Whitbread Double Brown 1939 - 1945

Brown Ale wasn’t immune to the downward pressure on gravities during the war. Especially examples like Whitbread Double Brown that were quite strong.

Over the course of the war the gravity of Double Brown fell 11 points, or around 20%. Though an increase in the rate of attenuation in the later war years meant that the ABV wasn’t much lower in 1945 than 1939. I’m sure drinkers appreciated the extra alcohol, but it must have considerably changed the character of the beer, leaving it with much less body than pre-war versions.

Anything over 4% ABV was pretty strong by the end of the war. In 1945, average OG was just 1034.5º.  And most Mild Ales barely scraped in at 3% ABV.

There was also a 20% reduction in the hopping rate, from 8.5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to 6.25 lbs. This was the result of a reduction of the quantity of hops made available to brewers in June 1941.

Whitbread Double Brown 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
21st Sep	1939	1054.5	1018.0	4.83	66.97%	8.49	1.92
11th Apr	1940	1054.1	1017.0	4.91	68.58%	8.50	1.82
14th Aug	1940	1049.3	1011.5	5.00	76.67%	8.50	1.71
20th Nov	1940	1047.3	1016.5	4.07	65.12%	8.42	1.62
31st Jan	1941	1046.1	1015.5	4.05	66.38%	8.10	1.54
13th Oct	1944	1044.2	1008.5	4.72	80.77%	6.77	1.22
24th Aug	1945	1043.3	1008.0	4.67	81.52%	6.25	1.16
Sources:
Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document numbers LMA/4453/D/01/107, LMA/4453/D/01/108, LMA/4453/D/01/111 and LMA/4453/D/01/112.

Let's Brew 1944 Fullers Dinner Ale

1944 is still much very alve in my head. The sensible one, not the crazy one that keeps saying "kill everyone". But who of us doesn't have a crazy head hiding somewherre inside?

On with another typically flacid wartime recipe.

Light Ale is a tricky beer style to pin down. When did it start and what the hell was it? Watery bottled Bitter, in essence.

If that makes it sound dull, that’s right, It wasn’t the most exciting beer style in the world. Just a low-gravity, easy-drinking beer for the cost-conscious consumer. Who didn’t want to take the gamble of draught Ordinary Bitter, which could be of very variable quality.

There’s nothing much wrong about the grist of this beer. Mostly loads of pale malt, the obligatory flaked barley and a dash of sugar. Plus some caramel to disguise just how watery it was. Though during the war, drinkers became less fussy. They were just glad that there was beer of some kind to drink.

The hops – for those of you who are as obsessive as me – were all English, from the 1943 crop, supplemented with something called hopulon. Which sounds like something a triple jumper would use as performance enhancer.

1944 Fullers Dinner Ale
pale malt	6.00 lb	82.53%
flaked barley	1.00 lb	13.76%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.125 lb	1.72%
glucose	0.125 lb	1.72%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.02 lb	0.28%
Fuggles 90 min	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1031.5
FG	1009.5
ABV	2.91
Apparent attenuation	69.84%
IBU	25
SRM	5
Mash at	148º F
After underlet	151º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

Scottish Brown Ale before WW II

As in England, Brown Ale was on the rise between the wars. Which is interesting because in England Brown Ale was often derived from Mild Ale. But in Scotland Mild Ales were extremely rare after WW I. Meaning Brown Ale needed to be created another way.

As many Scottish breweries by this time really only had one recipe and all their beers were really just varieties of Pale Ale, presumably most Brown Ales were just one of these beers coloured appropriately. Not really a problem, as Scottish Pale Ales were already being darkened to a variety of different shades to meet the demands of different local market.

The sample size isn’t enormous, just four beers in total. But it does provide a glimpse into the world of Scottish Brown Ale.

For example, two of the four examples are in the strongest class of Brown Ales. The explanation, I’m sure, is simple. Scottish brewers did a considerable amount of business in the Northeast of England. Where the commonest Brown Ales, Newcastle Brown and Vaux Double Maxim, were of this type. The Usher example below is also quite pale, as were Northeastern Brown Ale.

