Tennant’s bottled beers in the late 1950’s

Time to take a look at Tennant’s bottled selection.

I’ve loads more information on these than on the draught beers. See if you can spot what’s unusual about their bottled range:

“Tennant's bottled beers were: Lion Pale Ale - a fine pale ale, Lion Brown Ale - enjoyed by older drinkers, Glucose Stout - a beautiful sweet stout, No.1 Barley Wine - an old fashioned drink and Gold Label Barley Wine — a pale, sparkling barley wine, about which I will elaborate later. Gold Label (together with Lion Pale Ale) had been awarded the 'Prix D'Excellence 1958' in Belgium, which was one of the most important brewing countries in the world at that time. Tennant's proudly displayed the words 'Prix D'Excellence' on street posters advertising the barley wine. However, due to a certain lack of familiarity with the pronunciation of the French language in those days, the drink was perceived, in some circles as a forerunner of viagra, which did no harm at all to its rocketing sales.”
"The Brewer's Tale" by Frank Priestley, 2010, page 11.

They brewed two Barley Wines, which seems slightly excessive. And, most confusingly, both were called No. 1. There was the older beer which named No. 1 Barley Wine and the 1950’s introduction Gold Label No. 1 Sparkling Barley Wine.

Let’s take a look:

Tennant bottled beers 1950 - 1959
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1954	Gold Label	Barley Wine	60	1101.5	1021	10.60	79.21%	90
1955	Gold Label	Barley Wine	57	1102.4	1021	10.77	79.69%	45
1958	Gold Label	Barley Wine	57	1102.5	1018	10.58	82.54%	35
1955	No. 1 Barley Wine	Barley Wine	57	1097.5	1023	9.84	76.82%	175
1952	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	20	1032.5	1012	2.62	62.46%	100
1955	Lion Brown Ale	Brown Ale	23	1034.9	1011	3.04	67.34%	85
1955	Family Brown Ale	Brown Ale	18	1031.9	1008	3.16	76.49%	50
1955	Light Dinner Ale	Light Ale	18	1030.8	1007	3.10	77.60%	23
1950	Pale Ale	Pale Ale		1039.4	1012	3.52	69.04%	27
1955	Lion Pale Ale	Pale Ale	27	1036.6	1010	3.46	72.95%	23
1958	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	25	1031.4	1008	2.99	76.11%	27
1955	Malt Stout	Stout	24	1036.2	1018	2.41	51.66%	350
1956	Glucose Stout	Stout	26	1040.4	1021	2.49	48.02%	225
1957	Glucose Stout	Stout	26	1038.3	1018	2.57	52.22%	325
1959	Glucose Stout	Stout	25	1039.8	1019	2.70	52.76%	225
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Gold Label was an extremely important beer because it was the first pale Barley Wine. But if you look closely you’ll see that it didn’t start out pale. Well, only in comparison with Tennant’s other Barley Wine, which was almost as dark as a Stout. You can see that it got paler as the 1950’s progressed and by 1958 was approached the colour of Bitter. I won’t go into Gold Label in too much depth here because Priestley discusses its production method later in the book. I’ll be writing about that later. But it’s something I’m particularly pleased to have found.

It looks like Tennant discontinued some beers during the 1950’s: LDA (presumably a Light Ale), Malt Stout and Family Brown Ale.

Lion Brown Ale is quite strong compared to most of its rivals. Family Brown Ale has a more typical OG for a 1950’s Brown Ale. Though a low rate of attenuation means that it's only just over 3% ABV, which is less than Family Brown Ale.

Glucose Stout is pretty obviously a Sweet Stout. A very sweet Stout, given its 50% attenuation. The name is a slight hint it might be sweet. I’m still wondering why beers like this were so popular in the 1950’s. I guess they were just imitations of the very successful Mackeson.

My guess is that Lion Pale Ale is a bottled version of either Bitter or Best Bitter, probably the latter. Though it might just have been parti-gyled with the two Bitters. It should be possible to find out, as there are brewing records preserved in the Sheffield City Archives. Feel free to drop by and send me some photos, if you live in Sheffield.

Ter Brugge

Last Friday was a sad, sad day. Ter Brugge closed forever.

A pub I've used pretty regularly, sometimes very regularly, for a couple of decades. I'm gutted to see it go. Especially as it was the cheapest pub in range of my gaff. Sold La Chouffe on draught. And had korenwijn.

