Kidd beers in mid-1917

1917 must have been a stressful year to be a brewer. Because the rules and restrictions changed several times.

Between 1914 and the end of 1916, beer output had been limited and the beer tax more than trebled, but the beer itself hadn’t changed that much. Until July 1st 1917, when a new regulation came into force stipulating that half the beer a brewery produced had to have a gravity no greater than 1036º.

This new rule had an immediate effect on the gravity of beers, especially the more popular ones. At many breweries a few beers made up a large percentage of sale. For example, in 1917 Whitbread London Stout made up 42% and X Ale 28% of their total output. Though a more typical brewery would have sold mostly Mild Ale and lower-gravity Bitter.

You can see here proof of how little average OG changed before 1917.

UK beer production and average OG 1913 - 1920
Year	bulk barrels	average OG
1913	36,296,317	1052.64
1914	37,558,767	1052.80
1915	34,765,780	1052.35
1916	32,110,608	1051.88
1917	30,163,998	1048.54
1918	19,085,043	1039.81
1919	23,264,533	1030.55
1920	35,047,947	1039.41
Source:
Brewers' Journal 1921, page 246.

You can see here the effect of the gravity restriction of Kidd’s beers:

Kidd beers in mid-1917
Date	Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp
13th Jul	1917	GA X	Mild	1033.8	1009.4	3.22	72.13%	9.95	1.43	2.25	2	58º
18th Jul	1917	GA	Mild	1033.2	1008.3	3.30	75.00%	9.95	1.42	2.25	2.25	58º
27th Aug	1917	GA	Mild	1034.9	1007.8	3.59	77.78%	9.96	1.50	2.25	2	58º
30th Aug	1917	GA	Mild	1035.5	1008.3	3.59	76.56%	10.00	1.47	2.25	2	58º
24th Aug	1917	LPA	Pale Ale	1037.1	1010.0	3.59	73.13%	9.53	1.54	2.25		58.5º
31st Aug	1917	LPA	Pale Ale	1039.3	1011.1	3.74	71.83%	10.04	1.68	2	2	59º
24th Jul	1917	Porter	Porter	1034.9	1008.9	3.44	74.60%	10.29	1.55	2.5		58º
28th Aug	1917	Porter	Porter	1037.1	1008.3	3.81	77.61%	10.29	1.80	3.25		58º
Source:
Kidd brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/305/16/013.

Sure enough, their most popular beer, X Ale, has dropped below 1036º. The its name was changed to GA (Government Ale) after the first brew. At the same time the range of beer produced has been drastically reduced to just three: Porter, Mild and Bitter.

We’ll be taking a look next at how Kidd’s beers evolved as 1917 and 1918 unfolded.