Scottish Brown Ale before WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1938	Calder	Nut Brown Ale		1039.4	1013.4	3.36	65.99%	80
1931	Usher	Brown Ale	7	1050	1013	4.81	74.00%	54
1933	Aitchison	Brown Ale		1045.5	1015.5	3.88	65.93%
1934	Aitken	Falkirk Brown Ale		1053	1011	5.47	79.25%
Sources:
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.

Continental Lager returns

Just a quick table today. To give you an idea of the Lagers which were imported into the UK when restrictions were lifted in 1947.

As we've already learned, Dutch and Danish breweries were the quickest to return to the UK market. The speed with which they returned is all the more remarkable given that they were clearly brewing beers specifically for the UK. A quick glance at the OG is enough to prove that.

It's particularly easy to spot in the case of Tuborg and Carlsberg as I also have analyses for the standard export versions, which Whitbread had somehow purchased in Singapore. These are the strength that you expect forr a continental Lager: 4.5-5% ABV.

This is in contrast with the situation before WW II, when both the Carlsberg and Tuborg sold in the UK were the same strength as they were on the continent. I assume that the standard-strength version would have been too expensive for the UK market after the war.

Continental Lager returns
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1947	Barclay Perkins	Draught Lager	26	1033	1006.4	3.46	80.61%	8
1947	Carlsberg	Lager		1033	1008	3.24	75.76%
1947	Carlsberg	Pilsner		1035.6	1008.5	3.52	76.12%	13.5
1947	ZHB	Z.H.B. Lager	30	1032.4	1008.2	3.14	71.91%	11.5
1947	Tuborg	Pilsner		1036.6	1009.1	3.57	75.14%	11.5
1948	Carlsberg	Pilsner ex Singapore		1049.9	1011	5.06	77.96%	9
1948	Tuborg	Export Beer ex Singapore		1043.9	1009.4	4.49	78.59%	9
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1944 Fullers Porter

No end in sight of my 1944 trip. Don't tell me if you're getting bored as I'll just ignore you.  The whole point of this blog is that I can write what the fuck I want. Sorry about that.

When did Fullers stop brewing Porter is a really difficult question. And one I don’t feel fit to answer. Apologies for the disappointment, but, unlike some other beer writers, I decline to just make shit up to conform to my theories. However much that would make my life easier.

Fullers were really odd for a London brewery. Their Stout met its demise in the early 1930s, leaving them with P as their only Black Beer. In contrast, the larger London brewers such as Barclay Perkins and Whitbread, continued to brew multiple Stouts in addition to Porter.

What immediately strikes me about this beer is the absence of brown malt. An ingredient most London brewers clung onto with remarkable tenacity. Right until the bitter end when their breweries closed after WW II.

The lack of flaked oats present in earlier versions tells me that Fullers had abandoned selling a version as Oatmeal Stout.

Thin watery – though most likely a few degrees stronger after priming – it’s not the most appealing-looking beer.

1944 Fullers Porter
pale malt	4.25 lb	62.23%
black malt	0.75 lb	10.98%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	7.32%
No. 4 invert sugar	1.00 lb	14.64%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.33 lb	4.83%
Fuggles 105 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.75 oz
OG	1030.5
FG	1011.5
ABV	2.51
Apparent attenuation	62.30%
IBU	20
SRM	45
Mash at	149º F
After underlet	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

Carlsberg quick off the mark

We saw a few days ago how in March 1947 the government announced that it was going to allow the importation of Lager into the UK. Carlsberg didn't hang around in making a return to the the British market.

A new company was set p that same month solely for the purpose of importing Carlsberg into the UK:

"NEW SCOTTISH COMPANIES
. . .
Carlsberg Scottish Importers Ltd., to set up agency in Scotland for the distribution of Carlsberg beer throughout tho United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Subscribers —Alex. A. Willis, sales manager, Ermouth Road, Bromley. Kent, and R. C Martin, company director, Abney Court, Bourne End, Bucks. Capital £5000 in shares of £1 each."
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 21 March 1947, page 7.