But there are still the memories.

I often used to nip in on the way to collecting the kids from afterschool care. A quick Westmalle Tripel or two and I was on my way. Fortified to face the kids. For a very reasonable price. Ter Brugge was one of a very small number of pubs that didn't hike its prices with the introduction of the euro.

Me, Lucas, Will and the kids used to drop by Ter Brugge for refreshment after playing football in nearby Vondel Park. A few Westmalles helped rehydrate me. At least that's what I told myself. The kids didn't mind. As long as we didn't linger too long.

I recently rediscovered my love of Ter Brugge. Earlier this year I started walking for 30 minutes every evening. Ter Brugge just happens to be about a 15-minute walk from home. Perfect. A visit became part of my nightly ritual.

It's fascinating to see how long it takes to be coinsidered a regular. Sitting in the same spot and ordering the same drink really helps speed things up. After a couple of weeks the barstaff didn't even bother waiting for me to order. They just poured a Chouffe and a korenwijn as soon as I walked in.

Yesterday I took my first evening walk since it closed. It looked so lonely being empty and closed. I didn't bother with a drink elsewhere. What will I do now?

Let's Brew - 1956 Shepherd Neame SXX

We’ll be looking at a typical a new beer of the 1950’s: a stronger Bitter.

Around 1950 Shepherd Neame added two new Bitters, SXX and PA, with higher gravities than their existing Pale Ales BA and BB, at the same time dropping the weakest of their old range, AK. BA, the strongest of the old set, had an OG of just 1034º.

It was a pattern followed by many breweries. With the gravities of their pre-war flagship Pale Ales seriously eroded, they took the opportunity provided by a loosening of restrictions to launch something stronger. It must have been a joy for drinkers who had spent a decade having to put up with ever weaker beer sold at an ever higher price.

SXX was the stronger of the two new Bitters and, at 4% ABV, had a decent amount of oomph. Of course, all of the Bitters were parti-gyled together in various combinations. That’s just the way everyone brewed back then. The technique really was a key feature of British brewing in the 19th and 20th centuries. And it’s still practised by many older breweries. Including Shepherd Neame, I believe.

It’s another very simple recipe. All pale malt, except for a touch of malt extract. The latter was quite popular in the 1950’s. Not sure what its function was. In this case it was diastatic malt extract, which leads me to believe that its function is to aid the mashing process. Perhaps it was to compensate for the loss of malt made from Californian barley.

The hops were all their own. No idea what varieties, but Fuggles and Goldings seem a good bet. Note that at two hours the boil is quite long. 90 minutes was more typical by this period.

1956 Shepherd Neame SXX
pale malt	9.00 lb	97.93%
malt extract	0.19 lb	2.07%
Fuggles 120 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1039.3
FG	1009.4
ABV	3.96
Apparent attenuation	76.08%
IBU	30
SRM	4
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61.5º F
Yeast	a Southern English Ale yeast

Tennant’s draught beers in the late 1950’s

I love memoirs of brewery life. Two of my favourite books are Sydney Nevile’s “Seventy Rolling Years” and Anthony Avis’s "The Brewing Industry 1950 - 1990".

So I was delighted when Ed Wray gave me a copy of "The Brewer's Tale" by Frank Priestley. The author started at Tennant in Sheffield in 1959, before it became part of Whitbread. He then moved elsewhere in the Whitbread empire.

These inside views are so handy in fleshing out brewing records and analyses. I just wish there were more of them. Priestley usefully gives a brief sketch of the range of beers produced by Tennant.

“An important part of my duties as laboratory assistant was the analysis of the finished products. Samples were taken from every brew and tested for colour, clarity and gravity. At that time, Tennant's produced four draught been and five bottled beers. The draught beers were: Bitter Beer (BB), Best Bitter Beer (BBB), Rock Ale, which was a dark, mild ale and Queen's Ale. Rock Ale probably originated at the Nottingham Brewery (see later). The Nottingham cellars had been excavated out of the solid rock on which the old town stood. Beers stored in the cellars were known as Rock Ales. Queen's Ale was a premium draught beer. It was a pale, hoppy beer with a good body. Its perfect balance of malty sweetness and the bitterness of the finest hops ensured that it was the best draught beer that I have ever tasted (and that is saying something).”
"The Brewer's Tale" by Frank Priestley, 2010, page 11.

