Instead, heres a section from one of my recently-published books, Austerity!.
Enjoy, while I head off to the settee to sooze along to Match of the Day.
At a time when the quality of cask beer was often questionable, but bottled beer was rather expensive for the average drinker, Keg Bitter was an attractive proposition Brewers often described it as being bulk bottled beer.
Crystal clear and sparkling, it had the visual characteristics associated with good-quality beer. And, being pasteurised, there was little chance of it turning sour before the keg ran dry.
The first Keg Bitters of the 1950s were promoted as high-class Pale Ales. And that’s where the origin of some truly lay. Double Diamond was a version of Allsopp’s IPA and Ben Truman was the descendent of a 19th-century bottled IPA. These beers were priced according to their perceived prestige. Keg Bitter was, on average, 3d per pint more expensive than an equivalent cask beer.
As brewers moved away from cask-conditioning, mostly for reasons of consistency and convenience, standard Bitters were also presented in keg form. Though still generally at a higher price than the cask version. It’s a trend that continues today: cask is generally cheaper than keg.
As keg began to spread to smaller breweries, more lower-gravity Keg Bitters were brewed. More like Ordinary Bitter than Best Bitter. For the most part, however, they still weren’t cheap.
It’s interesting to note the date when smaller, regional breweries started brewing Keg Bitter: around 1960. Also when they started brewing Lager. That’s probably not a coincidence. There’s overlap in the equipment used to make the two.
| Keg Bitter in the 1957 to 1959 | ||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | Price per pint (d) | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation | colour |
| 1959 | Simonds | Keg Bitter | 22 | 1037.4 | 1007.3 | 3.76 | 80.48% | 19 |
| 1959 | South London Brewery | Golden Keg | 18 | 1037.9 | 1005.7 | 4.03 | 84.96% | 19 |
| 1959 | Watney | Red Barrel | 22 | 1038.5 | 1010 | 3.7 | 74.03% | 24 |
| 1959 | Flowers | Keg Bitter | 22 | 1039 | 1010.7 | 3.54 | 72.56% | 23 |
| 1959 | Whitbread | Tankard Bitter | 22 | 1039.1 | 1011.9 | 3.52 | 69.57% | 22 |
| 1957 | Watney | Keg Bitter | 24 | 1039.4 | 1007.6 | 4.14 | 80.71% | 23 |
| 1959 | Truman | Keg Bitter | 22 | 1040.5 | 1008.8 | 4.12 | 78.27% | 22 |
| 1957 | Courage & Barclay | Keg Bitter | 22 | 1042.8 | 1006.6 | 4.72 | 84.58% | 22 |
| 1959 | Wm. Younger | Keg Bitter | 19 | 1043.7 | 1007.8 | 4.68 | 82.15% | 55 |
| Average | 21.4 | 1039.8 | 1008.5 | 4.02 | 78.60% | 25.4 | ||
| Without Younger | 21.75 | |||||||
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002. | ||||||||
| Keg Bitter 1960 - 1965 | ||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | Price per pint (d) | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation | colour |
| 1960 | Bass | Worthington "E" | 18 | 1041.8 | 1006.5 | 4.6 | 84.45% | |
| 1960 | Gibbs Mew | Blue Keg Bitter | 18 | 1036 | 1007.6 | 3.55 | 78.89% | 25 |
| 1960 | Ind Coope | Double Diamond | 19 | 1040.2 | 1010 | 3.92 | 75.12% | 22 |
| 1960 | Marston | Burton Keg | 21 | 1036 | 1006.8 | 3.65 | 81.11% | 20 |
| 1961 | Arkells | King Keg | 24 | 1040.5 | 1007.2 | 4.16 | 82.22% | 20 |
| 1961 | Birkenhead Brewery | Keg Gold | 20 | 1043.1 | 1006.5 | 4.57 | 84.92% | 23 |
| 1961 | Brickwoods | Sunshine Keg Bitter | 21 | 1035 | 1008.4 | 3.33 | 76.00% | 28 |
| 1961 | Dryborough | Keg | 19 | 1037.6 | 1006.8 | 3.85 | 81.91% | 10 |
| 1961 | Flowers | Keg | 24 | 1039.3 | 1012.5 | 3.35 | 68.19% | 27 |
| 1961 | Fremlin | Keg | 24 | 1040.4 | 1005.8 | 4.33 | 85.64% | 23 |
| 1961 | Gibbs Mew | Red Keg | 22 | 1040.4 | 1003.7 | 4.59 | 90.84% | 21 |
| 1961 | Gibbs Mew | Blue Keg | 18 | 1034.7 | 1002.8 | 3.99 | 91.93% | 24 |
| 1961 | Home Brewery | 5 Star | 22 | 1047.5 | 1007.7 | 4.97 | 83.79% | 18 |
| 1961 | Howcrofts | Silver Keg | 15 | 1037.3 | 1006.9 | 3.8 | 81.50% | 20 |
| 1961 | Lacon | Keg Bitter | 24 | 1040.1 | 1007.1 | 4.12 | 82.29% | 17 |
| 1961 | Starkey, Knight & Ford | Star Keg | 23 | 1042.3 | 1008 | 4.29 | 81.09% | 27 |
| 1961 | Tennant Bros. | Keg Bitter | 21 | 1036.8 | 1005 | 3.97 | 86.41% | 15 |
| 1961 | Threllfalls | Keg Bitter | 18 | 1038.5 | 1004.9 | 4.2 | 87.27% | 17 |
| 1961 | Truman | Keg Bitter | 21 | 1039 | 1006.2 | 4.27 | 84.10% | 16 |
| 1961 | Vaux | Keg Beer | 20 | 1034.8 | 1002.2 | 4.07 | 93.68% | 14 |
| 1961 | West Country Breweries | Star Bright Keg | 16 | 1029.8 | 1004.6 | 3.15 | 84.56% | 22 |
| 1961 | Whitbread | Tankard Bitter | 24 | 1038.6 | 1011 | 3.58 | 71.50% | 18 |
| 1961 | Yates's Castle Brewery | Keg | 20 | 1037.8 | 1006.8 | 3.88 | 82.01% | 16 |
| 1963 | Watney | Red Barrel Ex. PA | 31 | 1047.7 | 1012.9 | 4.52 | 72.96% | 20 |
| 1964 | John Smith | Golden Keg | 24 | 1039.1 | 1009.4 | 3.71 | 75.96% | 23 |
| Average | 24 | 1039.1 | 1009.4 | 3.71 | 75.96% | 23 | ||
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002. | ||||||||
| Which Beer Report, 1960, pages 171 - 173. | ||||||||
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