And just a couple of months later Carlsberg was already on the shelves. Though the retailer seemed a little uncertain about its origin, claiming in the advert below that it came from Holland:

"DOMINIC THE WINE SHIPPERS For HAYSEL THIRSTS—!
Order NOW because bottled BEER is none TOO plentiful yet — we JUST manage to SCRAPE ALONG from week to week; BUT we have all the best BEERS from all the best BREWERS— Barclays, TRUMANS, Watneys, MANNS, Fremlins, HAMMERTONS, Kenwards, WHITBREADS, George Beer and Rigdens, and OTHERS too, at 2/1 to 2/3 per QUART and 1/- to 1/2 per pint. Barclays LAGER, Grahams GOLDEN, and RED TOWER, all at 11/6 per dozen half-pints. "Z.H.B." and CARLSBERG (Dutch) Lagers at 17/- per dozen half-pints. PILSNER URQUELL Original Czech LAGER at 24/- dozen large bottles. ALES & STOUTS from any Brewer in SMALL CASKS - 4.5 gals. or 9 gals.--at 3 days' notice for PERFECT CONDITION. Please try and let us know YOUR needs well in ADVANCE. For a really REFRESHING drink on a HOT day in the HAYFIELD try our famous DEVON-CREAM Cider—STILL, sweet, DELICIOUS - at 1/9 per quart flagon; or in 6 gallon CASKS at 37/6. KENTISH KOB medium sweet DRAUGHT Cider at 1/4.5 per QUART flagon; or 27/6 per 6 gallon CASK SPARKLING sweet Cider at 1/6 per quart flagon. Bottles, cases and cadre CHARGED extra and ALLOWED in full on RETURN. Pure FRUIT SQUASH — Orange, Lemon, Utile Juice, Grapefruit — at 2/6 per bottle — and PLENTY in stock; ONE bottle diluted with water makes NEARLY A GALLON of still lemonade. ALGERIAN BURGUNDY at 7/9 per bottle is EXCELLENT value, and CAN be DILUTED with double the quantity of water or LEMONADE to make a VERY refreshing and invigorating drink. We DELIVER any quantity — small or large — and our VANS cover ALL WEST SUSSEX down to Brighton, Worthing and Chichester, EVERY week. Send us a CARD, Or 'PHONE Horsham 1023.
PETER DOMINIC & CO LTD WINE & CIGAR SHIPPERS - BEER & CIDER BOTTLERS
PHONE HORSHAM 1023."
West Sussex County Times - Friday 18 July 1947, page 5.

Not that the imported ZHB and Carlsberg Lager were considerablt more expensive that domestically brewed dversions such as Barclays, Grahams and Red Tower. Though neither was particularly cheap, the domestic version being 11.5d per half pint and the imported ones 17d. For 13d you could have bought yourself a full pint of Mild Ale, which would have been a simialr strength.

 As I always say on such occasions: drink Mild!

Imported Lager returns

WW II brought an almost complete halt of beer imports to the UK, other than Guinness from the Republic of Ireland.

The main impact of the lack of imports was a disruption of Lager supplies. Prior to WW II, Guinness excepted, almost all the beer imported into the UK was continental Lager. Wartime circumstances would have made it impossible to import, whatever the UK government might have wanted. The main pre-war sources - Denmark, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Germany were all under Nazi control by the summer of 1940.

"VEG. PRICE CONTROL LIKELY TO DO HARM, STRACHEY DECIDES
ALL kinds of green vegetables may be imported from abroad under an open general licence from now until June 15, the Food Minister, Mr. Strachey, told the Commons yesterday.

He said that he had reluctantly decided that price control of green vegetables without rationing might do more harm than good while supplies are short.

So many would disappear under the counter that working-class households would be little better off.

Supplies of potatoes, he said. were now improving rapidly and should be nearly normal bv the end of this week. Unless prices of root vegetables dropped quickly to a reasonable level, he would either arrange for imports or impose price control. Other replies by Mr. Strachey.

COCKTAILS.— Sale of low strength cocktails and inferior liquor will be banned after this month.

LAGER BEER.- Some imports" of lager beer from continental countries are to be allowed.
Daily Mirror - Tuesday 25 March 1947, page 3."
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19470325/033/0003

The sources of imported Lager remained much the same when the trade resumed. Though It wasn't until the early 1950s that imports from Germany resumed.

