Mild or Stock

I've been busy with the sections in my new Scottish book on Mild and Stock Ales in the late 19th century.

It's reminded me what a pain Scottish brewing can be. They were way less consistent in their naming conventions. An X pretty much always means Mild Ale in England. Not so in Scotland. In fact, I often struggle to spot which beers might be Mild Ales.

Thomas Usher's beers are an example. I originally classified all their X Ales as Milds. But on closer inspection, it looked more likely that they were Stock Ales. Mostly based on hopping rate. And the recipe.

I'm not 100% sure that I've got it right. But what can I do? There are other Usher beers with the suffix M or MA which I am completely sure about. This is them:

Thomas Usher Mild Ales 1885 - 1914
Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1885	54/- M	1062	1023	5.16	62.90%	5.00	1.42
1885	68/- M	1080	1025	7.28	68.75%	10.00	3.44
1914	44/- MA	1032	1012.5	2.58	60.94%	5.00	0.69
1914	50/- MA	1035	1013	2.91	62.86%	5.00	0.75
1914	60/- MA	1038	1015	3.04	60.53%	5.00	1.07
1914	80/- MA	1046	1016.5	3.90	64.13%	5.00	1.29
1914	100/- MA	1065	1027	5.03	58.46%	5.00	1.40
Sources:
Thomas Usher brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers TU/6/1/1, TU/6/1/2 and TU/6/1/5.

I bet you want to see thge Stock ales now? If you're still awake, that is. Here you go:

Thomas Usher Stock Ales 1885 - 1914
Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1885	X	1050	1013	4.89	74.00%	9.00	2.00
1888	XXX	1054	1011	5.69	79.63%	11.00	3.58
1888	X	1050	1012	5.03	76.00%	11.00	2.75
1888	XX	1054	1012	5.56	77.78%	12.00	3.24
1894	XX 60/-	1055	1015	5.29	72.73%	10.00	2.77
1912	X 60/-	1052	1016	4.76	69.23%	6.75	1.49
1912	X	1045	1014.5	4.03	67.78%	6.50	1.21
Sources:
Thomas Usher brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers TU/6/1/1, TU/6/1/2 and TU/6/1/5.

See what I mean about the hopping? Though the gravities do seem low for Stock Ales.