Here’s an odd thing. There are plenty of analyses of Tennant’s beers in the Whitbread Gravity Book. Which I would have expected. They seem to have had an unhealthy interest in the beers of breweries they later bought. But there are only analyses of bottled beers, none for draught. Fortunately, a couple were analysed by Which? magazine.

Tennant draught beers 1960
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1960	Best Bitter	Pale Ale	16	1038.3	1006	4.20	84.20%
1960	Queen's Ale	Pale Ale	18	1041.7	1009	4.30	79.38%
Source:
Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173.

I’m very pleased to see Queen’s Ale in there after Priestley’s high praise of it. My guess is that it was a new beer introduced in 1952 or 1953. The name is a bit of a giveaway. It’s not as strong as I had expected from his description. You’ll note that it’s barely stronger than the Best Bitter.

I’ll have to guess about the other two beers. My guess would be that both Bitter and Rock Mild had an OG in the low 1030s. And that the three Bitters were probably parti-gyled.

I would have ended there, but I did manage to dig up some more information. About the Nottingham Brewery’s beer. It looks like Rock Mild really did come from them:

Nottingham Brewery beers
Year	Beer	Style	Price per pint d	package	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1931	Rock Bitter Ale	Pale Ale		bottled	1036	1009.6	3.41	73.26%
1931	Rock Mild Ale	Mild		bottled	1037	1011.5	3.35	69.25%
1931	Oatmeal Stout	Stout		bottled	1053	1020.1	4.27	62.22%
1931	Mild	Mild	6	draught	1042	1011	4.06	74.00%
1931	Bitter	Pale Ale	6	draught	1041	1011.5	3.85	72.09%
1931	Best Draught Ale	Strong Ale	8	draught	1054	1008.5	5.94	84.26%
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Note how the bottled version OGs are 5 degrees lower than the draught equivalent. That was pretty typical between the wars.

I do find it odd that they should have adopted the Mild Ale of a brewery they had taken over. Especially such a core beer as their Mild, which would have been their biggest seller. I can only assume that Rock Mild had a good reputation. Or Tennant liked the branding and just applied it to their own beer.

Bottled beers next time.

An unhappy 250th anniversary for Shepherd Neame

What could be more natural than to celebrate a 250th anniversary with a Party? Which is what Shepherd Neame did back in 1948.

They invited around 1,000 employees and landlords to a posh meal in London. Unfortunately many guests became sick and two even died. That’s a good way to put a downer on a party.

“FOOD POISON KILLED WOMAN AFTER PARTY
One of two women who died after an anniversary celebration in the West End of London was suffering from food poisoning.

The other, according to a pathologist at the inquest at Faversham yesterday, died from cerebral haemorrhage.

A verdict of natural causes was recorded both women — Mrs Frances L. Harris (40), Makenade Avenue, Faversham, and Mrs Daisy Winifred Smith (59), Stone Street.

The pathologist, Dr H. B. Morris, said an examination of Mrs Harris failed to show any pathological organism.

The death of Mrs Smith was due to pulmonary septicaemia caused by bacilli infection of one of the food poisoning groups.

MOST USUAL CAUSE.
The most usual cause of outbreak of this form was carrier — someone who carried the organisms and affected the food.

The bacilli would be more likely to affect food like milk and eggs, especially if they were left standing, which would give a chance for organisms to grow.

Ice-cream could carry the organisms.

It was stated the party was to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Neame's Brewery, Faversham, on August 28. Over 1000 employees and licensee tenants attended.

A number complained of vomiting and pains, and several were treated in hospital.

WHAT SHE ATE.
Mrs Minnie E. L. Ball, sister-in-law of Mrs Smith, said Mrs Smith first complained of illness on August 31.

At the lunch at the Lyceum Restaurant Mrs Smith had grapefruit, breast of chicken, mayonnaise, meringue and coffee. She had to be careful what she ate because of duodenal ulcers.

She omitted the Russian salad and ice-cream. She did not have tea.

"I had the same things to cat and more, and felt no ill effects," said Mrs Ball. None of the other 20 people at their table was taken ill.

Dr A. Mories said Mrs Smith's general health was not very good. Four months ago she was X-rayed and put on a diet.