Great news that low-strength cocktails had been banned. That must have lifted everyone's spirits.

Provincial Brown Ale before WW II

It wasn’t just in London that Brown Ale was on the rise between the wars. The style was popular enough to appear in pretty much every brewery’s range. Though there was a considerable diversity in terms of strength and colour.

Rather fewer provincial examples were around the 1042º average OG of all beer. And there examples that are much weaker than London examples, some even under 1030º. In the case of Adnams, I know exactly why their Brown Ale was so weak. Like most smaller breweries, their Brown Ale was a tweaked version of their Mild. As that beer was piss weak, it followed that their Brown Ale would be, too.

One easily identifiable regional trend is in the Northeast. The two examples from there – Newcastle Brown and Vaux Double Maxim are notable for being both stronger and paler than most examples of the style. 50 and 62 are pretty low values for a Brown Ale. I’d expect a minimum of 80. Their gravities are both over 1050º which was unusual, but not totally unknown, in other parts of the country.

My guess is that all the ones stronger than Best Mild (around 1040-1043º) were their own separate brew and not based on a Mild Ale. For the simple reason that Mild didn’t usually get any stronger than that in the 1930s.

Note how common the name Nut Brown was. It has absolutely nothing to do with nuts or even with the flavour of the beer. I suspect that this Christmas carol is the source of the phrase. I've seen it in so many 19th-century collections of songs that it must have been very well known:

    The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
    Puts downe all drinke when it is stale,
    The toast, the nut-meg, and the ginger,
    Will make a sighing man a singer.
    Ale gives a buffet in the head,
    But ginger under proppes the brayne;
    When ale would strike a strong man dead,
    Then nut-megge tempers it againe,
    The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
    Puts downe all drinke when it is stale.
    "Christmas Carols, ancient & modern" by William Sandys, 1833, page lxiv.

I'm not sure of its exact date but, judging by the language and spelling, it's no later than the 17th century and possibly 16th century.

In the 19th century, the phrase “nut brown ale” was regularly used to conjure up nostalgic images of the good beer of the past or to describe beer served at feasts. It was not a specific kind of beer, simply a florid description of celebratory beer.

Provincial Brown Ale before WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1936	Birkenhead	Nut Brown Ale	6	1038.6	1010.5	3.64	72.80%
1938	Eldridge Pope	Dorset Brown Ale	8	1038.2	1009.5	3.72	75.13%	90
1938	Fremlin	Brown Ale	7	1041.8	1012.8	3.76	69.38%
1938	Green	Lutonian Nut Brown Ale	6	1028.3	1003.8	3.19	86.57%
1932	Hoskins	City Brown Ale	6	1036.6	1009.7	3.49	73.50%
1932	Ind Coope	Nut Brown Ale	7	1037	1008.2	3.74	77.84%
1937	Mew Langton	Brown Ale		1048	1012.8	4.57	73.33%
1933	Morgans	SK Brown Ale	10	1042	1012.4	3.83	70.48%
1931	Newcastle Breweries	Brown Ale		1056	1014	5.46	75.00%	62
1932	Northampton	Brown Ale		1038	1009.8	3.66	74.21%
1938	Read	Nut Brown Ale		1030.5	1007.6	2.97	75.08%	85
1935	Samuel Smith	Taddy Nut Brown		1042.1	1011.9	3.91	71.73%
1938	Simonds	Brown Ale		1031.6	1008.2	3.03	74.05%	130
1934	Adnams	Brown Ale		1031.5
1932	Tennant	Nut Brown		1032	1008.9	2.99	72.19%
1938	Tollemache	Brown Ale	8	1044.9	1008.9	4.69	80.18%	80
1938	Unwin	Darker Brown		1040.8	1007	4.40	82.84%	105
1938	Vaux	Double Maxim Ale		1053.2	1009.3	5.73	82.52%	50
1932	Ward	Nut Brown		1035	1007.6	3.56	78.29%
	Average		7.25	1039.3	1009.6	3.91	0.76	86.0
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Younger, Wm. & Co Gravity Book document WY/6/1/1/19 held at the Scottish Brewing Archive
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.

