Fullers beers in 1887-1888

I thought I'd continue the Fullers theme with a look at their beers in the late 1880s. It's a bit random, I realise. Just happens to be that 1887/1888 is the first of their brewing records that I have photos of.

I really should complete the set of their brewing records. I've probably photographed around two-thirds of the bound volumes. I reckon I could polish off the remainder in one mad session. You never know what might happen to them with the change in ownership of the brewery. And they're stored in sub-toptimal conditions: in a rather damp cellar. It would be a real shame if they were lost.

At this point Fullers brewed ten different beers: 4 Pale Ales, an IPA, 2 Milds, a Porter, a Stout and a Strong Ale. It's quite an odd set. Half are either a Pale Ale or IPA, which is a very high proportion. Especially for a London brewer. Barclay Perkins and Whibread, for example, at this time each only brewed two.

A single Stout is also unusual for a London brewer. Most of their rivals brewed at least two. And usually a minimum of two Strong/Stock Ales.

Obviously the range Fullers brewed reflected the demands of their customers. And their customer base was different from that of larger brewers such as Whitbread and Barclay Perkins. While all three had a large tied trade in London, Whitbread and Barclay Perkins also sold beer in other parts of the UK and exported. Fullers, at this point, was very much tied to London. The lack of any export trade probably accounts for the absence of a really strong Stout.

It's typical of 19th-century London that there's nothing even vaguely approaching a session beer. Even the weakest beera, X and AKK, are over 4.5% ABV. The rate of attenuation isn't great, with not one beer hitting 75% apparent. Though, by the time they were sold, many of the beers would have had lower FGs, as they would have been aged after racking. This would have applied to the stronger Pale Ales, BS and XXK.

Fullers beers in 1887-1888
Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
1887	X	Mild	1054.6	1020.5	4.51	62.44%	6.64	1.63
1887	XX	Mild	1064.8	1023.3	5.50	64.10%	6.64	1.93
1888	AKK	Pale Ale	1049.9	1014.7	4.65	70.56%	11.40	2.53
1887	AK	Pale Ale	1053.5	1014.7	5.13	72.54%	11.58	2.66
1887	XK	Pale Ale	1057.1	1016.1	5.42	71.84%	11.58	2.84
1888	XKK	Pale Ale	1059.6	1018.0	5.50	69.77%	12.35	2.92
1887	IPA	IPA	1060.9	1016.6	5.86	72.73%	12.38	3.45
1887	Porter	Porter	1055.4	1018.8	4.84	66.00%	7.56	1.97
1887	BS	Stout	1070.4	1025.2	5.97	64.17%	7.56	2.50
1887	XXK	Strong Ale	1078.7	1021.1	7.62	73.24%	11.86	4.21
Source:
Brewing record held at the brewery.