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.