Let's Brew - 1944 Adnams PA

I'm quite enjoying the 1944 theme to my hombrew posts, so why stop now? Especially when I already have so many recipes written from that year. There's a good reason for that.

It's all connected with my next book, which is about brewing in WW II. I'm sort of getting back to my original book concept, which was a history of UK brewing 1700 to 1973. Two of my most recent books, Armistice! amd Austerity!, are really chapters of that book. Which shows how overambitious the ptoject was. The completed book would have been over 2,000 pages.

But let's get back to the recipe in hand. As Adnams beers were comparatively weak in 1939, they underwent a surprisingly small change in strength during the war.

Their Bitter, PA, started the war at just 1039º and, though it had fallen by 1944, it was just by three gravity points. Bugger all, really, compared to the beers of some other breweries. In general beers brewed in fairly rural locations, such as Southwold, tended to be weaker than those brewed in large urban centres.

The biggest change in terms of the recipe is the addition of an unmalted grain. Pre-war, Adnams beers were all brewed from just malt, hops and sugar. In 1943, however, the government dictated the use of oats, in response to a bumper crop. But that only lasted one year. The next, the government decided brewers should all use a percentage of flaked barley. Which is what we see in this iteration of PA.

As usual with Adnams, I know little about the hops other than that they were all English and from the 1942 and 1943 harvests.

1944 Adnams PA
pale malt	7.25 lb	87.88%
flaked barley	0.50 lb	6.06%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.50 lb	6.06%
Fuggles 120 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1036
FG	1010
ABV	3.44
Apparent attenuation	72.22%
IBU	27
SRM	4
Mash at	149º F
After underlet	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	WLP025 Southwold

A novel use for carrier pigeons

Here's another newspaper article about the shortage of beer in the middle war years.

There was much discussion during the war as to whether pubs were compelled to open during permitted hours. Due to restricted supplies of beer, many publicans didn't bother opening all the hours they could. I can see their point: why bother to open if you've nothing to sell?

The situation seemed to be unclear. The Licensing Act didn't specifically say that pubs had to open their full hours. But many llicensing magistrates considered opening those hours as a condition of their licence. Plus temperance wanker magistrates could use pubs not opening their full gours as an argument to say that there wasn't enough demand to justify the licence. Brewers were naturally worried about losing tied houses this way.

Given his comments about "refreshments", I'm pretty sure that Alderman Harvey was a teetotal twat. There were a lot of them in poistions of power. Mostly, I think, because they wanted to ruin stuff for the normal drinking public. The bastards.

You'll need to read all the way through to find out where the pigeons came in.

"WATCH COMMITTEE DISCUSSIONS-
PUBLIC HOUSE HOURS:
TRAFFIC PROBLEMS:
ACCIDENTS
At the Stoke-on-Trent Watch Committee Meeting yesterday afternoon, the need for uniformity in the opening and closing of public houses was urged; bus problems were discussed; and it was reported that the Safety First campaign was being resumed in view of the increase in the number of road accidents.

The varied opening and closing times adopted by licensees of hotels and public houses in Stoke-on-Trent since the shortage of beer became noticeable, was the subject of discussion at yesterday's meeting of the City Watch Committee, when it was decided to draw the attention of the Licensing Justices to the matter. Alderman J. H. Dale, who raised the subject, said that hotels and public houses were, within the licensing hours, opening and closing at various times. Some licensees were Setting rid very quickly of all the liquid refreshment they had to offer. He asked the Chief Constable if licences were not granted on the understanding that hotels and public houses remained open throughout licensed hours; and, further, whether the Watch Committee had any powers to recommend other hours.

The Chief Constable (Mr. F. L. Bunn) replied that there was nothing to prevent licensed houses remaining open day and night, so long as the sale of intoxicants was confined to the specified hours. There might not be any offence in a licensee not opening during licensed hours, but the practice was not complying with the conditions of their licence.

UNIFORMITY WANTED
Alderman Dale said that some provision ought to be made for workmen who returned home late in the evening, and, when they went for a drink, found the public house was closed or that the beer had all been sold. If beer was short they were entitled to their share, like others whose hours of work were not so difficult; and he felt that the Licensed Victuallers' Association should consider all the circumstances and come forward with some proposal that would better regulate the hours of business, and make the position uniform throughout the City.