47 CASES NOTIFIED.
Dr W. H. Crighton, medical officer of health for Faversham, said that apart from the cases of which he had been notified he had heard of cases in Woolwich, Whitstable, Sittingbourne and other places. Of the 47 cases notified to him 42 were in Faversham.

Replying to Mr Marven Everett, representing the Lyceum (the old Lyceum Theatre, now a restaurant), he said inquiries showed there had been no joint celebration Faversham people at any one place. Some had coffee or tea after the theatre, but more as individuals. All the food had been traced to its source and investigations were still proceeding.

The Coroner said food poisoning came under the heading of natural causes. It would be most unfair to assume any particular person was responsible.

Everett said that as far as the caterers were concerned everything was of the best and the greatest care was taken.

Mr Wix, representing Shepherd Neame's Brewery, said the directors much regretted that the unhappy event should have occurred soon after the celebration that had been organised to give the guests pleasure.”
Dundee Courier - Saturday 18 September 1948, page 3.

I’m not so sure the caterer would be given so easy a ride nowadays if they made dozens ill and even killed one. I suspect they’d have been in trouble with the health inspectors. Saying no-one was to blame seems like a huge dodging of responsibility.

As for the source of the bacteria, I’d go for the chicken or the mayonnaise.

The irony is that it wasn’t really the 250th anniversary of the brewery. When I was in Faversham last month they told me that research by their archivist has pushed the date back a century or so.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1932 Lorimer & Clark XXP 8

Here’s another of Lorimer & Clark’s Pale Ales, this time the top of the range 8d one.

You may have noticed something with these pre-war Pale Ales. 6d, 7d and 8d are about the same gravity as post-war 60/-, 70/- and 80/-, respectively. Funny that. I’m still not convinced that 60/-, 70/- and 80/- were ever really the hogshead price of the beers bearing the name. Were they just totally random?

There isn’t much I can say about the recipe that I didn’t bring up when discussing XXP 7. Because their four Pale Ales were all parti-gyled together. So this is just like the XXP 7, but with a little more of everything. Except for the dry hops. All four Pale Ales have the same quantity of dry hops. Odd that. Usually the dry-hopping is proportionate to the strength.

Best Bitter is how I’d describe this. Though with fewer hops than an English version. Er, I’m really running out of stuff to say. Malty, I would guess. Don’t believe me? Brew it up and write in and call me an idiot if it’s different.

1932 Lorimer & Clark XXP 8
pale malt	7.75 lb	77.50%
flaked barley	1.25 lb	12.50%
malt extract	0.50 lb	5.00%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	5.00%
Fuggles 90 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1045
FG	1011
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	75.56%
IBU	28
SRM	5
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62.5º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Session IPA

There's a reason for this. Which will become apparent later, but which I'm too sick to be arsed with telling you.

If you're wondering why I've used a Pale Ale label, it's because that's what it was sold as after a certain point.

1909 Whitbread PA
pale malt	10.25 lb	80.39%
no. 1 sugar	2.50 lb	19.61%
Goldings 90 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1062.7
FG	1019
ABV	5.78
Apparent attenuation	69.70%
IBU	61.5
SRM	8
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

1924 Whitbread IPA
pale malt	6.00 lb	82.76%
no. 1 sugar	1.25 lb	17.24%
Fuggles 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1035
FG	1007
ABV	3.70
Apparent attenuation	80.00%
IBU	51
SRM	5
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

1944 Whitbread IPA
pale malt	5.75 lb	82.14%
crystal malt 60L	0.75 lb	10.71%
no. 1 sugar	0.50 lb	7.14%
Fuggles 75 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings 20 mins	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1031
FG	1005.5
ABV	3.37
Apparent attenuation	82.26%
IBU	31
SRM	7
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	75 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

Random Dutch beers (part forty-six)

More Boks. I've still quite a few to work through.

First is an old favourite:

't Ij Ijbok, 6.5% ABV
it's a pretty paler shade of brown. Smells of metal and cream. Al least what litttle I can smell through my clogged up nose. Got a bit of a cold thing going on. Liquorice and metal in the mouth.

My brother David is visiting.

"Do you want to try my beer, Dave?"

"No, I don't need any beer yet."

"But it's almost 1 pm."

He's turned into a right miserable old git.

Next is another from the same brewery.

