Watery London IPA during WW II

More WW II-related IPA fun. When will it end?

It will come as no surprise that the strength of IPA brewed in the capital declined considerably during the war. As with other styles, this mostly occurred during the first three years, after which it remained stable. At least until the end of hostilities, after which there was a further drop.

Barclay Perkins IPA seems to have dropped down a class by 1942, being just about the same strength as Whitbread’s version.  XLK (Bottling) appears to have been dropped to give up its slot to IPA.

Averaging around 20, the colour is the same as pre-war. Whitbread’s version continued to be very highly attenuated, with every example bar one over 80%.

Watery London IPA during WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1939	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1043.9	1014	3.87	68.13%	20
1940	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1038.7	1011.5	3.53	70.31%	23
1941	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1036.9	1007.5	3.82	79.69%	23
1942	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1031.3	1007	3.15	77.64%	21
1943	Barclay Perkins	IPA	1031.5	1006	3.31	80.95%	17
1944	Hammerton	IPA	1027.6	1004.5	3.00	83.70%	19
1939	Whitbread	IPA	1037.1	1008	3.78	78.44%	19
1940	Whitbread	PA	1036.6	1006.1	3.97	83.33%	18.5
1941	Whitbread	IPA	1034.3	1005.5	3.81	83.97%
1942	Whitbread	IPA	1032.4	1005.5	3.56	83.02%	22
1943	Whitbread	IPA	1031.2	1005.5	3.40	82.37%	20
1944	Whitbread	IPA	1031	1005.6	3.30	81.94%	18
1945	Whitbread	IPA	1031.7	1005.0	3.53	84.23%	22
	Average					79.82%	20.2
Sources:
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/623.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/624.
Barclay Perkins brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number ACC/2305/01/625.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/107.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/108.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/109.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/110.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/01/112.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.