Alderman A. C. Harvey (Chairman) said another point should also be considered. There were complaints that people could not get ordinary refreshments in the evenings. If licensed houses were refreshment houses, as was claimed for them on occasions, they should be compelled to serve non-intoxicating drinks when required during hours when the sale of intoxicating liquor was barred.

"STRANGERS"
Alderman J. Barker pointed out that sometimes it happened that a public house was flooded out by strangers. Then it might be that the licensee would decide there was no more beer. "You can't blame him, under the circumstances." commented Alderman Barker.

Mr. T. W. Flint said licensees were looking after customers who had gone to them for many years, and that was a normal matter of business.

The Chief Constable, amid laughter, remarked that it was said that colliers were going out into the country with pigeons in their pockets, and when they found a place with beer they released the pigeons and sent them off to tell their pals."
Staffordshire Sentinel - Friday 09 January 1942, page 1.

I suppose a pigeon in your pocket was the 1940s equivalent of having  mobile phone with you. Though I guess a phone isn't likely to shit in your pocket.

Money tsunami

"Remember that money tsunami I mentioned, Dolores?"

"You're always saying you're going to earn money, but it never happens."

"This time it will. I'm going to relaunch the Guilt Button".

"Right. Dream on. No-one is going to pay you."

"But they've made money from my hard work."

"Time when you could have been doing something useful. Like getting rid of all those beer bottles cluttering up the floor."

"Money tsunami."

"You keep saying that, but it never happens."

"Money tsunami."

"You're getting boring."

Brewed one of my recipes commercially? Prove Dolores wrong. Click the button that looks like this:

London Brown Ale before WW II

Most Brown Ales in the capital were brewed as either 7d or 8d beers. Being bottled, these were the equivalent of 6d and 7d draught beers. And implying an OG of around 1037º and 1042º, respectively. Or about the same as Mild and Best Mild.

One exception is Whitbread’s Double Brown which, at 1054.5º, was quite a bit stronger than its rivals and in the 9d per pint class. And, in contrast to many other Brown Ales, it wasn’t a tweaked version of a Mild Ale recipe.

Another outlier is Watney’s XX Brown Ale. For a start, it’s not very brown with a colour value of just 23. That’s like a Bitter. The price is also lower, for the simple reason that it’s the only draught beer in the set. I’m not really sure why it was called a Brown Ale, as it doesn’t really seem to fit the definition of the style.

The degree of attenuation, with the exception of Lovibond and Meux, was pretty poor. And, intriguingly, poorer than for Mild Ale. This implies to me that a degree of sweetness was deliberately being left in Brown Ale. As a filtered beer it was far easier to leave unfermented material than in cask-conditioned Mild which would continue to referment.

Oddly enough, the average OG of this set, 1042º, is almost exactly the same as average OG in the UK in the 1930s.

London Brown Ale before WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1938	Barclay Perkins	Brown Ale	8	1046.8	1018.9	3.60	59.62%
1938	Charrington	Brown Ale	7	1036.6	1013	3.05	64.48%	115
1937	Courage	Nut Brown Ale	8	1040.7
1938	Hammerton	Nut Brown Ale	6.5	1039.9	1012.6	3.53	68.42%
1938	Lovibond	Brown Ale	7	1042.6	1006.4	4.72	84.98%	90
1938	Mann	Brown Ale	8	1041.7	1012	3.85	71.22%	82
1938	Meux	Brown Ale	7	1039.3	1007.4	4.15	81.17%	100
1938	Taylor Walker	Brown Ale	7	1035.1	1013.2	2.83	62.39%	90
1938	Truman	Brown Ale	8	1042.4	1013.3	3.77	68.63%	110
1938	Watney	Brown Ale	7	1041.1	1013.6	3.56	66.91%	90
1938	Watney	XX Brown Ale	6	1043.4	1015.6	3.59	64.06%	23
1937	Wenlock	Nut Brown Ale	7	1042.5	1011	4.09	74.12%
1939	Whitbread	Double Brown	9	1054.5	1018	4.73	66.97%	105
	Average		7.35	1042.0	1012.9	3.79	69.41%	89.44
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.