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.
100 pc English hops boring?. Ron have you been having nightmares about imperial quad awesome citra hopped mild?
ReplyDeleteI just mean that because there's no variety or region specified that there isn't really any information about the hopping.
ReplyDeleteI'm presuming in the first table the boil times are a round up to whole hours since the average is less than 2.
ReplyDeleteDan Klingman,
ReplyDeletethere is no average in that table.
Duh, I really need to pay better attention. I saw the 1.58 and, well...
ReplyDelete