Ij Dubbelbock, 8.8% ABV
Unsurprisingly, this one is darker. A very dark brown with a tan head. It looks lovely. I can't really smell anything. Not so much my blocked nose as the smell of Dolores cooking my birthday cake overwhelming the beer aroma. Pretty sweet in the mouth and bitter in the finish. Bit too sweet for my taste.

"Do you want to try my beer, Dave?"

"Chewy."

Nice and succinct.

Shepherd Neame grists in 1956

Time to look at what went into Shepherd Neame’s beers in 1956. What fun that’s going to be.

Let’s kick off with their Pale Ales. Because they’re the simplest. Just pale malt and the merest hit of malt extract. All-malt beers were extremely rare in Britain in the 20th century. I’m trying to think of any others I’ve come across, but am stumped. Just about every beer, other than Guinness, contained some sugar.

Do you see what else is missing? Crystal malt. Most Milds and Brown Ales would have contained some. This is the fun of looking at new breweries. Every so often there are real surprises. Like the malts Shep’s used. Who would have guessed that the four would be pale malt, black malt, wheat malt and oat malt? There’s only one dark malt and that was only used in one beer.

Talking of which, the black malt wasn’t mashed to the Stout but added during the boil. There’s a very good reason for that: the Stout was parti-gyled with BA. The first wort was used for BA and the second wort, which had the black malt and all the sugar added to it, formed the majority of the Stout. Robert Younger did something similar. Presumably they were forced to brew this way due to low demand for Stout. They didn’t need as much as a full brew length.

The Strong Ales, Brown Ales and – weirdly – LDA – all have the same recipe and were parti-gyled together. They contain about 19% sugar, which is towards the high end. 15-20% was pretty normal. No. 3 is what you would expect. No idea what Wortex is, other than a type of proprietary sugar.

The hops all came from their own gardens.

Shepherd Neame grists in 1956
Beer	Style	OG	pale malt	black malt	wheat malt	malted oats	no. 3 sugar	malt extract	caramel	Wortex	UKCS	cane	hops
Br	Brown Ale	1026.3	76.51%		4.03%		13.42%	0.67%		5.37%			Kent
DB	Brown Ale	1029.4	76.51%		4.03%		13.42%	0.67%		5.37%			Kent
MB	Mild	1030.2	88.11%				5.59%	0.70%			5.59%		Kent
LDA	Pale Ale	1029.4	76.51%		4.03%		13.42%	0.67%		5.37%			Kent
BB	Pale Ale	1030.2	98.63%					1.37%					Kent
BA	Pale Ale	1032.4	98.63%					1.37%					Kent
PA	Pale Ale	1035.5	98.63%					1.37%					Kent
SXX	Pale Ale	1039.3	98.63%					1.37%					Kent
SS	Stout	1026.3	74.07%	11.11%		3.70%		1.23%	4.94%			4.94%	Kent
AA	Strong Ale	1044.3	76.51%		4.03%		13.42%	0.67%		5.37%			Kent
ESXA	Strong Ale	1052.6	75.50%		3.97%		13.25%	0.66%		6.62%			Kent
Source:
Shepherd Neame brewing record held at the brewery.

Let's Brew 1932 Lorimer & Clark XXP 8

Here’s another of Lorimer & Clark’s Pale Ales, this time the top of the range 8d one.

You may have noticed something with these pre-war Pale Ales. 6d, 7d and 8d are about the same gravity as post-war 60/-, 70/- and 80/-, respectively. Funny that. I’m still not convinced that 60/-, 70/- and 80/- were ever really the hogshead price of the beers bearing the name. Were they just totally random?

There isn’t much I can say about the recipe that I didn’t bring up when discussing XXP 7. Because their four Pale Ales were all parti-gyled together. So this is just like the XXP 7, but with a little more of everything. Except for the dry hops. All four Pale Ales have the same quantity of dry hops. Odd that. Usually the dry-hopping is proportionate to the strength.

Best Bitter is how I’d describe this. Though with fewer hops than an English version. Er, I’m really running out of stuff to say. Malty, I would guess. Don’t believe me? Brew it up, write in and call me an idiot if it’s different.

1932 Lorimer & Clark XXP 8
pale malt	7.75 lb	77.50%
flaked barley	1.25 lb	12.50%
malt extract	0.50 lb	5.00%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	5.00%
Fuggles 90 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.75 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1045
FG	1011
ABV	4.50
Apparent attenuation	75.56%
IBU	28
SRM	5
Mash at	154º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62.5º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale