Bitter on the eve of WW II

No, this isn't another preview of my new book. But rather something to settle a Twitter argument. Or not, as the case might be.

Martyn Cornell and Dominic Driscoll were arguing about whether Northern Bitters were more heavily hopped than Southern ones to take into account the use of a sparkler, which would reduce the perceived bitterness.

It just so happens that I've written a large number of recipes for Bitters from all over the country. Part of the process being to calculate the IBUs using BeerSmith. I wouldn't take the numbers as gospel, but they give a general idea.

Are the Northern versions more Bitter than Southern ones? Well, yes and no. Boddington Bitter comes out top at 48 IBU. But Tetley comes bottom at 14 IBU. While all the London beers in the table are reasonably well-hopped.

Surprisingly, for a brewery in the middle of hop country, most of Shepherd Neame's beers weren't that bitter. Other than their PA.

About the only real discernible pattern is in the Scottish beers. Which are mostly not very bitter at all. Except for the Maclay beers.

Bitter on the eve of WW II
Year	Brewery	Beer	OG	IBU
1939	Adnams	PA	1039	33
1939	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1044	30
1939	Barclay Perkins	XLK (trade)	1046	30
1939	Barclay Perkins	PA	1053	38
1939	Boddington	IP	1045	48
1939	Drybrough	54/-	1032	19
1939	Drybrough	60/-	1038	21
1939	Drybrough	80/-	1050	26
1939	Fullers	AK	1033.5	35
1939	Fullers	XK	1039.5	40
1939	Fullers	PA	1050	43
1939	Lees	Bitter	1047	30
1939	Maclay	PA 5d	1032	28
1939	Maclay	PA 6d	1038	30
1939	Maclay	PA 7d	1042	32
1940	Shepherd Neame	AK	1030.5	19
1940	Shepherd Neame	BB	1038	21
1940	Shepherd Neame	PA	1047	39
1940	Shepherd Neame	SXX	1055	28
1941	Tetley	Bitter	1038	14
1939	Truman	Pale 2	1047.5	27
1939	Truman	Pale 1B	1053.5	30
1939	Whitbread	IPA	1037	36
1939	Whitbread	PA	1048	29
1938	William Younger	XP	1037	14
1938	William Younger	XXP	1042	16
1939	William Younger	XXPS	1046	12
1939	William Younger	Export	1054	22
Sources:
various brewing records