul	1955	1030.0	1008.9	2.80	70.45%	5.88	0.73	2
4th Sep	1956	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	6.37	0.78	2
10th Sep	1956	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	6.37	0.78	2
28th Jan	1957	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	5.11	0.62	2
2nd Aug	1957	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	4.89	0.61	2
3rd Jan	1958	1030.0	1008.6	2.83	71.38%	4.40	0.55	2
4th Dec	1959	1030.0	1008.3	2.87	72.30%	5.34	0.67	1.58
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery.

The grists leave more room for discussion. Let’s begin with the base malt. Up until 1953, it’s something called “medium” malt. I’ve no idea what this is, but suspect it’s something similar to mild malt. Especially as that’s what replaced it.

The only constant in terms of grains is crystal malt. In the first part of this period it made up around 5% of the total. That was doubled in 1954, presumably as a result of the amber malt being dropped. Amber malt is unusual in a Mild, more often turning up in Porter or Stout. Adnams started using it in their Mild after WW I and continued with it right up until the 1950’s.

The flaked barley that appears in the grists 1945 to 1948 is as a result of wartime energy-saving measures. Flaked barley took less fuel to make than malt and the government forced brewers to use a proportion of it, even ones like Whitbread who had avoided adjuncts before the war.

No. 3 sugar appears in almost every recipe, except for a few in 1949 when No. 1 invert was used instead. That may well have been connected with supply problems as No. 3 was the classic Mild sugar. The increased percentage of sugar after 1954 probably reflects an improvement in it availability. 1953 was the year sugar rationing ended.

The hops are really boring: 100% English (no region of origin specified, sadly) except for a few Czech ones in the late 1940’s. Not really surprising, as the UK was self-sufficient in hops at the time.

Adnams XX and XXX grists 1945 - 1959
Date	Year	OG	pale malt	amber malt	crystal malt	medium malt	MA malt	flaked barley	no. 1 sugar	no. 3 sugar	tintose	hydrol	Sucramel	hops
1st Jan	1945	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	76.74%		5.12%		6.82%	1.10%			English
2nd Jan	1946	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	71.62%		10.23%		6.82%	1.10%			English
15th Apr	1946	1027.0		5.12%	5.12%	71.62%		10.23%		6.82%	1.10%			English
2nd Jan	1947	1027.1		5.09%	5.09%	71.32%		10.19%		6.79%	1.52%			English, Czech
6th Jan	1947	1027.1		5.09%	5.09%	71.32%		10.19%		6.79%	1.52%			English
2nd Jan	1948	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	75.13%		10.02%		3.34%	1.49%			English
2nd Jun	1948	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	75.13%		10.02%		3.34%	1.49%			English, Czech
17th Jan	1949	1027.0		5.01%	5.01%	85.15%			3.34%		1.49%			English
7th Apr	1949	1027.0	20.04%	5.01%	5.01%	65.12%			3.34%		1.49%			English
5th Oct	1949	1027.0		5.11%	5.11%	81.75%			6.81%		1.22%			English
2nd Jun	1950	1030.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
1st Sep	1950	1030.0	38.89%	4.86%	4.86%	43.75%				6.48%	1.16%			English
1st Aug	1951	1031.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
7th Nov	1951	1031.0		5.93%	5.93%	80.68%				6.33%	1.13%			English
9th Jan	1952	1031.0		4.86%	4.86%	82.64%				6.48%	1.16%			English
6th Mar	1952	1030.0		4.16%	4.16%	83.25%				7.40%	1.02%			English
2nd Nov	1953	1030.0		4.16%	4.16%		83.25%			7.40%	1.02%			English
9th Nov	1953	1030.0		4.86%	4.86%		82.64%			6.48%	1.16%			English
15th Sep	1954	1031.0			9.10%		77.34%			12.13%	1.44%			English
20th Jul	1955	1030.0			8.83%		75.04%			14.71%	1.42%			English
4th Sep	1956	1030.0			8.82%		75.00%			14.71%	1.47%			English
10th Sep	1956	1030.0			8.82%		75.00%			14.71%	1.47%			English
28th Jan	1957	1030.0	70.35%		9.38%				9.38%	9.38%	1.51%			English
2nd Aug	1957	1030.0			8.69%		78.20%			8.69%	1.53%	2.90%		English
3rd Jan	1958	1030.0			8.69%		78.20%			8.69%	1.53%	2.90%		English
4th Dec	1959	1030.0	8.64%		8.64%		69.15%			11.53%			2.03%	English
Source:
Adnams brewing records held at the brewery.

I’m almost done with Adnams beers. Just the Strong Ale to go.