Barclay Perkins Mild Ales 1914 - 1921

Watery Mild during WW I. It’s a topic I always find entertaining. If a little depressing. Watching Mild go from a full-strength beer to just a shadow of its pre-war self.

Analysing the changes is complicated by the fact that there was no Mild which Barclay Perkins brewed for the whole of the war years. Their single pre-war Mild, X Ale, was discontinued in 1918 and was out of production for around a year. GA, Government Ale, put in a cameo appearance in 1917 and 1918. While Ale 4d only appeared in 1918, where for a while it was the only Mild they produced, replacing both X Ale and GA.

Here’s a handy table:

Barclay Perkins Mild Ales 1914 - 1921
Date	Year	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp
11th Mar	1914	X	1051.3	1013.6	4.99	73.54%	5.49	1.15	61º
4th Jun	1915	X	1050.9	1013.0	5.01	74.42%	6.01	1.26	61º
9th Jun	1916	X	1048.6	1012.2	4.82	74.92%	6.01	1.20	61º
17th May	1917	X	1046.7	1011.1	4.71	76.27%	5.52	1.09	61º
10th Jul	1917	GA	1036.3	1008.3	3.70	77.11%	6.54	0.98	61º
22nd Mar	1918	X	1046.5	1012.7	4.47	72.60%	5.01	0.97	61º
22nd Mar	1918	GA	1037.8	1010.0	3.68	73.62%	5.01	0.80	61º
11th Apr	1918	Ale 4d	1026.7	1006.4	2.69	76.14%	5.00	0.53	61º
18th Sep	1918	Ale 4d	1025.8	1006.6	2.53	74.23%	6.01	0.67	61º
26th May	1919	X	1036.5	1009.4	3.58	74.20%	5.24	0.79	61º
26th May	1919	Ale 4d	1029.4	1007.2	2.94	75.50%	5.24	0.64	61º
2nd Jun	1919	Ale 4d	1026.4	1004.7	2.87	82.16%	5.26	0.57	61º
3rd Jul	1919	X	1039.4	1009.4	3.97	76.10%	6.96	1.11	61º
21st Nov	1919	X	1042.4	1012.7	3.92	69.95%	5.52	1.01	61º
21st Nov	1919	Ale 4d	1028.4	1006.6	2.88	76.59%	5.52	1.51	61º
20th Feb	1920	X	1042.5	1012.7	3.94	70.02%	5.00	0.90	61º
20th Feb	1920	Ale 4d	1028.3	1006.4	2.90	77.49%	5.00	0.60	61º
1st Apr	1921	X	1041.4	1010.0	4.15	75.85%	6.00	1.00	61º
1st Apr	1921	Ale 5d	1028.4	1007.0	2.83	75.35%	6.00	0.68	62º
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers ACC/2305/01/603, ACC/2305/01/604, ACC/2305/01/606, ACC/2305/01/607 and ACC/2305/01/609.

There was surprisingly little change to the gravity of X Ale between the start of the war and spring 1918, when it was dropped. In that period the gravity fell by around four points, from 1051º to 1047º. When it returned in 1919, it had a gravity much like GA had in its final days. It did creep up a little more in the early 1920’s, when it finally settled on a level in the low 1040’s.

Ale 4d, the cheap and cheerful Mild of the final war years always had an OG in the high 1020’s. At a smidgin under 3% ABV, it was just about an intoxicating drink. If you were determined. Amazingly, it hung around all through the interwar years before WW II finally put it out of its misery.

The hopping rate of all the Milds was very consistent at 5 to 6 pounds per quarter of malt. Which is a fairly reasonable rate, though, unsurprisingly, lower than the brewery’s Pale Ales, which contained 7 to 9 pounds per quarter of malt.